I sometimes hear this question on the board and among exmos and others.

I would think any Mormon would know the answer if they understand Mormon women. The Mormon church treats it's female members horribly. Women and girls have no rank or real respect within the church. They must cater to every male because only males can have priesthood or power. The only prestige women can attain is through marriage to a powerful male.

Why do they put up with this unfair system? It's because they are indoctrinated to think it's fair. They don't think women deserve authority. They have to settle for respect because of their priesthood connections and second hand power through influence they hold over men within the home.

They receive some attention and honor from their hard work of being wives, mothers, and doing grunt work at church, but that's about it.

Polygamous wives are the same except on steroids. They assume their community and outsiders admire their subservience and sweet countenance. They think the husband they share will appreciate their willingness to share his attentions. They live for crumbs of appreciation and think the big payoff will be from God when they are glorified in the Celestial Kingdom.

I think mainstream Mormon women should look at these polygamous wives and realize they're fall for the same bill of goods but to a slightly less extreme. They're being used and manipulated and praised for not expecting what every women outside of Mormonism takes for granted.

They're paying a high price for the CK dream which they'll never realize. They crave security and family, a man and community which admires and appreciates them and they settle for crumbs.

"Brainwashing from birth" is always quite a straightforward answer to these kinds of questions.

I came across a Mormon blog that claimed "paternalism" was bad, but "patriarchy" was not. He did that without redefining the words, and lots of readers -- including women -- agreed with him. Such is the indoctrination.

I think it's also true the further and further down the rabbit hole they go, the less options are available to them. No education. No way to earn a living. No way to escape.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2016 03:01PM by Devoted Exmo.

I could have lots of wives except that women tend to not believe flaming sword stories when told by Atheists.

They often have too many children to escape.

Here is my counter argument...going off of what happened at the FLDS compound in Texas..

Yes they do have a lot of kids...but the wives become the "village" to raise all of them. When the Feds raided the Tx compound...many of the kids didn't know who their real mother was.

I don't think that bond is as strong as many would think it would be..


Still there are strong bounds and pressures holding these women to their sad lives..

Women were put on the earth to breed like rabbits. Their only value is their womb. Women who can't get knocked up are worthless.

I dunno. When I was in college, I sought out the women that couldn't get knocked up. They were far from worthless, they were fantastic. Very spiritual too. They made me see god.

What a good man you are....:)

verilyverily Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Women were put on the earth to breed like rabbits.
> Their only value is their womb. Women who can't
> get knocked up are worthless.

=================================================
Verily, I know- I think-I hope!- you're being sarcastic here, but I have been told that to my face... in my younger days I was actually called "Barren- a waste of oxygen!" because of my recalcitrant uterus.

YES to everyone - I was being sarcastic. I was pretending to think like a TBM about the value of women. I can't understand why any woman is a member of the F*CK till your uterus falls out EVIL CULT.

Threat of violent retribution

During first years as convert, i asked about the obvious seperation of gender with women lacking authority. TBM said 'what changes (for authority) do you want to make in RS?' It caused feeling for years that i have authority, in an equal but seperate role. They say women do not have to be powerful, the world has enough of those women. It is better to have the spirit of submissiveness that is a higher purpose because men often fail in role of priesthood (thus causing sin). So women are more cherished this way in eyes of God.

I want to kick them all right in their little factories.

hehehe

The separate but equal (or perhaps even more equal) argument is hogwash. It is always the justification for that exact inequality.

What real harm would come to women blessing their own babies, or even standing in the circle? What real harm would come to the Relief Society managing their own funds? What real harm would come from women acting in roles that put them on equal footing with the men who are trying to run programs for the church? I'll tell you what harm. It would cause everyone to be a responsible adult instead of being "submissive." It causes people to feel responsible for their own decisions instead of passing that responsibility onto men or to be forced into a passive/aggressive stance.

wish it were that simple. Real damage heals slower than bruises. A good kick would feel pretty celestial though lol

And women who have responiblity of decisions would see clearly though the viel that created the church by a con man.

Why did WE put up with it? Oh its the twuthhhhhhhhhhh.

Probably many of the same reasons any woman puts up with abuse:

First of all, they think God requires it. After all life is to be ENDURED. Suffering is important to God.

They can't see the abuse (if they are unhappy, they think THEY are the one with the problem).

If they do recognize the abuse, they don't know how to survive if they leave. They lose all their friends, family, and support system, and most are uneducated with no job skills, and are saddled with a bunch of kids. And for some, it's physically dangerous to even try to leave.

That's what I think as well, that they're kept isolated and completely controlled. The education given to children in the FLDS cult is designed to keep them in because it's really not enough to make it on the outside. As it is for women escaping an abusive spouse, leaving can be the most physically dangerous time for someone trying to escape.

I just finished "The Sound of Gravel" by Ruth Wariner. It is such a heart warming book about polygamy in Colonia LeBaron. I highly recommend it.

Force

I think Josephs wives were enamored by him, they (like most others) like the "Ryan Gosling" tall, skinny, blond, blue eyed, Nazi-Aryan featured fellow. Who wouldn't want to be connected to a movie star? Of course there are lots of ugly old goats that could hardly compete for one wife let alone a quiver full without mormonism.

For some odd reason women tend to be the enforcers of morals in patriarchal societies.


http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/07/the-women-of-isis/375047/

They have an "Eternal Perspective."

http://i.imgur.com/20bIFwr.png

Reading Carolyn Jessop's book, it's clear that, even if a Plyg woman wises up, AND decides she can take her kids with her, she still doesn't have any resources or choices and where can she go? Jessop said that she was given access to vehicles, but those vehicles were all kept with only about a gallon of gas in them, so she wouldn't be able to get any further then about 10-20 miles and then she'd be stuck in the desert with eight kids, one of whom was disabled and had special needs.

She is one of the rare few who did finally manage to get out. It took her years of planning and working up the guts and I believe her oldest daughter turned around and went right back as soon as she could.

Why do mainstream LDS women put up with what they do? I ask myself so many times why I went along the way I did. It's called indoctrination. You just can't see it when you are in the middle of it. When you get on the outside looking in, all you can't see is why you were so blind.

Wouldn't you love to go back sometimes knowing what you know now? I'd walk my baby up to the circle to be blessed and say, "I'll hold her, thankyaverymuch!" In the temple when the women are told to veil their faces, I'd say, "Fuck that!" When I was across the alter from my husband-to-be and he made vows to the church and then I was asked if I give myself to him, I'd say "Ummm. Noooo. But I'm willing to make vows to him if he makes vows to me!"

I think Mormons in every group, polygamous or not, like feeling like a special people, better than people "out in the world, more favored and elite with eternal blessings and adoration from God.

In order to attract the perfect husband, Single LDS Women must give up a part of their individuality to be a carbon copy of LDS perfection.

I would bet that most LDS couples who marry do it with blind obedience and faith in their partner.

Ever have the experience of marrying the princess bride (or the Bachelor) and after the marriage they lower the curtain to become God-Zilla?

In order to change, women have to be shown, over and over again, that there is another way. In effect, we need to be reprogrammed.