Todd Akin, Paul Ryan, and The Rapist

Last updated on: August 20, 2012 at 10:16 am By Caryn Riswold

In June, I wrote the following in a longer piece over at TheReligiousLeft.org: “The GOP war on women is entirely about protecting male power. Specifically, the power of white Christian men to create and control life as well as prevent women from exercising power. Protecting male power to create and control life (ala the classic Monty Python song “every sperm is sacred!”) is most egregiously illustrated by the fact that criminalizing abortion and making contraception inaccessible and illegal protects the... Read more

Honorable Mention: A Woman’s Eye Gallery

Last updated on: August 15, 2012 at 11:10 am By Caryn Riswold

It’s a place where beautiful art melds nature, faith, and feminism together: A Woman’s Eye (AWE) Gallery in San Francisco. Adjacent to “the purple church” (Ebenezer/herchurch Lutheran), the gallery features the work of five women artists living and working in the Bay area. As the website describes the artists and their work: “While each brings her unique vision to this body of work, nature themes predominate, reflecting a respect for the spirit of the earth and Mother Nature.” And the... Read more

Are You a Flyover Feminist?

Last updated on: August 13, 2012 at 2:09 pm By Caryn Riswold

Having spent my youth in South Dakota, and my professional life in Illinois and Indiana, I certainly qualify. My students, when they want to identify as feminist and “do something!” often bemoan the fact that they live and study and work in central Illinois. But when Courtney Martin visited our campus a few years ago, and pointed out that some of the most exciting feminist activism and organizing is taking place online, they started to realize that you can live in the... Read more

Honorable Mention: Mormon Girl Part Two – Daily Show Edition!

Last updated on: August 11, 2012 at 7:21 pm By Caryn Riswold

I posted last week about Joanna Brooks’ newly expanded The Book of Mormon Girl. Here she is on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last Thursday, with more exclusive to the web. I especially enjoyed her “behind the scenes” narrative of what her first visit to THE. DAILY. SHOW! was like. Here’s a bit: “The producer comes in and greets us. I thank her for the chance to be on the show. She says, “Jon really liked your book.” Which... Read more

RomneyRyanObamaBiden ~ Religion & Politics Overload

Last updated on: August 11, 2012 at 2:25 pm By Caryn Riswold

Now that the two presidential tickets are set, the number of things to talk about in terms of religion and this election has exponentially grown. A Biden-Ryan debate. Catholic showdown of timely proportions, with two men who present two very different visions of an American Catholic in the twenty-first century. As Paul Raushenbush put it, “Both the current vice president and the recent addition to the Republican ticket are Catholics from heavily Catholic states. Yet they represent opposing views on... Read more

Afraid of What?

Last updated on: August 9, 2012 at 12:27 pm By Caryn Riswold

Mitt Romney’s political ad released today, “Be Not Afraid” states that “President Obama has declared war on religion by forcing religious institutions to go against their faith.” This is false. The Affordable Care Act makes no demands on houses of worship. No demands on religious institutions like hospitals, charities, colleges, and universities. Period. Many (including me) have debunked the myth that the Romney campaign would very much like to promote. Additionally, ThinkProgress points out: “In fact, the Obamacare... Read more

Thinking Generationally

Last updated on: August 5, 2012 at 7:52 pm By Caryn Riswold

For a variety of reasons related to my teaching and research, I’ve read three books in the last year by Mormon feminists across the generations: Wife No. 19, by Ann Eliza Young, 1876. From Housewife to Heretic: One Woman’s Spiritual Awakening and her Excommunication from the Mormon Church, by Sonia Johnson, 1989. The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an American Faith, by Joanna Brooks, 2011. These women and their stories are fascinating windows into feminist awakening and religious... Read more

Honorable Mention: The Book of Mormon Girl

Last updated on: August 7, 2012 at 9:48 am By Caryn Riswold

If you haven’t yet read The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of An American Faith by Joanna Brooks, you really should. A new edition is being published today with The Free Press/Simon and Schuster, slightly expanding the beautiful book that was issued last year. I was drawn to read it last year in part knowing Brooks’ work writing for Religion Dispatches, and in part because of the cover photo: I have an almost identical picture of myself and my... Read more

It’s Not Too Soon. It’s Too Late.

Last updated on: August 22, 2012 at 4:16 pm By Caryn Riswold

In the days following the Aurora movie theater shooting, politicians, strategists, and pundits alike repeated the refrain we’ve heard in these hours following the Sikh temple shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin: It’s too soon to talk about gun laws. It’s too soon to understand why and how this happened. I’m sorry. No. It’s too late. Too late for the people in Aurora. In Oak Creek. In Littleton. In … where next? But so much public conversation about guns sounds like Nick... Read more

Affordable Care for Women

Last updated on: July 30, 2012 at 3:09 pm By Caryn Riswold

This day, August 1, 2012, should probably be proclaimed Women’s Health Wednesday! Complete with that exclamation point! This is the day when a new set of provisions in the Affordable Care Act are implemented that specifically benefit women, as reported by RH Reality Check one year ago. “The guidelines will ensure women have access to a full range of recommended preventive services without cost sharing, including: well-woman visits; screening for gestational diabetes; human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing for women 30... Read more