Equality for women is growing in the Mormon church. You’re thinking, “Women are just now gaining equality?” It’s 2014, and just two years ago in October 2012 the LDS church announced two big changes for women of the Mormon faith. The church lowered the age requirement for women missionaries from 21 to 19 and extended the allotted time from one and a half years of missionary work to two years.
The NY Times article “Mormons signal a growing role for Mormon Women” details two young women’s missions in Korea, their aspirations outside of the church norms, and their requirements as female missionaries.
Growing up in the church myself I found the traditional values the LDS church holds for women such a normal thing. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized that women were becoming much more independent than how the church held its females’ values.
The article states that if the church does not update its “ideas about gender” it will be “out of step with contemporary life.”
In a PR perspective, I think the Mormon church is headed in the right direction. Women are going to keep pursuing independence whether the church agrees or not. They cannot keep limiting the female’s standards compared to mens, especially in this day and age. Gender roles are constantly being tested.
The next step for the Mormon church, in terms of public image, is to fully support the LGBTQ movement. In recent years, the LDS church has participated in Gay Pride parades in Utah to show support to gay men and women. Though they are not in support of same-sex marriage, they have made a public stance to acknowledge gay individuals and have said it is not a sin to have feelings, only to act upon those feelings.
I hope to see the LDS church continue to grow in the flow of modern society. With women equality in the spotlight, who knows what kind of topics will be stir in the headlines.
Below are the articles I referenced:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/02/us/a-growing-role-for-mormon-women.html?referrer=
http://www.theguardian.com/world/us-news-blog/2012/jun/04/mormons-march-gay-pride-parade
Shameless PR (COM 475) 