(RNS) — When you tell people you research and write about Mormon feminism, they have questions. Can you be truly faithful and be a feminist? Can you be pro-woman and be part of an overtly patriarchal organization? The word “oxymoron” comes up a lot.
As co-authors of the book “ Fifty Years of Exponent II , ” published last year, we’ve found the last half a century to be filled with ups and downs. Especially when you consider the history of Exponent II — the longest-running independent publication for Mormon women and gender minorities — it’s clear the faith’s contradictions on women’s issues have been fertile ground for growth.
Exponent II has a history laced with tension and irony. For example, its archives now sit in the special collections department at Brigham Young University, which is named for Latter-day Saint apostle L. Tom Perry — the same church leader who, in 1975, flew to Boston to urge the magazine’s founding editor to step down at the request of top church authorities. As LDS leaders centralized the church’s authority through a process called correlation, they saw independent publications like Exponent II — which they feared might challenge traditional gender roles — as a threat to their control over the church’s message and missionary efforts…