Misogyny?

   There has been a fair amount of press surrounding the excommunication of Kate Kelly from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The reason why I bring it up is because it brought a couple of topics that have been swimming around in the back of my head to front and center. In fact these thoughts have been so persistent that I can't ignore them any longer.
  For the record The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not the only church that does not allow women into it's lay clergy. The Missouri Synod and Wisconsin Evangelical Synod Lutheran Churches do not ordain women. The Wisconsin Evangelical Synod does allow women to participate as long as they have no authority over men. This means that women are not permitted to vote if it would mean women would have authority over men. The Roman Catholic church does not allow female clergy.
  I bring this up because I feel there is this stereotype that the LDS is misogynistic. It is assumed that because there are no women leading wards and stakes, they teach that women have responsibilities that are different than men and that they strongly encourage traditional families values, it means women have little value.
   I have one word to say about this. Nonsense!
   Women in Utah territory were granted the right to vote in 1870 long before many women in the rest of the country were given suffrage. The LDS also have a long history of valuing education for both women and men. Alice Louise Reynolds, Romania Pratt Penrose and Amy Brown Lyman are all LDS women who had college degrees long before it became common for women to have them. In fact, when Romania Pratt Penrose was going to medical school and was struggling financially , Brigham Young encouraged the Relief Society( the women's group of the LDS) to raise funds for her so that she could finish her education. The intent was she would return to Utah where her medical skills were badly needed.
   LDS women have held leadership positions. Amy Brown Lyman was a delegate to the National Conference of Social Work and the National Council of Women. She was also in the Utah State Legislature in the early 1920s. Angela Buchanan was the United States Treasurer in the early 1980s. Christine M. Durham is a Justice in the Utah Supreme Court. She was the first female Chief Justice to swear in a female governor, Olene Walker (who is also LDS).
   I hope that this sheds the light of reality on the stereotype of LDS women.
   I'm going to turn to another thought that had my mental gears grinding. I read an excellent blog about Kate Kelly and LDS beliefs. I wish I could find it because I would certainly recommend it. In the blog, the writer said that the ones telling women they are considered inferior are other women. I reread the sentence when I came on it because I wanted to make sure it said what I thought it said. It did.
  That sad part is that it is true. I have listened and read many talks by male LDS leaders. Not once have I ever heard or seen anything that suggests that women are "less than". Mistreatment of women is very much against LDS church teaching. A man who practices what is called "unrighteous dominion" over his wife and children is considered to be vomiting a sin and is comanded to confess, repent and mend his ways. I know for a fact that both Bishop Nealy and President Campbell, two local church leaders that I know fairly well, hold their wives in high esteem and value the partnership that they share.
  Women can be harsh when it comes to their own kind. Over the years I have known women who were a bit reticent about saying that they are stay at home mothers. I can understand why. There is this attitude that if you stay at home then you are wasting your potential and are one step above a handmaid to your husband. It's worse when a woman has a college degree and elects to stay home. Then there is the attitude of "well why did you bother going to college if you weren't going to use it". Both attitudes are grossly unfair and untrue. I always thought that the whole point of women's rights was to give women choices. A woman who chooses to stay at home and care for her family should get just as much respect as a woman who chooses to work outside her home. Both are contributing to society and are working. The difference is where and what they do. As for the college degree, no knowledge is ever wasted. I know one woman who works in her home that says her education in psychology is helpful in dealing with her children and others.
  We, as a whole, need to change our thinking when it comes to women. A woman's value should not be determined by the size of her paycheck, a title that she holds or who she leads. Just like a woman's value should not be determined by how much she weighs, how beautiful others think she is and how many Twitter followers she has. We also need to quit assuming that any religious organization who has doctrine that does not allow women to lead at certain levels is misogynistic and intending to subjugate women. You have to look at the whole picture. It is usually not what it seems.