Exponent II
A feminist forum for Mormon women and gender minority voices
I don’t remember who told me first — my mom? My dad? My Young Women’s President, the one with the indestructible, gravity-defying, blonde hair? Whoever it was, here is what they told me: say yes to boys. If a boy asks you to slow dance, you say yes. It doesn’t matter if his list …
You carry yourself like a leftover meal, your back an arched rib bone. You think yourself alone in doubts, alone in the way your arteries stretch your yearnings towards home. Eyes searching during whispered prayers, in this you are too alone. Bread caught in a burning throat, wat…
CHAPTER ONE 1 In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. The Father was God, and so was the Mother. And they saw that it was good. 2 And the Father said, Let us make a man in my image, in my likeness. 3 So the Father created a man in his own image, in the image of th…
The eight-year-old, newly baptized takes the blessed bit of bread from the silver tray in her brother’s hand glances at her father who is always on the stand And whispers to her mother “When I’m twelve I’ll get to pass the sacrament, won’t I?” “Shhhhh!” The voice of her ten-year-…
Table of ContentsOvercome spiritual risk aversion. Refer to Her. Connect with Her. Redefine “God.” Find Her in scripture. Amplify female voices. Acknowledge the shoulders we stand on. Facilitate and advocate for ongoing work. Explore Her roles. Celebrate womanhood outside of moth…
His eyelashes. They were the only part of his bashed-up face that I recognized. Careful to avoid the IVs, I reached for his hand. It was still as warm as it had been two nights before, at a friend’s wedding at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. We’d sneaked out of the reception into…
What parts of your childhood/young adult life led you to illustration? I was drawing people as early as three years old. I’d create stories with the people I drew and my Tatay (dad) was always eager to hear what new adventures I had imagined. Tatay was always supportive of my art…
I object mostly to the lack of love accompanied by professions of love, those honey-coated lozenges of turpentine: “what I wrote was the truth” and “I wasn’t attacking anyone’s beliefs.” I seek opinions widely— some temporarily satisfy some don’t take my bait one asks me about my…
Book review of Rosalyn Eves’ Beyond the Mapped Stars Beyond the Mapped Stars by Rosalyn Eves (Knopf, August 2021) is a powerful coming-of-age story about a 17-year-old Mormon girl, Elizabeth, who wants to become an astronomer despite her self-doubt and the traditional expectation…
Thank you for applying to come to the United States! Have you tried our online “Explore My Options” tool? This feature quickly determines your potential eligibility for immigration options. All you need to do is answer a few questions. 1a: How much money do you have for a visa? O…
I don’t remember her crying. I don’t remember her fear. I don’t remember him leaving to serve a country that hated him. I don’t remember him coming home to the shouts and slurs spewing forth from neighbors who only saw him as different. None of them remember that he saved their f…
From a Stake Conference address in Highlands Ranch Stake, Colorado My husband, Joel, and I love to ride our bikes. We use a program to see how far we’ve ridden, how fast we’ve gone, and how many feet we’ve climbed. This program also breaks the distance up into segments, anywhere …