Table of Contents

A Note on the Cover
Acknowledgments
Contributor List
Introduction by Joanna Brooks
Key Events in Mormon Feminist History

A. FOUNDATIONS: The 1970s
1. Claudia Lauper Bushman, "Women in Dialogue: An Introduction" (1971)
2. Claudia Lauper Bushman, "Exponent 2 is Born" (1974)
3. Carol Lynn Pearson, "Millie's Mother's Red Dress" (1974)
4. Claire Peterson, "Hide and Seek" (1974 -1975)
5. Elouise Bell, "The Implications of Feminism for BYU" (1975)
6. Judith Rasmussen Dushku, "Mormon Sisters: Feminists" (1976)
7. Margaret Munk, "First Grief" (1978)
8. Dixie Snow Huefner, "Church and Politics at the Utah IWY" (1978)
9. Sonia Johnson, "My Revolution": Excerpts from Housewife to Heretic
10. Sonia Johnson, "The Church was Once in the Forefront of the Women's Movement": Speech to the Senate Constitutional Rights Subcommittee (1978)
11. Sonia Johnson, "Patriarchal Panic: Sexual Politics in the Mormon Church" (1979)
12. Linda Wilcox, "The Mormon Concept of a Mother in Heaven" (1980)
13. Lisa Hawkins Bolin, "Another Prayer" and "Let My Sisters Do for Me" (1980)
14. Carol Lynn Pearson, "Motherless House" (1980).
16. Linda King Newell, "A Gift Given, A Gift Taken: Washing, Anointing, and Blessing the Sick among Mormon Women" (1981)
17. Carol Cornwall Madsen, "Mormon Women and the Struggle for Definition: The Nineteenth-Century Church" (1981)
18. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, "Pink Dialogue and Beyond" (1981)

B. LIVED CONTRADICTIONS: The 1980s
1. Nadine Hansen, "Women and Priesthood" (1981)
2. Mary Bradford, selections from Mormon Women Speak (1982): Reva Beth Russell, "A Purple Rose;" and Cherie Taylor Pederson, "Expanding the Vision"
3. Mary Bradford, "Across the Generations" (1984)
4. Margaret Toscano, "The Missing Rib: The Forgotten Place of Queens and Priestessses in the Establishment of Zion" (1985)
5. Linda Sillitoe, "an elegy in lower case (for president spencer w. kimball)" (1985)
6. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, "Lusterware" (1986)
7. Judith Rasmussen Dushku, "The Day of the Lambs and the Lions" (1987)
8. Violet Tew Kimball, "Wife #3" (1987)
9. Carol Lynn Pearson, "A Walk in the Pink Moccasins" (1988)
10. Elouise Bell, "The Meeting" and "When Nice Ain't So Nice" (1990)
11. Sonja Farnsworth, "Mormonism's Odd Couple: The Priesthood-Motherhood Connection" (1991)

C. DEFINING MOMENTS: The 1990s
1. Cecilia Konchar Farr, "I Am a Mormon, and I am for Choice" (1992)
2. Carol Lynn Pearson, Mother Wove the Morning (1992)
3. Susan Elizabeth Howe, "The Blessing" (1992)
4. Margaret Toscano, "Put on Your Strength, O Daughters of Zion: Claiming Priesthood and Knowing the Mother" (1992)
5. Lavina Fielding Anderson, "The LDS Intellectual Community and Church Leadership: A Contemporary Chronology" (1992)
6. White Roses: Statement (1993)
7. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, "Border Crossings" (1994)
8. Janice Allred, "Toward a Mormon Theology of God the Mother" (1994)
9. Lynn Matthews Anderson, "Towards a Feminist Interpretation of Latter-day Saint Scripture" (1994)
10. Cecilia Konchar Farr, "Dancing Through the Doctrine" (1995)
11. Lynn Matthews Anderson, "I Have an Answer" (1996)
12. Carol Lynn Pearson, "Could Feminism Have Saved the Nephites?" (1996)

D. RESURGENCE: The 2000s
1. Joanna Brooks, "Where Have All the Mormon Feminists Gone" (2003)
2. Lorie Winder Stromberg, "Power Hungry" (2004)
3. Chieko Nishimura Okazaki, "There is Always a Struggle" (2005)
4. Kynthia Taylor, "The Trouble With Chicken Patriarchy" (2007)
5. "What Women Know" (2007)
6. Lisa Butterworth, "13 Articles of Faith of Healthy Chastity" (2010)
7. Joanna Brooks, "Invocation / Benediction" (2010)
8. Valerie Hudson Cassler, "Two Trees" (2010)
9. Chelsea Shields Strayer, "Dear Mom" (2011)
10. Neylan McBaine, "To Do the Business of the Church: A Cooperative Paradigm for Examining Gendered Participation Within Church Organizational Structure" (2012)
11. Meghan Raynes, "Now I Have the Power" (2012)
12. What Women Know Collective, "All Are Alike Unto God" (2012)
13. Kate Kelly, "Equality is Not a Feeling" (2013)
14. Janan Graham, "On Black Bodies in White Spaces: Conversations on Women's Ordination and Women of African Descent in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (2013)
15. Gina Colvin, "Ordain Women, But . . . : A Womanist Perspective" (2014)
16. Lani Wendt Young, "Rejoice in the Diversity of our Sisterhood" (2014)
17. Trine Thoma Nelson, "Claim Yourself: Finding Validation and Purpose Without Institutional Approval" (2014)
18. Liz Hammond, "The Mormon Priestess: LDS Temple Theology of Womanhood" (2014)
19. Rachel Hunt Steenblik, "Welcome Baby, You are Home" (2014)
20. Carol Lynn Pearson, "Pioneers"

Glossary of Names and Terms
Additional Resources
Study Group Guide
Topical Guide
Index

About the Author

Joanna Brooks is Associate Vice President of Faculty Affairs at San Diego State University. She is the author of four books including The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an American Faith and the popular Twitter feed @askmormongirl.

Rachel Hunt Steenblik is a Ph.D. student in philosophy of religion and theology at Claremont Graduate University.

Hannah Wheelwright is a Programs Assistant at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, founder of Young Mormon Feminists, and a former spokeswoman for Ordain Women, an organization devoted to promoting the ordination of women in the Mormon Church.

Reviews

"This important collection offers both a retrospective elaboration on the past and a firm foundation DS and no little ammunition DS for ongoing struggles in the future through debate and activism...it remains a powerful intellectual and spiritual guide to embrace and ponder." -- Iren Annus, Americana E-Journal of American Studies in Hungary
"[A]n excellent, stand-alone volume that takes seriously the questions and work of Mormon women wrestling with their historical, current, and future roles in a denomination that offers the priesthood only to men, and only since 1978 to men of African descent...Mormon Feminism is an in-depth, accessible resource for Mormon studies, religious studies, feminist studies, and gender studies. It is also accessible to the lay person who is not an
academic..."--Mormon Studies Review
"Informative This well-organized book offers a window into an important movement in American religious history and provides a much-needed addition to feminist scholarship. Mormon feminists share much in common with other feminists of faith including evangelicals, Catholics, and Muslims. In each group, women are increasingly demanding a seat at the table. This collection makes comparison and dialogue between these groups possible. As such, it should prove a
valuable resource for scholars of Mormonism, feminism, women's history, and American religion."--Journal of Southern Religion
"The editors of Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings should be praised not just for the breadth of their collection, but for the many extras that enhance the reading of the book...Engaging and instructive."--Segullah
"This volume of 'Essential Writings' is needed in every tradition. What a wonderful way to capture the history of Mormon women's struggles .... A great book for reference and inspiration."--WATER Recommends
"Destined to be a new core text on the subject of whether and how one can (and should) be a Mormon feminist" --Feminism and Religion
"The volume will appeal to all those invested in understanding the compatibility of feminism and religion even beyond Mormonism." --Publishers Weekly
"The Mormon Feminism collection compiles many of the most important feminist texts from the past half-century and it is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand contemporary Mormonism."--Juvenile Instructor
"Spanning the Second Wave to the present wave of the women's movement, these essays constitute a significant body of work on the religious implications of feminism. Their usual omission from feminist and Mormon history makes collection of them here all the more welcome and necessary. They are, indeed, 'essential.' The study of contemporary Mormonism should not be attempted without them." --Kathleen Flake, Richard Lyman Bushman Professor of Mormon Studies,
University of Virginia
"The depth and breadth of Mormon feminist thought assembled in this volume will bring awareness to some and enlightenment to many. So much that has been thought and felt among Mormon women is here for reflection, reference and discussion. This book will enrich the legacy we treasure and point us to a proud future." --Aileen Hales Clyde, Chair, Utah's Task Force on Gender and Justice (1989); Regent, Utah System of Higher Education (1989-2003); Counselor, Relief
Society General Presidency, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (1990-1997)
"In Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings a chorus of diverse women's voices passionately and rationally weaves a narrative that shows us where we've been and points us to the future. Set in recent decades of Mormon history, the story it tells forgets nothing of universal womanhood. As I read, I felt a reassuring sisterhood being formed among our different religious traditions and similar experiences. Together, we are invited to explore and draw lessons
from the nuanced feminist themes that connect our lives, affect our faith, and impact our work for equality. There is much solace, encouragement, and inspiration to take in the presence of such strong, smart,
and articulate women. This is a rich resource of feminist thought, problem solving, and frameworks for activism that I will revisit again and again." --Jennifer Crumpton, author of Femmevangelical: The Modern Girl's Guide to the Good News
"Can one be a Mormon and a feminist? Through the careful combing of historical and modern Mormon feminist writings, the complexity of what it means to be an equal-minded, intelligent woman in a patriarchal church is here presented in its hopeful, heartbreaking, faithful entirety. Though the answer is complicated, this book honors those who have bravely and eloquently added their voices to the movement. As a church we owe these women-their words and work-much
recognition for their progress and perspective." --C. Jane Kendrick, writer at cjanekendrick.com