Exponent II
A feminist forum for Mormon women and gender minority voices
There is no such thing as original sin there is only burgeoning wildness and wonder daring us to see staring us in our faces — Colm Mac Con Iomaire I stood in front of a roomful of Primary children leading them through a bellowing round of “Follow the Prophet” when the world unmi…
Originally published in the Summer 2015 issue Global Zion feature. After ten years of living in the U.S., an inexplicable numbness came over me. My confidence plunged about my place professionally, spiritually, and geographically. I was living in Washington, D.C., and my job at a…
Proverbs & Idioms
I remember in the early days of the pandemic feeling almost a wonder or reverence for the situation we had all just been thrust into. Getting on the train home for what I thought would be a two-week break from my office in March 2020, I called my sister. We reflected on the spiri…
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. — William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (Act II Scene II) When my mother married my father, she knew flower names were out. She could not name her daughter Rose, or even Daisy (a family name she h…
It was he who surprised her…not to confess but to propose: he’d be taking a second wife. The full content of this post is available to subscribers. Subscribe now or log in!
I know without a shadow of a doubt. The certainty – an unassailable wall for my fifteen-year-old mind. The cold stone barring the warmth of — Belonging. Doubts swoop at my head, yellow talons extended, slash at my unprotected heels. Hope might be chink-hold for my tennis-shoed fo…
“I’m more of a ‘flirt to convert’ missionary,” said a fellow Young Woman, laughing. It was a Sunday back in the 1980s. We were learning about missions from our female leaders who had never served missions and seemed to be teaching this specific topic only by handbook assignment. …
Life is too short, but you didn’t really know it at thirteen — that first time you dyed your hair at a sleepover. From a dull brown to a vibrant red. I sank into a corner in our bedroom as Dad’s face went from ruddy to purple, as he wagged a disapproving finger because you’d done…
Home drums beat first: Before taking on someone’s else’s problems, you should first look after your own affairs. * Surrounded by seas of whiteness, I craved my accent. A few years ago, filled with excitement and hesitant optimism, I visited friends in Idaho and Utah for eight wee…
Faith isn’t like a seed It’s a garden grown within. Winter flowers bloom in chill As daisies burst in spring Leaves once bright in autumn Rot away in mud and rain Pleasant plants erupt from hidden places Only later to wither away Then in times of trauma In grief and devastation F…
Last week I took my baby, now eighteen years old and almost a foot taller than me, to the airport so he could leave me to serve two years in a faraway country. I hugged him for longer than his dignity could stand, then watched him swallow hard and turn away to go through security…