mid-term question 3

i finally finished my mid-term. in 15 minutes, i will be officially 24 hours without sleep. unfortunately, i won't be able to sleep until 11 or so tonight. hopefully i can survive. here is my essay for the third question on my mormon cultural studies mid-term. you may or may not find it interesting.


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there are plenty of examples within mormon culture of articulations that serve the interests of power structures within mormonism. one that has been on my mind lately comes in a few forms, but is largely used in two particular ways. the first is the common use of ‘priesthood’ instead of ‘brothers’ to reference males in the church. the second is the common use of ‘the brethren’ in reference to the highest group of leaders in mormonism. while the uses of each work in opposite ways (in the former, the symbol of authority is used to reference gender while in the latter, the symbol of gender is used to reference authority), they both by representation serve the interests of a power structure which places women under men’s authority.
in the first case, where women are still referred to as ‘sisters’ there is a tendency within mormonism to refer to men as ‘priesthood’ instead of the equal symbol ‘brothers’. this is not just used in instances where priesthood authority is a part of the interaction, but in common instances such as “the priesthood and the sisters will both be needed to help out with the youth activity” or “we will a handful of priesthood to help the johnsons move into their new home.” in both cases, especially in the latter, it seems obvious that it is the men that were being referenced and not their priesthood – unless of course, the johnsons needed a blessing to ensure that their china set was not damaged in the move. this use of ‘priesthood’ performs a double-whammy in supporting a male dominant power structure. not only does the symbol ‘priesthood’ have a representation that implies power and authority in mormonism, the symbol itself is one that represents such power and authority in almost any cultural context. by using ‘priesthood’ instead of ‘brothers’, both the symbol and representation of power and authority are placed on men; something that the women are denied. when this is done in a context void of any priesthood authority, this symbol gives a representation that men have authority over women inherently and separately from an actual priesthood.
as mentioned already, the latter use of ‘brethren’ in reference to the leading hierarchy of the church has a usage opposite to the previous use of ‘priesthood’, but has the same effect of supporting a male dominated power structure in mormonism. in this case, the gender exclusive symbol, ‘brethren’, is used to reference authority in the church. once again, another double-whammy is performed in support of the male power structure. first, by representing authority with a gender exclusive symbol, the male gender becomes a symbol which represents authority. furthermore, the male symbol becomes equated with the symbol of hierarchal leadership. this further strengthens the representation of authority by men and representation of men by authority. by doing this, the power structure in the upper echelons also defends itself from becoming infiltrated by women.
by refraining from using symbols of authority to represent gender, and gender-exclusive symbols to reference authority, abuses and oppression by assumed power structures can be lessened. however, as long as the church maintains a male-exclusive priesthood, a certain level of male-authority representation will continue to exist. furthermore, because such a male-exclusive priesthood has existed for such a long time, there already exists a framework or ideology of male authority in mormon culture. because it is so entrenched in the culture, unless there is a break from the male-exclusivity of the priesthood, this ideology of male authority will continue to exist.