Reddit Reddit reviews A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870

We found 5 Reddit comments about A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870
Knopf
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5 Reddit comments about A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870:

u/SuperBrandt · 28 pointsr/latterdaysaints

Oooo this is my wheelhouse!

First, I would recommend looking at the Mormon History Association Best Book awards going back to 1966. Quality scholarship, research, and writing are a mainstay with them.

Required reading:

Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet by John Turner / Brigham Young: American Moses by Leonard Arrington

Considered two of the best books about early Utah and the Brigham Young years. Arrington's book was considered groundbreaking when he wrote it, and Turner's book brings in the valuable perspective of the non-Mormon writing about Young. For many Mormons, Turner's book will be less sympathetic to Young than Arrington's, but Turner also worked closely with the Church Archives (and spoke glowingly about them and that process), so his research had access to some better sources. If you need a primer for Brigham Young, I recommend Arrington's book. For a Brigham Young graduate level course, I recommend Turner.

Early Mormonism and the Magic Worldview by Michael Quinn

To understand much of what happened in early Mormonism, you must understand the role that folk magic played in the lives of Americans in the 1800s. Quinn's research at this time was top notch, and he was a quickly rising star among Mormon historians. Considered one of his best works, and foundational to the understanding things like seer stones, divining rods, visions, and everything else that happened in the early church days.

David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism by Greg Prince

Covers late 1940s - 1960s Mormonism, one of the "rising moments" of Mormonism when we went from a Utah-church to a worldwide church. Prince had amazing access to the journals of President McKay's secretary, which led to some candid discussions about things like the publishing of Mormon Doctrine by McConkie, blacks and the priesthood, ecumenical outreach, and politics.

Spencer W. Kimball by Edward Kimball / Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency of Spencer W. Kimball by Edward Kimball

Ed was Pres. Kimball's son, and the books cover both the apostle years and presidency years of Spencer W. Kimball. If you had to choose one, get Lengthen Your Stride, but make sure it has the CD that comes with the book. This has the unabridged manuscript prior to the Deseret Book edits, which is much more interesting.

By the Hand of Mormon by Terryl Givens (heck...anything by Terryl Givens!)

I'll admit - I'm a Terryl Givens fanboy. By the Hand of Mormon was the one that first got me in to him, mostly because he took the Book of Mormon as a serious work of literature to examine it's merits. It's not as devotional as many traditional LDS books about the Book of Mormon (it was put out by Oxford University Press), but it really gave me a deeper appreciation for the Book of Mormon as contemporary literature. Also check out Viper on the Hearth (Mormons on myth and heresy), People of Paradox (Mormon culture), When Souls had Wings (the pre-existence in Western thought), and so many others.

And just because I'm a big book nerd, here's the list of books that are on my desk right now that I can give you quick reviews if you want:

u/everything_is_free · 23 pointsr/latterdaysaints

I don't know what you consider to be "correct" in politics and different people will disagree over what political policies will help us move forward in love, but below are a handful instances of political involvement of the church that I personally believe qualify:

Joseph Smith ran for president on a platform to abolish slavery 17 years before the civil war.

The church and church members pushed women's suffrage in the Utah territory. In fact, women in the Utah territory were the first in the entire country to exercise their right to vote and [the first female state senator in the US was a Mormon woman]
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Hughes_Cannon).

The church officially opposed and spoke out against the MX Missile program during the height of the Cold War arms race.

The church has repeatedly called for compassion in immigration that allows families to stay together and has condemned aggressive actions and statements by Trump officials.

u/icub3d · 14 pointsr/latterdaysaints

Laurel Ulrich recently published a book about historical findings relating to polygamy in A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870.

One of the things she points out was that it wasn't ever required of all members and it was always a family decision. That is to say that a second wife was not sealed unless both the husband and wife agreed. The third wife required consent from all other partners. There may be some anecdotes where this didn't happen but it was the general rule.

She also mentions that sex wasn't talked about much in journals or history so we don't actually know much about what happened in that respect. Most of what she shared was anecdotal by a few people. I imagine though that sexual relationships were handled by the group since she describes that for most of the plural marriages the women had equal say in their relationship. In a sense, I don't think it would change much from our current standards: no pre-marital sex and let the couple decide in coordination with the lord.

u/jessemb · 9 pointsr/latterdaysaints

>Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich says that for Mormon women living in 19th century Utah, "plural marriages" were empowering in complicated ways.

>Ulrich is a professor at Harvard and past president of the American Historical Association and the Mormon History Association.

Ulrich's contribution to meme culture is the phrase, "well-behaved women seldom make history." This interview is about her recent book, A House Full Of Females: Plural Marriage And Women's Rights In Early Mormonism.

u/pierzstyx · 1 pointr/IAmA

Harvard professor Laurel Thatcher Ulrich wrote a great book on the history of the practice of polygamy by the mainline church and its impact on things like women's rights. It is called A House Full of Females and would help you see it form the perspective of women living in polygamous homes in the 1800s.