Review
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Title: Voices for Equality
Author: Gordon Shepherd, Lavina Fielding Anderson, Gary Shepherd, eds.
Publisher: Greg Kofford Books
Genre: Women’s Studies
Year Published: 2015
Number of Pages: xiii, 441, Appendix, Contributors List, Index
Binding: Quality Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-58958-758-8
Price: $32.95
Reviewed by Laura Compton for the Association for Mormon Letters
Conversations surrounding Mormon feminism have gone on for decades, but the pervasiveness of social media in the past five years in particular has provided fertile ground for activists planting seeds of change, bringing those conversations into public view in a way that previously has not been possible. “Voices for Equality: Ordain Women and Resurgent Mormon Feminism” is an effort to contextualize and empirically examine Mormon feminism in general and the early days of what has come to be known as the Ordain Women movement in particular.
The 19 essays in the book are thoughtfully edited by Gordon and Gary Shepherd and Lavina Fielding Anderson. Those familiar with modern Mormon feminism will recognize many authors, and will appreciate the inclusion of new feminist voices. The Shepherds are each sociologists who have studied Mormons in a variety of contexts and whose sociological expertise informs and shapes the contents of the essays within the book. Anderson’s extensive knowledge of and involvement in Mormon history and women’s issues also provides invaluable context and a measured voice to the collection. As she notes in her preface,
“This book… is the third book in as many years to explore this disquieting, yet immensely significant topic….it is data driven, using a combination of sociological and historical analysis, political and theological explorations, and sometimes wrenching personal experiences….Gender equality is an important discussion and this book is a very significant voice in that conversation.” (xii)
The other two books Anderson references are Sheri Dew’s “Women and the Priesthood” and Neylan McBaine’s “Women at Church.” Each book has a place in conversations about 21st-century Mormon feminism, but neither book plumbs the depths of feminist history, place or sociology the way “Women and the Priesthood” does.
Editors have carefully constructed the essays into four sections. The first sets the stage of Mormon feminism – its historical background, its place in secular and religious society, theological issues surrounding Mormon feminism, and how those issues are entwined in both religious and secular lives of Mormon feminists. The second section contextualizes female ordination within Mormonism, alongside other denominations and in relation to the Community of Christ, perhaps the closest cousin of Utah Mormonism. Before jumping in to the sociological studies and specific reaction to a nascent Ordain Women movement which concludes the book, a third section points out some of the specific ecclesiastical risks of claiming the identity of “Mormon feminist” and examines issues of discipline and excommunication.
A recurring element in every effort to effect change within the LDS Church is the interplay between top-down revelation, bottom-up revelation, internal pressure and external pressure. On the one hand, the argument goes that all change is inspired revelation from God. The counterargument that follows is that revelation does not come without someone to ask the question, and prophetic questions will not (cannot) be asked unless the prophet identifies a problem to resolve. In their essay “Conflict and Change in Closed and Open Systems,” the Shepherds provide context for the women’s ordination movement and its prospects for success as they thoughtfully examine barriers to change within the LDS church and consider prospects of success for both externally pressured changes and internally born grassroots changes. They ask if the kind of internal pressure coupled with media-attention-grabbing action will be effective in changing the institution. After examining change models of other sociologists and noting how those models are reflected in both institutional and grassroots responses to Ordain Women, the Shepherds note that those models “predict incremental change in the short run, punctuated by convoluted starts and stops, breakthroughs and regressions, and seemingly contradictory developments.” Then they pose some important questions, including: “How probable is it that the LDS Church will indefinitely resist gender parity in priesthood leadership and decision-making roles in its governing councils?” and “Given continued official resistance to its efforts, how probable is it that Ordain Women will continue to function as a cohesive, radical flank organization within the LDS culture?…Our children’s children will know the answer.” (48)
In order for ordination doctrine, or even policy, to change, there must be room for that change somewhere in the official canon and theology. Contributions by Boyd Jay Peterson and Janice Allred address questions of theological room for change in their essays about Eve and gender identity (Peterson) and Gender Theology generally (Allred). Peterson’s essay begins with the Proclamation on the Family and continues by describing how Mormonism’s concepts of Eve and her roles have both echoed and diverged from traditional Christian beliefs. Peterson’s work shows the reader some of the cultural barriers created for Mormon women (who are encouraged to defer to men’s leadership, for instance) in petitioning for ordination opportunities. Allred’s essay points out that there is room for equality within LDS theology, noting that “[t]he conditions that God describes to Adam are human conditions, which all people are subject to: the necessity of working to sustain oneself, harsh physical conditions, and death. Adam, then, represents not only male persons but all people.” She goes on to ask, “If Adam represents all of humanity, who does Eve represent?…He does not name her; he recognizes her. She *is*, not *will be* the ‘Mother of All the Living.’” (81, emphasis in original). “Seeing the Adam and Eve story as simply occurring in history blinds us to its universal, representational aspects….Although we remain subject to the conditions of the Fall, we are called to live according to the principles of the gospel. Men ruling over women is a condition of the fallen world. We should not duplicate it in Christ’s church.” (82)
In the second section of the book, Margaret Toscano recounts for readers many historical milestones on the road to ordination. Toscano reminds readers that “both those participating and those watching likely do not understand all the factors that have created an environment where a public debate about women’s ordination is now possible in the LDS Church. Certainly no one can see the full picture or trace clear lines of cause and effect.” (137) Where Lorie Winder Stromberg’s opening essay recounts her very personal experience in the creation of Ordain Women, Toscano’s essay springboards from her own personal story back in time to the very beginnings of the Relief Society. Toscano’s piece highlights many of the mentions of women being ordained and laying hands on others as they give blessings, but then shows a shift in rhetoric from a zenith of women being called “prophetesses, seers, and revelators” in 1913 (150) to the nadir of being called “doormats [who] keep their men from going in / With muddy feet to God,” in 1966 (153). In light of these swings of vision, Toscano notes that “there are still many issues that would need to be worked through to create equity….Incorporating women into priesthood structures could make us rethink what the priesthood is, how it should be used, and where it needs to be restructured and reconceptualized to create a less hierarchical, more open Church community….” (166)
The bulk of the final section of the book presents the findings of the Mormon Gender Issues Survey conducted by 16 academic researchers beginning in November 2014. Over several chapters, survey authors state why they created the survey and note how they came up with questions. They address ways they controlled for bias and respond to feedback accusing them of the same. At the core of their survey was their effort to discover “how many (and to what extent) members of the LDS Church viewed gender inequality to be problematic and how many (and to what extent) members viewed female ordination as a viable solution.” (288) In finding answers to these questions, the survey creators found that “In tackling gender, it is clear that Mormons understand Church teachings as reflecting both essential truths (doctrine) and cultural practices, but that forces are understood and delineated on an individual level without universal guidelines, highlighting the relative absence of a systematic theology of gender.” (334) Mormons have “internalized” some ideas about differences between men and women and gender essentialism, “but there is clearly more space for a larger discussion of men’s and women’s roles in family life and in Church organization. Many members are ready for increased women’s leadership and desire specific changes in Church policy so that men and women will have more positive interactions within the institutional Church organization. In thinking and discussing gender at church, many members are ready for a more nuanced discussion of gender—one that moves away from absolutes.” (334)
As the Shepherds’ summary indicates, changes are happening within the Church regarding female ordination. They note that “(1) The issue of women’s ordination is now being directly addressed by leaders rather than simply being ignored or dismissed; (2) the implied equivalency parallel between men being privileged to hold the priesthood while women are privileged to be mothers appears to be waning as an argument in official statements; (3) …it is recognized that men are not priesthood; (4) leader discourses have moved from emphasizing that women enjoy the blessings of the priesthood to allusions that in some way women already have priesthood and currently exercise some aspects of priesthood in the callings they are given.”
Despite its broad scope, its thoughtful presentation and its data-based information, there is one significant lack in the book: its voices are those of white Mormon intellectuals from North America. In one way this reflects the development of a movement driven by social media contacts, academic relationships and religious and historical interests: the men and women who have become the recognized experts and talking heads in Mormon feminism (and feminist activism) have not been much more diverse than the general leadership of the Church itself. And just at the time of the book’s publication, a broad and vocal section of Mormon feminists were, themselves, going through a sometimes painful consciousness-raising period of growth and understanding. This book’s publication came in the midst of that growth spurt, just as Ordain Women was working to diversify its own leadership. In true activist fashion, Mormon feminists wrote letters and leveraged their social media skills to bring to light this particular flaw in the book, prompting Greg Kofford Press to issue a post-publication statement on its website addressing the issue. It reads in part:
“[W]e express our deep regret that no Mormon woman of color has a voice within its pages, and we sincerely apologize to any who were hurt or dismayed by this oversight, but especially to Mormon women of color themselves. The subject matter of the book is not simply ‘Ordain Women,’ but the larger Mormon feminist community, and the book should have reflected that reality. Though we cannot immediately make full restitution for this omission–the book is too far along in the publication process–we hope to further address this concern in our second printing of the volume.”[1]
The authors, too, took the time to address concerns over lack of diversity as well:
“In retrospect, it’s clear that we could and arguably should have extended our search for authors outside the network of our personal acquaintances who could very appropriately have enlarged the framework of our book by addressing the linkage between feminist issues and Mormon PoC [Persons of Color], as many of you have pointed out. Having said this, it’s also fair to say that the very last thing we imagined accomplishing was to insult, devalue, or marginalize any Latter-day Saints with heartfelt grievances concerning their institutional treatment in the LDS faith. Its limitations notwithstanding, we believe Voices for Equality is an honest book—the product of conscientious intent and shared intellectual labor by both devoted women and men of good will—with the goal of contributing something of value to the seminal issue of gender equality in contemporary religion. We hope this modest goal will be achieved—in spite of any retrospective regrets we may have—and we invite you to read it before you judge our limitations too harshly. Give us your feedback after reading Voices for Equality. We would very much welcome that.
“Gordon Shepherd, Lavina Fielding Anderson, Gary Shepherd”
Despite the diversity flaw, “Voices of Equality” does, indeed, provide an important collection of both anecdotal and data-driven information which pinpoints Mormon feminism and where it belongs in the early 21st century. Its valuable contribution to the conversation will both challenge and inform the reader.
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[1] http://gregkofford.com/blogs/news/36640069-response-to-concerns-regarding-i-voices-for-equality-ordain-women-and-resurgent-mormon-feminism-i (Accessed October 1, 2015)