Mormons, Gender Roles and

The Institutional Level: Priesthood and Relief Society

The first LDS prophet, Joseph Smith, organized the church according to a patriarchal order called “the priesthood.” Mormon theology defines the priesthood as the authority to act in the name of God, and it is through this authority that the church is to be led. The priesthood organization is central to Mormon theology and to the hierarchically organized church government. While there are historically documented exceptions, the priesthood is an exclusively male right and responsibility. Each level of priesthood office includes specific duties that worthy male members ages 12 and above are to perform: Baptizing new members, blessing the sick, performing marriage ceremonies in the temple, conducting congregational meetings, and administering the sacrament are a few examples of such responsibilities.

A decade following the organization of the LDS church and priesthood, organization the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo was organized, granting women an official role in the patriarchal organization. The role of its members was, and still is, to provide service to those in spiritual and/or material need and to assist in Mormon temple work. While the original organizing and naming of the Relief Society Presidency was overseen by Joseph Smith, immediately thereafter the female leadership was granted the authority to act autonomously, and they largely retained this independence throughout the 19th century. Facing persecution from mainstream society, the Mormons were forced out of their homes and to the West and eventually settled in Salt Lake City, Utah. The mass exodus led to the dissolution of the Relief Society, which was again reorganized in 1867.

Throughout the latter half of the 19th century, LDS women were quite liberal in comparison to their non-LDS counterparts. They authored their own publications, were the first to win the right to vote in 1870, and had ties with suffrage organizations from the East. Mormon women greatly expanded their sphere of activity into politics, economics, and social life throughout the latter half of the 19th century. However, as LDS sociologist Marie Cornwall explains, as the church grew in size, it also became more bureaucratic, and the Relief Society and women's activities, along with women's publications, were restricted and subsumed under priesthood authority. This appropriation led to the gradual subordination and feminization of Mormon women.

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