| Description |
This research is a case study about the benefits and challenges of participating in a close-knit religious society. It uses oral history and rhetorical analysis to examine the lives of fifty-five young Latter-day Saint (Mormon) women who moved to Mormon homelands from 1975 through 2000. In this study, Mormon homelands primarily refers to regions of North America where Mormons settled from 1847 to 1910. Many of the young women interviewed found safety, belonging, and significant opportunities for personal growth in Mormon homelands; however, obtaining those positives sometimes required what narrators considered to be an unacceptable compromise of charity, self-worth, and individual agency because of the isolation, rules, and regimentation imposed upon them. For some narrators, Mormon homelands became totalizing, meaning they controlled many aspects of individual identity in the name of doing what was best for the group and its members. Narrators resisted this totalism both as adolescents and adults, observing that when they lived in Mormon congregations outside of homelands, they experienced better balancing of individual and community. The LDS church has had significant influence in the American West and is considered to be the largest and most enduring American-born religion. Few scholars have explored the lives of Mormon adolescents in the latter twentieth century. Using Mormon young women as a case study illuminates aspects of religious belonging for youth and fills a gap in women's religious history. Many adult women in contemporary society question the value of organized religion as they engage with issues of power, equality, and agency. This study provides historical context for that discussion because it asked adult women to examine the religious relationships, memberships, and allegiances they once had. As they connected past and present via oral history, these women were able to reflect on what they have gained and lost from participation in religious societies. This study is unusual in that it identifies mechanisms of totalism in ordinary rather than extreme religious contexts, it explores both adolescent and adult religious identity, and it approaches oral history rhetorically. |
