Is Mormon Feminism Dead? w/ Katie Ludlow Rich and Heather Sundahl | Ep. 1973

Is Mormon Feminism Dead? What 50 Years of Exponent II Reveals About Gender and Faith

When Heather Sundahl and Katie Ludlow Rich set out to document five decades of Mormon feminist activism, they weren't simply writing a history book. They were answering a question that has haunted the Latter-day Saint community since the ERA debates of the 1970s: Is Mormon feminism dead? According to a recent Mormon Stories podcast episode featuring these two scholars discussing their new book, "50 Years of Exponent," the answer is far more nuanced than yes or no. What emerges instead is a portrait of a movement that has transformed, fractured, and persisted in ways that challenge both institutional narratives and secular feminist frameworks.

The question itself carries weight. For women navigating the intersection of faith and gender equality in a male-led hierarchical church, understanding whether Mormon feminism remains viable, or whether it has simply evolved into something unrecognizable, matters deeply.

The Historical Roots: From Woman's Exponent to Exponent II

The story begins not in the 1970s, but in 1872, when Mormon women in the nineteenth century founded the Woman's Exponent, a publication that blended domestic advice, political advocacy, and institutional loyalty in ways that contemporary observers would struggle to categorize. The Relief Society, officially reconstituted in 1868, soon became a vehicle for women's collective power within formal church structures.

What's striking about this historical record is how multifaceted early Mormon women's activism was. The Woman's Exponent didn't separate the personal from the political. Readers encountered recipes alongside legislative updates on women's suffrage, speeches from church leaders mixed with essays advocating for expanded rights. This hybrid approach, maintaining institutional loyalty while pushing boundaries, would define Mormon feminism for generations.