I believe that you should be able to Google this article (under the title given above) without being a subscriber. (Up to three such views are permitted to non-subscribers.)
The Economist is worried that higher numbers of women serving missions will result in fewer Mormon women completing college degrees and getting good jobs.
For once, the comments from readers are actually, on the whole, worth reading. (Maybe this is because it’s the Economist, one of the finest magazines in the world.)
They point out, for instance, that returned missionary women are likely to be more confident and independent, and even more clearly the spiritual equals of men. And one notes that, if men can complete their degrees after missions, so can women — and implies that, in assuming a difference between men and women in this regard, the article itself may be flirting with sexism.
Of course, there’s a letter suggesting that higher sister missionary numbers represent a step on the road toward the all-important ordination of women. And, of course, there’s also a letter suggesting — both brilliantly and with stunning originality — that the second m in Mormon be dropped. (Such profound insights are indispensable, n’est-ce pas?)
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