Just so Mormon that I HAVE to comment

I was interested to see what Ann Romney's speech at the RNC would look and sound like.

I thought she did great, she obviously wanted to support her husband by humanizing him/making him more accessible, the crowd seemed to love her.

There were a few sentences that were just grammatically weird or flat-out incomprehensible. ("We're too smart to know there aren't easy answers" - wait.  So we're so smart that we don't/can't know that???  I listened to that part three times and finally just let it go).  But that's her speech writer's fault, or their assumption that the juxtaposition that followed it would help people get what she MEANT (even if it wasn't what they had her SAY).

 Those things aside....

It was just so SO Mormon-y, I can't get over it!

There was the teary-bleary-I'm-holding-my-tears-in-which-means-what-I'm-saying-is-true stuff.  (Now, I understand that the Spirit can be tear-inducing, but come on, it doesn't HAVE to be ALL the time)

Then there was the "You women are so awesome" stuff.  Over at Exponent II they've already commented on the parallel between the LDS church's (mis)treatment of women with that of the RNC, so I"ll just direct you there.  In a nutshell I just think it's amazing how two very powerful, far-reaching organizations do sexist and discriminatory things and then tell women how AWESOME or INCREDIBLE they are in some sort of attempt to make up for it.

(Can I just point out, most of us can see through that?  LDS leaders and RNC big-wigs, we'll still be mad that in many cases you don't listen to us, and think we're not capable of leading or making difficult decisions, and want to force us to have transvaginal ultrasounds.  Your actions give me a much clearer indication of what you think of me.)

But here's the big thing.

I resent the implication that my husband doesn't work every bit as hard as I do to support our family, or understand our family's needs as well as I do, or is less awesome than me.

Maybe women are great, but you don't have to tear down our husbands, fathers, brothers, and colleagues, in order to help us understand that.  Either we already know it, or nothing you can say will convince us of it.

Modesty (some more)

I sometimes engage in (usually pointless) discussions on a blog.  The author's stated purpose is to encourage LDS men to be more manly and what he thinks of as fulfilling their "divine roles" as men.

Usually he says things that are downright misogynistic, and on more than one occasion has stuck to his opinion despite being presented with facts to the contrary.

The most recent exchange has been about modesty, where he takes the typical "I can't control the biological response I have to a woman's body....women shouldn't dress like sluts if they don't want attention from bums".  (Those classifications of men and women are his word choice, not mine).

I'm afraid a comment I posted will hang out in moderation (cause he does that when he doesn't like my argument), so I wanted to post it somewhere:

Given Jesus' example of welcoming sinners, shouldn't we cultivate an atmosphere where we teach young people not to judge based on appearance?

So instead of saying "of course young men are going to see that immodest girl and think she's easy" would a better approach not be to say "we fallible humans judge people, often, wrongly, and that's a shame.  Why don't we teach that modesty is about appropriateness instead of inches of fabric?"

Taunting a gang member....did you really compare the sexual urges of teenaged boys to gang members who beat people up?  That's unfortunate.  But I guess it explains the difference in our approaches.

You say, and I agree with, the following:
Taunting a gang member is likely to get you beat up.

Dressing like a slut will probably get you unwelcome attention.

You say:
So don't taunt a gang member.

So don't dress like a slut.

I would offer:
So let's encourage community members to implement community action programs, create community centers, and emphasize education.  Let's offer education initiatives to try to break this cycle.

So let's teach the YM that sexual responses are normal and learning to control them and respond only in appropriate ways to them is part of growing up.  But let's also teach them that a person's appearance does not always correspond to their level of personal righteousness, because teenagers often have a variety of obstacles (lack of parental support, poverty, insecurity or self-esteem issues) in their way that prevent them from looking like a Mormon fashion plate.


I'll grant that your solution is quicker, easier, and more succinct than mine.  But ease does not necessarily equate with correctness.

This is why I could never be a Republican...

This guy is moronic.

Usually I try to do better than name calling, but in this case, the shoe fits.

I get that this mentality still exists.  There are TONS of old ideas that just won't die.  And he's not alone (well, in a sense he is).  I mean, LOTS of people have bad ideas.

But in this case people have elected this guy to public office.  And we all know what happens when the people choose to be led by corrupt officials.  And normalize violence against women.



Now, contrary to any indications in the title, this post does NOT imply any party affiliation.  But it IS a reasonable beginning of explaining why I won't let myself affiliate (though in perfect frankness, I lean left by Mormon standards....can't help it, all that liberal education I guess).  I simply refuse to be identified by/with people whose most outspoken representatives don't have a basic grasp of junior-high biology.  Or people who don't want me to own a gun if I'm not part of a militia.

Like in so many other areas of my life, I don't fit squarely anywhere.  Because where would the fun be in that??

I'll make my own decisions, thanks.