Mormon Underwear: The Difference between Magic and the Sacred
I received my first set of temple garments nearly two years ago. I was home in New Hampshire for Christmas vacation, a month before my 25th birthday, and I was at the Boston Temple to receive my Endowment. Most Mormon adults first participate in the ceremony known as The Endowment a few days before becoming [...]
Mormon at a Bar: A Nondrinker’s First Time Out with Drinking Buddies
It’s 10pm on a Friday night, in a town the Princeton Review usually names among the top party schools in the country, and I have just finished a reading with my cohort from my creative writing PhD program. After living in Provo, Utah for the past eight years, I’m clutching my root beer so the [...]
When No Place Is Home
This post deviates from my usual focus on being a religious feminist in the USA, and it deviates for a good reason: I am in the process of moving to Georgia. In fact, as of today I am still in a hotel, where I have been staying for my first week here, because work obligations [...]
Religion: A Stable Force for a Traveling Girl
In just a few days, I will leave Provo, Utah, a town where I have lived for eight years now. A number of people have told me that I’m adventurous and that they’d never be so comfortable traveling to new states for academic conferences, or moving across the country for a PhD program. But the [...]
Being a Mormon Woman: What it Feels Like.
Right now, there a lot of people with thoughts on what it’s like to be a Mormon woman. Along with those who watch from the outside and speculate on Mormon womanhood, there are plenty stories floating around from those who have chosen to leave, such as a New York Times article by a Mormon woman [...]
Mormon in the Time of Mitt Romney and the Anti-Mormon Backlash
When I first began this column, one of the topics at the forefront of my mind was persecution. It’s a sensitive topic, one that’s tricky to discuss. But as Mitt Romney continues to face criticism that is aimed directly at his faith, the topic feels increasingly relevant to my experience as a religious feminist in [...]
Why Religious Feminists Should Support Contraceptive Rights – Part 2
For my thoughts on why contraceptive rights support the religious liberty of individuals, see part 1 of this discussion. Laws that require insurance companies to cover medical requirements, without regard to religious objections, are not the fundamental shift in policy that some political pundits have suggested them to be. I realize that some readers [...]
Why Religious Feminists Should Support Contraceptive Rights – Part 1
If you’re like me, you probably feel like this national debate over contraceptives is some bizarre throwback to the dark ages (or, as Stephen Colbert put it – why not start protesting Elvis’s pelvis-thrusting influence on teens?). And if you’re like me, you’re probably sick of hearing about it. Heaven knows, I wish this debate [...]
. And if you’re like me, you’re probably sick of hearing about it. Heaven knows, I wish this debate [...] "Pin It")
Religious Feminist in the USA: Mormon Feminism in the Time of Mitt Romney
This article kicks off a new monthly column, Religious Feminist in the USA. Mitt Romney and his faith are all over the news. With many Americans wondering whether voters are ready for a Mormon president, major publications and news shows have dedicated time and space to researching and publishing articles all about his faith, the [...]
More than Leaves: An Unusual New England Autumn
Last weekend I returned to New Hampshire, for my first autumn visit in eight years. I couldn’t wait to see the sweep of red, orange, and yellow trees – but the leaves hadn’t changed. As a child growing up in New Hampshire, I loved autumn. Back to school shopping, apples and pumpkins, crisp morning [...]
Emily has straddled two home states for five years now: Utah and New Hampshire. Socially and politically, these states are about as different as two states in the Union can get, which makes for nonstop adventures in culture shock. She travels more for necessity than pleasure, but years of flying across the US have taught her the ins and outs of booking cheap airfare, surviving dreadful plane rides, and transitioning between two cultures. Four years ago she spent a semester in Paris, and she’s been dying to get back to Europe ever since. She has one year left of her MFA in creative writing and can’t wait to graduate and embark on more pleasurable travel adventures. You can follow more of her antics at notanotherwave.blogspot.com.