Episode 50: I want to hear your voices!

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Click Here to See Complete Instructions on How to Set Up Your Own Podcast

Art by Angela Treat Lyon

There is solid evidence for the fact that when women speak more than 30 percent of the time, men perceive them as dominating the conversation; well, similarly, if, say, two women in a row get one of the big annual literary awards, masculine voices start talking about feminist cabals, political correctness, and the decline of fairness in judging. The 30 percent rule is really powerful. If more than one woman out of four or five won the Pulitzer, the PEN/Faulkner, the Booker—if more than one woman in ten were to win the Nobel literature prize—the ensuing masculine furore would devalue and might destroy the prize. Apparently, literary guys can only compete with each other. Put on a genuine equal competitive footing with women, they get hysterical. They just have to have their voices heard 70 percent of the time.      —Ursula Le Guin The Wave in the Mind (Off the Page: Loud Cows; pages 119-120).

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RESOURCES FOR HOW TO CREATE A PODCAST

Click Here to See the Podcast Tutorial Tab for Complete Instructions

Cost: I'm assuming you've got a computer with internet connection, so the only other costs to start up your podcast are a headset with microphone (about $30) and the Pamela software (also about $30), if you want to record multiple voice conversations. Depending on how much your headset costs, you'll spend $55-$70 total to start your podcast. Everything else is FREE.

Record & Edit:

• Audacity: In addition to recording, you can also cut sections out, amplify sound, have multiple tracks that fade in and out of each other, remove noise, etc.
• Skype: Allows you to interview long-distance for free, as long as you both have a Skype account. You can have regular two-person conversations or whole groups.
• Pamela ($32.41): Allows you to easily record panels from Skype. They have a free version, but it only allows you to record for 15 minutes at a time. I recommend the Professional version, which also gives you a free trial so you can see if you like it.
• Levelator: Equalizes the "loudness" of each voice in a conversation. Great for interviews and panel discussions.  

Royalty Free Music:

• Kevin MacLeod: He puts his music in genre groups and allows for free use and modification as long as you attribute.

File Share:

• Dropbox: Lets you collect and share files. 

Audio Host:

• Archive.org: Free public hosting with easy user interface; also increases how you can be found online. There are listeners who found this podcast through Archive.org.

Website:

• Blogger.com: Free and easy to set up quickly.

iTunes:

• iTunes FAQs for Podcasts: As soon as I put up my podcast, it seemed like everyone wanted to know when it would be on iTunes. To set up your podcast on iTunes, you need your feed url. Here's the feed url for this podcast that iTunes finally accepted: http://daughtersofmormonism.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Episode 49: Passing the Torch

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There are so many women from all over the world, both in and out of Mormonism who listen to this podcast. Each of you has much to share. Every week I get emails from you, telling me about your life journeys, about your pain and triumphs, about how one of the episodes on the podcast helped you or validated you. Many of you have sent me ideas for podcasts, too. Because, really, for women’s issues in religion, there is endless territory to cover. In these episodes I’ve done, I haven’t even scratched the surface.

There is so, so much still to be spoken. I want to hear your voices. I want to hear your stories. And there is more out there than I could ever cover. I’ve known this time was coming, and now it’s finally here.

It’s time for me to move on from this podcast. It's time for me to turn my heart energies elsewhere. It’s time for me to pass the torch to you.

In the final episode, I’ll give you a tutorial about how to create a podcast.
 

Art by Jan Morgan Wood

Episode 43: The Pain of Patriarchy: "An Iceberg Beneath"

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Photograph by Jonathan Green

About a year ago, I recorded a piece about the pain I feel from being raised under patriarchy. I never had the courage to post it because it felt so vulnerable. It wasn't until a friend of mine expressed her pain at awakening to the crushing weight of patriarchy that I revisited that recording and shared it with her. Together, we decided to create a series about the pain of patriarchy, as this is an experience that is common to many women in the church. This episode contains my original recording.

In the following episodes for this series, you will hear the voices of Amelia, Courtney, Sara, Tiffany, and Katrina. Each of these women gives a different perspective and voice to her journey.

Below, you can also hear an added male perspective from Gail.

The Pain of Patriarchy: "The Men Give the Equality to the Women" — Gail

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*As always, thanks to Kevin MacLeod for the music.

Episode 41: "Walking the Labyrinth" — Depression & Mormon Women Part II

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Art by Karim Fakhoury

In the second part of this panel discussion, Sybil, Amelia, Jenne A, Lisa, and Kendhal discuss situational vs chemical depression, accepting and owning their depression, and vivid dreams that lead to understanding aspects of the self.

We also talk about the mentality of "there's one right way to deal with this" and how that doesn't work with depression; how there is a need to find what works for you, moment to moment.

We then discuss medication and depression and the stigmas attached both to taking it and not taking it, trying to find medication that works, weaning off medications. We also talk about therapy.

To comment and for resources, please see Part III.

Episode 40: "Be Yourself (within certain parameters)" — Depression & Mormon Women Part I

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Art by Adam Martinakis

Despite how common depression is, there is a lot of denial and secrecy attached to it. In this panel, Sybil is joined by panelists Amelia and Jenne A, and guests Lisa and Kendahl to discuss their experiences in living with depression.

In this first part, we discuss depression in Utah and how  the idea of being a perfect Mormon woman can contribute to depression. We also talk about our own symptoms of depression. Here is a list of those symptoms:

Symptoms of Depression

• apathy and detachment; difficulty connecting with the living world and being a part of what is happening
• a sense of powerlessness
• inward blaming, self-faulting, feeling worthless
• excessive sleeping; also insomnia or difficulty sleeping; being highly self-critical
• physical numbness or pain
• asthma and breathing problems
• mental darkness; feeling under a low ceiling
• difficulty getting out of bed
• self isolation; being tense and withdrawn
• irritable bowel syndrome
• migraines
• feeling like the body is falling apart; feeling old and in pain
• constant hopelessness; feeling unable to make life feel worthwhile
• eating too much or too little
• disrupted daily living
• being mean/angry at people you love
• helpless crying
• absence of appetite (for food, sex, things that usually bring pleasure)
• escaping (into food, television, books, etc.)
• inability to concentrate or focus; inability to "get things done" (normal, daily things)
• being emotionally numb or overly dramatic (no middle ground or normal functioning)
• being an appendage to someone else, not able to be the main character in own life (things happening to you rather than being an active agent)
• feeling suicidal 

To comment and for resources, please see Part III.

Episode 39: Childless by Choice Part II

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In the second part of the discussion, Sybil, Amy, and Shelby talk about how they've thought being mothers and alternatives to bearing children.

* By having this conversation, we are in no way saying that motherhood or children are wrong or undesirable. We are only expressing our own experiences.

For resources and references, and to comment on this panel discussion, please see Part I.

Episode 38: Childless by Choice Part I

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Because motherhood and having children are such an intrinsic part of the way women are defined in the church, trying to have a conversation among those who have chosen not to have children ... it can be difficult. In some ways, child-free women can feel marginalized and/or invisible in the church because they aren't "fulfilling their purpose" as a mother.

In this panel discussion, Sybil is joined by guest panelists Amy and Shelby to talk about their experiences as women who have currently chosen not to have children. They also discuss how they remain childless, their fears and thoughts about motherhood, and more.

* By having this conversation, we are in no way saying that motherhood or children are wrong or undesirable. We are only expressing our own experiences.

The panelists will be watching the comments to respond to ideas and issues brought up in this discussion. 

Resources

• The Childless By Choice Project
• The Childfree Life Forum
• Two Is Enough: A Couple's Guide to Living Childless by Choice
• Inspiration for Childless and Childfree Women: Big Deal?
• Things You Should Never Say to a Person Who is Childless by Choice by DefyGravity 
• Childfree in the Church by Cha Cha from Feminist Mormon Housewives

References

"One of our family members recently overheard a young couple on an airline flight explaining that they chose to have a dog instead of children. 'Dogs are less trouble,' they declared. 'Dogs don’t talk back, and we never have to ground them.' We rejoice that so many Latter-day Saint couples are among that unselfish group who are willing to surrender their personal priorities and serve the Lord by bearing and rearing the children our Heavenly Father sends to their care. (from "Unselfish Service" by Dallin Oaks)

"How can mothers justify their abandonment of home when they are needed so much by their offspring? Rationalization must take over as they justify themselves in leaving home and children." (from Faith Precedes the Miracle by Spencer W. Kimball, pages 116-17.)

Episode 36: The Descent of the Wounded Soul

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Christ of the Abyss

Special Episode for Easter: There are so many of us who hide our wounded souls, fearful that others will see our pain. Often we are drowned in feelings of hopelessness and despair of ever healing.

In this short episode, I give my own interpretation of Christ's atonement and resurrection. In my view, he is showing us the path of our own healing. When Christ said, "Come follow me," perhaps he was showing us the way into our own darkness. 

Isaiah Reference: Isaiah 61:3

Please share your own experiences of wounding and healing in the comments. Please also feel free to share things that have helped you on your journey.

Episode 33: Garments—To Cover Our Nakedness

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1927 Garment Ad

Once you're endowed, wearing garments is meant to be a life-long commitment and is a sign of an active member of the church. Have you ever looked at someone to try to determine if they were wearing garments or caught someone checking you out to see if you were wearing them? Beyond their symbolism, garments come to mean many things to women who wear them. In this short panel discussion, Sybil, Jenni B, and Katrina talk about their experiences with garments.

Episode 31: Good Girl Syndrome Part II

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Many of us learned to be "good girls," meaning that we understood that our purpose was to please others and not to please ourselves. Layered in with this teaching were messages about sex and sexuality.

We didn't want to be chewed gum or a licked cupcake. We wanted to keep ourselves safe from the sexual urges of the opposite sex. And, of course, not to be sexual ourselves; that was associated with sinning.

While these messages were likely intended to keep us safe, they did so at a cost,
which usually reveals itself in the marriage
bed. What does a good girl do with sex?

Join Sybil, Amelia, Sara, Heather, and Jenni for the second half of their discussion about their experiences with and the causes and effects of Good Girl Syndrome.

For resources and to comment, please see Part I.

Episode 30: Good Girl Syndrome Part I

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Join Sybil, Amelia, Sara, Heather, and Jenni for the first part of their discussion about their experiences with and the causes and effects of Good Girl Syndrome.

Resources

• And They Were Not Ashamed by Laura Brotherson
• The Mormon Missionary Position
• Passionate Hearts edited by Wendy Maltz
• Intimate Kisses edited by Wendy Maltz
• The Soul of Sex by Thomas Moore
• Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
• Women's Therapy Center on Vulvar Vestibulitis
• Do Atheists Have Better Sex Lives? 
• Mormon Stories: 245 Pornography, Masturbation, Sex and Marriage in Mormonism
• Mormon Stories: 214-216 LDS Female Sexuality with Dr Jennifer Finlayson-Fife
• Mormon Stories: 300-301: LDS Women and Sexual Desire with Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife
• Mormon Stories: 280: How to Have Better Sex in Your Mormon Marriage
• Mormon Expression: Episode 120a: Female Sexuality in the LDS Culture Part 1
• Mormon Expression: Episode 120b: Female Sexuality in the LDS Culture Part 2

Episode 26: The Layers of Sex Education

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"Teach Your Baby about the Birds & the Bees" Mobile

What were you taught about sexuality by your parents, in school, and at church? Could you name your genitals correctly as a child? How did you gain your most valuable knowledge about sexuality? Often, sex education fails to empower women about their sexuality and instead makes them feel that they need to be the gatekeepers of chastity and keep the boys in line. In this panel discussion, Sybil, Sara, Juliane, and Heather discuss their experiences with and hopes for sex education.

Resources

• A Parent's Guide Church Manual
• "Teaching about Procreation and Chastity" in the Family Home Evening Resource Manual 
• Woman: An Intimate Geography by Natalie Angier
• Mormon Missionary Position blog

If you have ideas, stories, or suggestions for Sara's Mormon Sex Ed project, email her at mormonsexedproject @ gmail.com

Episode 21: No rest for the busy

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Art by Jim Thompson

There is a common saying that there is no rest for the wicked. What about for the righteous? Especially those who are so righteous, they are constantly engaged in "the Lord's work"? Ah, yes, the Lord's work. Didn't Jesus say something about come unto me and I will give you rest? In this podcast, I talk about the issue of busyness in Mormonism. I also alert listeners that this podcast will be undergoing some changes as I step back from the project. This means that it will be publishing every other week rather than every week.

References

• Comments from Episode 18: "Looking for Balance" — Courtney's Story
• Wives and Daughters of the First Presidency panel discussion: Excerpts from the 1996 and 1999 Brigham Young University Women's Conference
• Charity Never Faileth by Thomas Monson (Note: To hear the part I'm quoting, which is near the beginning of his address, you need to listen to the audio or watch the video. The transcript cuts this part of his talk.)

Episode 13: Finding the Divine Feminine, Part II

PART II
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Art by Francene Hart

This is the second half of our panel discussion on the female divine. In this discussion, Sybil, Sara, Amelia, Juliane, Heather, and Katrina continue their conversation about Mother in Heaven, Heavenly Mother, Goddess, the Divine Feminine.

The panelists will be watching the comments to answer questions and discuss issues raised during the discussion.

If you have ideas for a second panel discussion on the Divine Feminine, please share your thoughts in the comments.

For resources and references, see Part I of this discussion.  

Episode 12: Finding the Divine Feminine, Part I

PART I
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Art by Francene Hart

In this panel discussion, you'll hear Sybil, Sara, Amelia, Juliane, Heather, and Katrina talk about Mother in Heaven, Heavenly Mother, Goddess, the Divine Feminine.

The panelists will be watching the comments to answer questions and discuss issues raised during the discussion.

Here are references and resources for this topic, several of which were cited or mentioned in the panel discussion.

• "A Mother There" A Survey of Historical Teachings about Mother in Heaven by David L. Paulsen and Martin Pulido
• Mormon Matters podcast Heavenly Mother in Today's Mormonism: Discussing the BYU Studies article "A Mother There"
• Review of Paulsen and Pulido's "A Mother There" by RT at Faith Promoting Rumor 
• Is There a Place for Heavenly Mother in Mormon Theology?: An Investigation into Discourses of Power by Margaret Toscano
• How to Worship Our Mother in Heaven (Without Getting Excommunicated) by Kevin L. Barney 
• God As Mother by Carrie A. Miles
• The Mormon Concept of a Mother in Heaven by Linda Wilcox
• The Genesis of Gender, or Why Mother in Heaven Can't Save You by Carrie A. Miles (followed by) If I Hate My Mother, Can I Love the Heavenly Mother? Personal Identity, Parental Relationships and Perceptions of God by Margaret Toscano
• Reflections On God The Mother by Julie Nicholes (followed by) Native American Concepts of a Mother in Heaven Bonnie Mitchelle (followed by) A Response by Suzanne Lundquist
• Feminist Episcopalian podcast: Circle Connections 
• Mother Wove the Morning by Carol Lynn Pearson
• Introduction from Mother Wove the Morning by Carol Lynn Pearson 
• Emerging Discourse on the Divine Feminine compiled by Maxine Hanks
• Personal Discourse on the God the Mother by Martha Pierce
• Daughters of God by Gordon B. Hinckley

Episode 11: Zilpha from Mormon Expression Interviews Sybil about the Daughters of Mormonism Podcast

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Doorway Upon Doorway

Here's a great special edition! While I was staying in Utah, I had the opportunity to visit Zilpha from Mormon Expression at her recording studio.

During our afternoon together, Zilpha interviewed me about my new project: The Daughters of Mormonism podcast. At the time, I had just posted Sara's interview, so there were only four episodes up.

It is exciting to see how fast this podcast has grown in the short time since that interview. During this episode, we discuss various women's issues in Mormonism, especially as they relate to our own lives, and I give more of my story.

Episode 8: Eve as Balance to Christ

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Yingana by Jan Morgan Wood

This episode is a piece of my own speculative theology concerning our Mother Eve. For me, balance with female and male really is part of how things are meant to be, and in this episode I discuss how Eve and Christ act as eternal balance in the grand plan, acting as gatekeepers.

I'll be watching the comments to answer questions or discuss issues raised in the podcast. 




In this podcast I reference a poem by Donna Wilshire from her book Virgin Mother Crone as well as the article "Pregnant Embodiment" from Iris Marion Young's book Throwing Like a Girl and Other Essays. The full article is only available through subscription; however, you can read most of it between these two Google Book previews: here and here.

Episode 5: More Than Mothers

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Relief Block Print by Stephen Alcorn

This is a special edition for Mother's Day. I wanted to address the unrealistic expectations we place on mothers, which can make Mother's Day a very lonely and sad day for many women. Also, I wanted to acknowledge our Divine Mothers: Mother Earth, Mother Eve, and our Mother in Heaven. Most of all, I hope that all mothers can remember than they are individuals, not only mothers.

I reference Dance of the Dissent Daughter as well as the blog With Your Mutual Approbation.

Episode 3: Gender Bias in the Book of Mormon

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Could Feminism Have Saved the Nephites? by Carol Lynn Pearson

“Are Boys More Important than Girls?” The Continuing Conflict of Gender Difference and Equality in Mormonism by Margaret Toscano
(For some reason, Sunstone linked the entire issue instead of the article. The article starts on page 21 of the PDF.)

Toward a Feminist Interpretation of Latter-day Scripture by Lynn Matthews Anderson

The Meeting (a regendered version of sacrament meeting) by Eloise Bell

Daughters of God by Gordon B. Hinckley

Regendering Website: Enter a url and receive the regendered version.The image for this podcast is taken from a screen capture of the regendered version of the Book of Moses from lds.org.

The Book of Morma: A Feminist Reading of the Book of Mormon

Where Is She? Gender Occurrences in Online Grammar Guides by Nicole Amare
Research in the Teaching of English: Vol. 42, No. 2, Nov., 2007

Why Sexist Language Affects Persuasion: The Role of Homophily, Intended Audience, and Offense by Erika Falk and Jordan Mills
Women and Language. Vol. 19, Iss. 2, Fall, 1996.

Speaking to God in his Phrase and Word by Suzanne Trill
in The Nature of Religious Language: A Colloquium by Stanley E. Porter; 1996: Sheffield Academic Press

For more discussion on this concept, see You Talkin' to me, Mormon? by Ziff at Zelophehad's Daughters and Gender Bias in the Book of Mormon by Kmillecam at The Exponent.

Episode 2: Responding to Michael Otterson's article: "What Mormon Equality Looks Like"

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Michael Otterson's piece from the Washington Post: "What Mormon Equality Looks Like"


Other responses to this article:

• "What Equality Doesn't Look Like" by Lynnette from Zelophehad's Daughters
• "A Short Post About Equality" by Kristine from By Common Consent
• "Methinks the Non-Women Protest Too Much: On Non-Equality in the Mormon Church" by Amelia from The Exponent 

 
Book: The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd