Thursday, April 14, 2005
In praise of power-hungry women.
Mrs Philocrites — who is on her way to becoming an Episcopal priest — and I have just read a marvelous essay by Mormon feminist Lorie Winder Stromberg: "Power Hungry" (first published last year in the independent Mormon magazine Sunstone and reprinted by the Feminist Mormon Housewives blog). You didn't know there were Mormon feminists, did you?
Copyright © 2005 by Philocrites | Posted 14 April 2005 at 10:22 PM
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Commentary by Chris Walton on Unitarian Universalism, liberal Christianity, American religion, and liberal culture. Contact me.
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4 comments:
Paul:
April 15, 2005 08:12 AM | Permalink for this comment
Mormon feminists? Brigham Young is spinning in his grave ! :)
James Field:
April 15, 2005 05:46 PM | Permalink for this comment
Sonia Johnson's From Housewife to Heretic was a key influence on me, even if some of my Mormon friends have issues with her.
Nancy:
April 15, 2005 10:25 PM | Permalink for this comment
Of course there were/are! Most live in Boston with underground connections. In my former life, I subscribed to a radical rag called the Women's Exponent. The saddest issue I ever read was the one that reviewed the biography of Mormon Enigma, Emma Smith by Linda Newell. [I think published in late 70's] Joseph deceived her and blatantly lied. Here we were a bunch of Mormon feminists trying to hang on to our faith. And Joseph betrayed Emma. It broke a lot of feminist hearts and spirits.
This probably sounds a bit silly to Unitarians in 2005.
Nancy
Lorie Winder Stromberg:
April 16, 2005 03:17 AM | Permalink for this comment
Mormon feminists? Why yes, and some of us are even liberal Democrats. I am pleased that my "Power Hungry" essay appealed to an audience beyond Mormonism. The following is the penultimate paragraph and, perhaps, the most universally applicable: "Finally, if by power hungry you mean I want the ability to participate in a model of power based on partnership rather than patriarchy, based on empowerment rather than domination, then, yes, I’m power hungry. Scott Bartchy, UCLA professor of Christian origins and early church history, gave a presentation . . . in which he declared that Christ came to overthrow traditional models of power, which were based on domination, coercion and control. In their place, he offered a model of power in which power is used to empower. Power used to dominate, coerce or control will always burn itself out, asserted Bartchy. Only power used to empower is everlasting."
Lorie
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