The Real LDS Feminists... and the lessons I learned from them.

Lately, there has been a lot of talks on "women" thanks to the current election, several new articles about LDS feminists, and even a recent blog post on modesty.  I've noticed a trend of negativity in those articles.  Negative thoughts about women.  Negative thoughts about men.  Negative thoughts about the LDS Church.  Negative thoughts about ...... just NEGATIVE, NEGATIVE, NEGATIVE.

I don't like feeling negatively about women... or about men.  Or anyone/anything for that matter. Negativity never leads to something positive. So I decided to turn my scowl into a smile.  In order to do that, I needed to be inspired.  I needed to look to my she-roes of old-- you know, those women that inspire you with their faith in God, their courage and their sheer awesomeness.  That is where the title for this blog comes into play:  The Real  LDS Feminists and the Lessons I Learned from Them. I call them "true feminists" because I believe that they inhibit all that is wonderful about a woman... and all that is wonderful about being a disciple of Jesus Christ... and I called them "real" because they have stood the test of time unlike you and I.

Let me introduce you to them.

ESTHER, queen of Persia

RUTH, the converted Moabite

EMMA SMITH,  first RS president

I've decided to not really tell you my thoughts actually.  I would rather let these women speak for themselves.  So, I'm going to tell you their stories... in my own words.  See them through my eyes.... and from that, you can see the lessons I learned from them. 

Esther.  Oh, how I want to name one of daughters after this brave woman. I always picture Esther as the quiet type; beautiful but shy.  Not really a trouble maker. She was not out to prove anything to the world and even with all she was asked to do, that never changed.  You see, Esther was asked to approach the King to save her people. No one, let alone a woman, was allowed to simply go speak with the King.  Esther was sure to tell her uncle this.  But he responded with words of wisdom: "For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then call there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place;... and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14) Mordecai reminded Esther that this duty was not one of "sticking it to the man" but rather, one of saving a people.  Esther decided to do it.  She approached the King with humility, a prayer in her heart, and with fasting.  She did not use this opportunity to prove something to society; to "stick it to the man".  She used it instead to be an instrument in God's hands. 

Ruth.  Gentle, sweet Ruth.  She was a convert to the Gospel.  Once her husband died, society told her that she should return to her people, her family.  That's not such a terrible thing you know?  Ruth did not let society tell her what to do. Instead, she turned to the God she had grown to love.  I have no doubt she prayed to ask what he would have her do with this situation.  She got her answer-- to go with Naomi, live with the covenant people.  Naomi would not have it.  She told Ruth to go back to Moab but Ruth insisted: "Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for wither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God" (Ruth 1:16).  Ruth did not use her own personal revelation to tell others what to do-- not even her own sister by marriage who returned to Moab.  Instead, she walked side by side with Naomi, confident that she was doing the right thing for herself.

Emma.  I don't think anyone will ever fully understand the weight that was on Emma Smith's shoulders. I also want to name one of my daughters Emma.  What a heritage.  Emma was a witness to the Restoration of the fulness of Christ's church. Emma watched as men, and even a woman, were witnesses to the golden plates.  God reassured her: "Murmur not because of the things which thou hast not see, for they are withheld from thee and from the world, which is wisdom in me in a time to come" (Doctrine and Covenants 25:4).  Emma learned to trust that things beyond her understanding were not beyond God's wisdom.  She was put to the test again and again as she watched imperfect men receive the priesthood; as she watched her husband took more wives.  Despite this, she did not let the world's view that "she wasn't getting all she deserved" stop her from reaching her potential as an "elect lady".  She worked hard to care for the sick in Nauvoo that first summer; she organized the first Hymnal; she served faithfully as the Relief Society's first president. 

Amazing women aren't they? They were strong.  They were courageous.  They defied their society's expectations of what a woman's role was.  They were faithful.  They were real. They performed miracles.  Think of what they received! Esther was even more loved by the King.  Ruth remarried to a wonderful man.  Emma was promised the highest degree of glory.  But let us look beyond them, Esther saved an entire people from persecution;  Ruth's posterity included King David and stretched down to Jesus Christ; and Emma is the reason the Relief Society was even formed, an organization that is blessing millions of women around the world. 

I want to be a real LDS feminist.  I want to be humble, courageous, defy expectations, faithful.... I want to perform miracles.  After all, a lot is expected of us-- the women of this last dispensation.  Let us rise to the occasion like those she-roes of old- with humility, with faith in Jesus Christ, with wisdom and understanding, with compassion, with all those traits that make us, as women, beautiful powerful.