Pedestals and Podiums: Utah Women, Religious Authority, and Equal Rights Rating :
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
How the Mormon church and Mormon women who had identified themselves as feminist joined the position of mainstream conservatives
By Midwest Book Review
Award-winning professor Martha Sonntag Bradley presents Pedestals & Podiums: Utah Women, Religious Authority & Equal Rights, the true story of the relationship between Mormon women, the Mormon church, the American feminist movement in general, and the Equal Rights Amendment in particular. A close case study, Pedestals & Podiums traces how the Mormon church and Mormon women who had identified themselves as feminist joined the position of mainstream conservatives over the polarizing issue of the Equal Rights Amendment, in a fierce war waged with unrestrained rhetoric and leaflets. In addition to its extensive research, Pedestals & Podiums is written from a keenly insightful perspective, since in addition to serving as a professor the author is a member of the Mormon church and mother who personally attended the Utah women's conference of 1977.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.Excellent History of LDS Feminism
By Bill McGee
This book provides some great insights into the historical role of women within the LDS Church, and their struggle for relevance in their own right and not simply as an extension of the men in the Church. Looks at the ERA struggle, with the conclusion that while some progress has been made, there is still a long way to go for the Church to not only catch up with the rest of the civilized world, but also with the vision and promise laid out for women by the Church's founder, Joseph Smith over 150 years ago.
Product Description
The LDS Woman's Exponent of the 1800s promoted, in its masthead, "The Rights of the Women of All Nations." Editor Emmeline B. Wells was close friends with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Church President Joseph F. Smith supported women's liberation, criticizing women who "seem to glory in their enthralled condition and who caress and fondle the very chains and manacles which fetter and enslave them!" Not surprisingly, Utah women were the first in the U.S. to get the vote.
Fast forward to the 1970s, and the sentiment changed as the LDS Church took a stand against feminism and the Equal Rights Amendment. In a bitter campaign that was sometimes public and sometimes behind the scenes, the church joined the national charge against the ERA. It is a fascinating story, superbly documented, with equally interesting views from both sides of the controversies, showing how a once radical church became a bastion of conservatism.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1765144 in Books
- Published on: 2005-10-18
- Original language:English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .0" h x.0" w x.0" l,.0 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 613 pages
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