1st Edition

The Routledge Handbook of Mormonism and Gender

Edited By Taylor Petrey, Amy Hoyt Copyright 2020
    648 Pages 11 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    646 Pages 11 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The Routledge Handbook of Mormonism and Gender is an outstanding reference source to this controversial subject area. Since its founding in 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has engaged gender in surprising ways. LDS practice of polygamy in the nineteenth century both fueled rhetoric of patriarchal rule as well as gave polygamous wives greater autonomy than their monogamous peers. The tensions over women’s autonomy continued after polygamy was abandoned and defined much of the twentieth century. In the 1970s, 1990s, and 2010s, Mormon feminists came into direct confrontation with the male Mormon hierarchy. These public clashes produced some reforms, but fell short of accomplishing full equality. LGBT Mormons have a similar history. These movements are part of the larger story of how Mormonism has managed changing gender norms in a global context. Comprising over forty chapters by a team of international contributors the Handbook is divided into four parts:

    • Methodological issues

    • Historical approaches

    • Social scientific approaches

    • Theological approaches.

    These sections examine central issues, debates, and problems, including: agency, feminism, sexuality and sexual ethics, masculinity, queer studies, plural marriage, homosexuality, race, scripture, gender and the priesthood, the family, sexual violence, and identity.

    The Routledge Handbook of Mormonism and Gender is essential reading for students and researchers in religious studies, gender studies, and women’s studies. The Handbook will also be very useful for those in related fields, such as cultural studies, politics, anthropology, and sociology.

    Introduction

    Amy Hoyt and Taylor G. Petrey

    Part I: Methodological issues

    1. Gender and culture in a global church

    Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp

    2. Race and gender in Mormonism: 1830-1978

    Joseph R. Stuart and Amanda Hendrix-Komoto

    3. Intersectionality

    Chiung Hwang Chen and Ethan Yorgason

    4. Feminities

    Amy Hoyt

    5. Masculinities

    Sara M. Patterson

    Part II: Historical approaches

    6. Joseph Smith, plural marriage, and kinship

    Benjamin E. Park

    7. Mormon gender in the age of polygamy

    Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

    8. Mormon women and scripture in the nineteenth century

    Amy Easton-Flake

    9. Mormonism, gender, and art in nineteenth-century Scandinavia

    Julie K. Allen

    10. Mormon gender in the progressive era

    Matthew Bowman

    11. Mormon gender in the mid-twentieth century

    Colleen McDannell

    12. Mormon feminism after 1970

    Claudia L. Bushman

    13. Gender and missionary work

    David Golding

    14. Homosexuality and therapeutic culture in Mormonism

    Eric G. Swedin

    15. Homosexuality and politics in Mormonism

    Neil J. Young

    16. Mormon LGBTQ organizing and organizations

    John Donald Gustav-Wrathall

    17. Mormonism, gender, and art

    Mary Campbell

    18. Mormon literature and gender

    Fara Anderson Sneddon

    19. Sexual purity and its discontents in Mormonism

    Sara Moslener

    20. Mormonism and sexual violence

    Andrea G. Radke-Moss

    Part III: Social scientific approaches

    21. Women and religious organizations: a "microbiological" approach to influence

    Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye

    22. Global Mormon perspectives and experiences of family structures

    Caroline Kline

    23. Structures of home and family: North America

    Megan Ann Stanton

    24. Non-traditional families

    Ryan T. Cragun and Giuseppina Valle Holway

    25. Social science perspectives on gender and Mormon orthodoxy

    Jana Riess and Benjamin Knoll

    26. Gender and mental health in Mormon contexts

    Rebekah Perkins Crawford

    27. Women’s gender roles and Mormonism in England

    Alison Halford

    28. Institutional gender negotiations within Irish Mormon congregations

    Hazel O’Brien

    29. Peruvian Mormon matchmaking: the limits of Mormon endogamy at Zion’s border

    Jason Palmer

    30. Mormon women at work in Nicaragua

    Amanda Talbot Tew

    31. Mormon masculinity, family, and kava in the Pacific

    Arcia Tecun and S. Ata Siu‘ulua

    32. Gendered dynamics and institutions within Nigerian Mormonism

    Russell W. Stevenson

    Part IV: Theological approaches

    33. Scripture and gender

    Joseph M. Spencer

    34. Theology of the family

    Rosalynde Welch

    35. Theology of sexuality

    Taylor G. Petrey

    36. Queer Mormons

    K. Mohrman

    37. Trans and mutable bodies

    Kelli D. Potter

    38. Feminism and Heavenly Mother

    Fiona Givens

    39. Women and the priesthood

    Jonathan A. Stapley

    40. Men and the priesthood

    Margaret Toscano

    41. Mujerista theology

    Sujey Vega

    Index

    Biography

    Amy Hoyt as Visiting Scholar of Religion at Claremont Graduate University, USA. Her work specifically focuses on issues of gender within Mormonism in North America and Africa. She has published in Feminist Theology, Mormon Studies Review, and Gender & History.

    Taylor G. Petrey is Associate Professor of Religion at Kalamazoo College, USA and editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. He is the author of Tabernacles of Clay: Gender and Sexuality in Modern Mormonism (2020).

    Gender and sexuality give rise to passionate debates among contemporary Mormon studies scholars and the communities they study. This handbook serves as an indispensable orientation to these complex issues and as a springboard for future research. I highly recommend this volume for anyone interested in the history, culture, theology, and future prospects of the Latter-day Saints.

    Patrick Q. Mason, Utah State University, USA