A few weeks ago, on an episode of Unleashing Sister Saints, I read an editorial I wrote for the Salt Lake Tribune on the illusion of choice. Basically, by the time a young woman reaches 18, her choices are often the culmination of years of social conditioning with strong messages given to her that she should do certain things – then we blame women for their choices. I received a powerful email from a woman and would like to focus this episode on her email and the topicsthat it brings up. I’ve removed her name, and she gave me permission to share. It focuses on making up to our true purpose, and I've shared some of my thoughts as well. Listen in. Thanks to this sister for her email.

In this podcast episode, I come back to the topic of sexism. I used to avoid using the word “sexism” because it made people uncomfortable, including me, a women’s leadership scholar. But as I began digging deeper into the research, my perspective changed. Now I use the word often because I realized that most people don’t understand the term and how it plays out in families, communities, and workplaces — particularly the more subtle form, called “benevolent sexism.” Now that I understand it, I see it all around me. I talk about what sexism is in this episode, as knowledge is power!

In this episode, I talk about the importance of seeing and serving differences. I refer lightly to things going on in my own state and in my own country related to public policies and actions that are happening related to removing safe spaces for women (and others) in the vein of quote “stoppingdiscrimination.” The research that has shown for decades that when you truly see differences and design interventions around those differences, you can help the people who need help in better ways. I also integrate some quotes from Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye's last book. Listen in!

Recently I wrote and published an editorial in The Salt Lake Tribune called “In Utah, a woman’s choice can often be an illusion.” I read and comment on this piece during this episode. So much of this relates to how we are socialized more generally, and particularly in the Church. I believe you'll appreciate what I'm trying to teach here. Of course, I would also appreciate hearing from you at [email protected]!

I really appreciated the writings of Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye, as she was such a powerful women scholar and writer in the Church. A few months before her passing, I read her final book, titled “Sacred Struggle: Seeking Christ on the

Link to Melissa's book.

This is the fourth and final episode in a series I’ve been doing to share the key findings of a large 2023 study called The

As a reminder, The Girls’ Index, the largest study of its kind, shared compelling data on girls in the United States, with 17,502 girls in 5th through 12th grades participating from schools nationwide. Researchers collected data for the first time in 2017 and then again in 2023. The purpose of the study was to better understand girls’ thoughts, experiences, perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors so that parents, teachers, school counselors, faith-based youth leaders, neighbors, and others can figure out how to better provide support for

For the last two episodes, I’ve been sharing the results of a large study on girls, and today I’m going to share the third set of findings (and I’ll finish up with the next episode). In this episode, I share results on the impact of school on girls and how they feel about it. School is a big part of how girls feel about life!

As a reminder, The Girls’ Index shared compelling data on girls in the United States and was the largest survey of its kind, with 17,502 girls in 5th through 12th grades participating from schools nationwide. Researchers collected data for the first time in 2017 and then again in 2023. They explored six categories of concern, which included confidence, social media, stress and well-being, school, leadership, and relationships. The purpose of the study was to understand girls’ thoughts, experiences, perceptions,

This information can be helpful for raising our next generation of women in the Church. Listen in!

In the last episode, I talked about the results of a major study on girls in the United States, and I shared some results on girls’ confidence and social media. As a reminder, I’m talking

Although I love this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt - “No one can make me feel inferior without my consent" - I must say that

In 2023 a large study, The Girls’ Index⁠, reported compelling data on girls in the U.S. It was the largest national survey of its kind, with 17,502 girls participating. Researchers collected data for the first time in 2017 and then again in 2023. They explored things that would help anyone who influences girls (e.g., parents, family members, teachers, coaches, religious youth leaders) better understand girls’ thoughts, experiences, perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors. The researchers partnered with schools nationwide to survey girls in 5th through 12th grades. The results linking confidence and social media are convincing., and I share those and other thoughts in this episode. Listen in!

Resources:

The Girls' Index: https://www.rulingourexperiences.com/research

For this last episode of 2024, I wanted to talk about how expectations for ourselves and others sometimes need to shift and that's okay. I share some personal examples, while also discussing how our definitions of "success" may also change. I'll get back to sharing some research next year but wanted to end the year with some personal reflections and experiences.