The Cultural Hall

We’ve made some amazing strides. The day when it is possible for a either a woman or a black man to have a really good shot at the highest office in the nation is finally here. It’s something we should all be excited about. Martin Luther King Jr.’s poetic and visionary speech “I Have a Dream,” is close to being realized. But while racism isn’t openly tolerated anymore–people lose their jobs–it certainly rears it’s ugly head. Those of us who are frequenters of the Internet have most likely been sent emails that are racist in content though they are perpetuated as patriotic truth. Any article on the subject of immigration, or Obama which allows Anonymous comments will be filled with racist diatribe. However, racism is legislated against. Even Utah finally has a hate crime bill, which by the way doesn’t include language specific to sexual orientation. Also gender issues still fall short. We’ve seen racism and sexism in this race. Some of the comments made by the voters in West Virginia were embarrassing in this day and age. I can handle them voting for Hilary Clinton–I like her–but some of the reasons folks said they voted for her were to say the least in the mindset of pre-civil rights era. Prejudice is lodged in fear and mistrust and perpetuated by telling lies and half-truths.

Sexism is rampant. Recently during a Clinton speech (someone will know where and when) a sign was held that said, “iron my shirts.” That kind of sexism is winked at, laughed at, and at times embraced. Television allows calling women “bitch” all the time. The word should not be used and next to one other word is about the most degrading thing to say about a woman. Political pundits often use the “b” word to describe Hillary Clinton. I’ve heard Mormon men call her a witch. Seriously, guys–we know what you really mean. Again we’ve made strides. Women have the world open to them and even the highest office in the nation, but still until we can eliminate the kind of language that demeans and is meant to keep women in their place we still have a long ways to go.

I grew up in the 70’s. Feminism was a dirty word in LDS society. ERA–equal rights amendment was suspect. We were taught that legislation that guaranteed what men (white men) took for granted was giving into Satanic beliefs, that equal rights for women would destroy the family. I still remember being angry when a phone surveyor called me in 1982 and asked to speak to the “head of the house.” When I answered that my husband and I were both the heads of the household, the woman actually got angry and told me that if I was married that my husband was the head of the household. I have no idea why I allowed myself to be entrapped by a narrow-minded woman who had bought into the common lingo of the time, but I did and found myself fuming with anger.

The church is still filled with sexism and it’s taught as God’s will and truth. Women are often divided on the issues most important to women, motherhood, equality, families, working, and so forth. We are our own worst enemy. Often women who must work or who choose to work outside the home judge women who stay at home and vice versa. This isn’t common just to Mormon women–Oprah did a whole show on it. It might as well have been a Relief Society discussion. The issues were the same, the arguments were the same, and the group was about as equally divided as I’ve seen in any church group.

I guess my point and I do have one is that we still have a ways to go when it comes to equality. Basically it just comes down to respect.  We should learn to be more kind, more accepting, more tolerant, and more willing to give people a chance. And all this means eliminating the kinds of language and actions that divide us, whether they be divisions on race, religion, or on gender. It’s my hope that this presidential race–no matter the outcome–will be one that brings us together.