They say you must learn history in order to avoid repeating the same mistakes. Very few, including Mormons, know little about their own religious history. I am currently reading "An Advocate for Women: the Public Life of Emmeline B. Wells" by Carol Cornwall Madsen and I have learned so much about this amazing woman, the history of women's suffrage, LDS women's suffrage, the place Utah had in national politics, and prejudices in that time.
I was struck by the fact that many of the characterizations and misrepresentations of Mormon women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are similar to what I have encountered as a Mormon of the 21st Century. True, much of the ammunition aimed at Mormons and Mormon women revolved around a fiery anti-polygamy movement, but it all boils down to religion. While I may not be a polygamist wife (as much as my husband jokes about being the guy to bring it back), I have seen similar prejudices against Mormons because of their lifestyle/religious choices/beliefs that still happening now.
For example, in describing Kate Field's anti-polygamy/anti-Mormon (women) lecture circuit, Madsen said, "Field denounced women's culpability in their 'degradation,' and berated woman suffrage as a prop for Mormon political control." Two things in this sentence resounded with me. First, I have often wondered if people think it's acceptable to mock and persecute Mormons (or members of any religion) because we choose 'culpability in our degradation.' It's our choice to believe what we do, so we are opening ourselves up to criticism. The second accusation in this statement is that the suffrage movement was simply being used by the Mormons for politics...doesn't that sound familiar? Government officials didn't think the residents of Utah would allow women the right to vote (because they assumed Mormon men and leadership didn't want women to have that kind of power), but the territory ended up being the first to enfranchise women...with the support of Church leadership (the federal government eventually removed that right). Read the comments at the end of any story on the internet about the good works the LDS Church does around the world and there are ALWAYS comments about how the welfare and assistance the Church offers is insincere, it's politically motivated, only does it to get more butts in the pews, etc. Even when Mormons try to do what's right, we are wrong. And have been, apparently, since the beginning.
Of course, Field was directly attacking Mormon women for choosing their shameful status, referring to polygamy, but she was also referring to Mormon women in general (not all Mormon women were in polygamous marriages). According to Field, Mormon women did not deserve the right to vote or respect because of the faith and lifestyle they chose, which, apparently, meant they were incompetent. No one is trying to take away my right to vote, but I have often seen people's behavior and attitudes towards me change once they find out I am Mormon. In Seattle, we are very open of other people's lifestyle choices. People often accept choices I've made, including my decision to quit a successful career to raise a family, with no judgement...until they find out I'm Mormon. Once the 'Mormon' part of the equation comes into play, I practically hear what many are thinking: "Oh, it's because Mormons think women should be barefoot and pregnant," and "Mormons are so sexist."
If I were some other kind of Seattle resident (ie a hippie, in a lesbian relationship, or had some other 'alternative' lifestyle), people would much more readily accept my decisions. But because I am a Mormon woman, they think I cannot make decisions on my own, which makes the decision I did make less acceptable. I realize this sounds very dramatic and I don't really know what people are thinking, but I've heard all of these in some manner or another.
The other, very relevant issue, is that of voting for representatives. Back in the day, many non-Mormon Utah residents, especially non-Mormon women, worked to take away the right of women to vote in Utah...just in order to reduce the Mormon influence on the politics in Utah! According to Madsen, a non-Mormon woman in Utah...and national suffragist!...named Annie Godbe "favored removing the vote from Utah women to secure better political equity" because she felt oppressed by all the Mormons voting in Utah. One of the reasons given by Godbe and others was that Mormon women will simply vote like their leaders and husbands...familiar much?
With two 2012 Presidential candidates who happen to be Mormon, how often do we hear that 'Mormons vote like their leaders tell them to' and 'Mormons blindly follow.' Personally, I hate the fact that people think Mormons are cookie cutters...that we think the same, we have the same opinions, that we are the same. It's insulting. Which is why I love Emmeline B. Wells' response to this accusation (according to Madsen): "Asserting the intelligence and political astuteness of Mormon women [I'll add men, too], she emphatically denied that they were the political clones of their fathers and husbands." Emmeline also said, "Intelligent, consistent women will naturally vote for those, who maintain the institutions which they believe to be for the highest elevation of the human race. Mormon women vote for their own highest interest, and the men who they believe will best subserve that interest."
We vote for people who share our values and would further causes we (as individuals) believe in. Can people really expect otherwise? I am in interested candidates who share my same values; most likely LDS candidates share my same values, but other candidates may, too. I am open-minded enough to do my research and possibly vote for them, too, whether they are LDS or not.
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