Welcome to Feminist and Faithful!

If you are reading this, you likely connected with me over social media at some point and were morbidly curious about what I could have to say on the subject of feminism & faith in the same sentence (or you might be my grandma). Welcome!

Let's get down to it: why *whispers*  feminism?

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First, let's be clear about what feminism REALLY looks like: 

• No, I am not going to burn my bras (which never happened, by the way). 
• No, I am not here to slander men.
• No, I am "not like those crazy feminists". In fact, there are so many types of feminists that someone wrote a book about it and created a college course called Gender Psychology (which I took) (which is my inspiration). 
• Yes, I do wear dress pants to church and no, I do not feel it was inappropriate. 
• Yes, I kept my last name (did you know it costs $50 to change your name? I'd rather eat for a week.)

As a returned missionary and a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I was faced with some interesting truths in this class that initially seemed to contradict the gospel doctrine I was raised with. However, as I have studied the doctrine of the gospel of Christ I have learned to separate doctrine and culture to better my understanding.

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A brief example of doctrine vs. culture:

Doctrine: "Worthily taking the sacrament renews our covenants with God. We gather together as often as we can to renew our sacred covenants and to worship Jesus Christ together. All are welcome regardless of socioeconomic status, race, gender, sexual orientation, or church recommend status." 

Culture: "Wearing anything outside of a suit (men) and a dress/skirt (women) made of fine ((expensive))  materials AND shoes that cover all your toes is incredibly inappropriate. Only antichrist's wear denim to church. People who smell like cigarettes are not allowed. No hats. No colored dress shirts for men. No exceptions."

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(You may have noticed some exaggeration in my tone of writing. I assure you that this example (while comical) includes real comments from real people who made real covenants and really believe these things to be doctrine.)

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So why is this important anyway?

Making these distinguishments is helping me to:

• Be more Christlike
• Be feminist without compromising my morals
• Get to know my Heavenly Father more personally.

I hope you will learn the why and the how of being a feminist and being faithful. Walk with me! It's gonna be an incredible journey. 😊