ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on feminist Mormon ambivalence toward the unique Mormon doctrine of Heavenly Mother. It examines Mormon feminist blog posts on Heavenly Mother for evidence not only of religious ambivalence, but also the vitalizing quality innovation, creativity, new possibilities, and criticism that emerges from these feelings of being simultaneously nurtured and constrained by a tradition. Mormons believe that their divine destinies are to progress to the status of God the Mother and Father, and ultimately become gods themselves. The preeminent Mormon feminist blog is Feminist Mormon Housewives, which displays Mormon women's religious ambivalence. The blogging world is a particularly appropriate forum for Mormon women's ambivalence and religious creativity. Mraynes in a blog post on The Exponent proposes an entire reconception of how one teaches young Mormon women about their roles, their spiritual lives, and their divine potential. To some Mormon feminists, the reconception of the trinity that contains a mother, father, and childish compelling given Mormonism's familial cosmology.