A House Full of Females
Posted: 27 Nov 2017, 09:06
I finished the book A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women’s Rights in Early Mormonism by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. I don’t necessarily want to start a thread about polygamy itself – there are many of those already – but rather I wanted to share some things I learned while reading this book.
My main take-away was that Plural Marriage and Women’s rights in Utah was… “complicated.” Of course I realized that any time a man married several women that those relationships would be varied and messy and sometimes ugly. The book seemed to paint a picture that many LDS men and most LDS women didn’t like plural marriage but to my surprise many women seemed to believe – or eventually convince themselves – that polygamy was a divine commandment. I was also surprised that in some ways women’s rights in Utah were further along that other parts of the United States. Leaders of the suffrage moment visited Utah and found strong supporters of women’s rights, in seeming contradiction to what you might expect from supporters of polygamy. I can’t fully wrap my brain around how you could support polygamy and advocate for women’s rights.
Other things I learned or was reminded of.
• There definitely seemed to be some men who used plural marriage as a way to get younger, prettier wives whom they sexually desired. William Clayton might be an example of this. There was a description of a woman he thought was very attractive and he asked Joseph for permission to marry her and Joseph was happy to give permission. William seemed overjoyed to have a new wife and the book’s author even seems to take him to task for being so open about it.
• In some cases men seemed impacted as negatively as women. They were now responsible for supporting many families instead of one.
• Some sister wives got along really well. Apparently Parley P Pratt’s wives got along famously.
• Mission calls were brutal for everyone. Thank God we don’t do it like this today.
• Missionaries were expected to open preach about polygamy. Missions seemed designed to convert men to the idea of polygamy.
• First wives usually held considerable power over subsequent wives. They controlled much of the distribution of resources and tasks. They were also sometimes treated poorly after they could no longer bear children.
• There is no question that early LDS women thought they have the rights and the power to bless others and exercise the priesthood. In the book there are probably 100+ examples of women exercising the priesthood in some form or other, and often with the full knowledge of an apostle. These stories alone make the book worth reading. Early LDS women definitely did not sit demurely for a priesthood holder to come to their home to bless a sick child or animal.
I am no historian, but at times I wished the author would have drawn more conclusions about the merits and faults of polygamy. She usually paints the picture and lets the reader draw conclusions. I guess I expected more of a pronouncement that polygamy was awful with no redeeming qualities but the author mostly just tells the history. The book is extremely well documented. I highly recommend it.
My main take-away was that Plural Marriage and Women’s rights in Utah was… “complicated.” Of course I realized that any time a man married several women that those relationships would be varied and messy and sometimes ugly. The book seemed to paint a picture that many LDS men and most LDS women didn’t like plural marriage but to my surprise many women seemed to believe – or eventually convince themselves – that polygamy was a divine commandment. I was also surprised that in some ways women’s rights in Utah were further along that other parts of the United States. Leaders of the suffrage moment visited Utah and found strong supporters of women’s rights, in seeming contradiction to what you might expect from supporters of polygamy. I can’t fully wrap my brain around how you could support polygamy and advocate for women’s rights.
Other things I learned or was reminded of.
• There definitely seemed to be some men who used plural marriage as a way to get younger, prettier wives whom they sexually desired. William Clayton might be an example of this. There was a description of a woman he thought was very attractive and he asked Joseph for permission to marry her and Joseph was happy to give permission. William seemed overjoyed to have a new wife and the book’s author even seems to take him to task for being so open about it.
• In some cases men seemed impacted as negatively as women. They were now responsible for supporting many families instead of one.
• Some sister wives got along really well. Apparently Parley P Pratt’s wives got along famously.
• Mission calls were brutal for everyone. Thank God we don’t do it like this today.
• Missionaries were expected to open preach about polygamy. Missions seemed designed to convert men to the idea of polygamy.
• First wives usually held considerable power over subsequent wives. They controlled much of the distribution of resources and tasks. They were also sometimes treated poorly after they could no longer bear children.
• There is no question that early LDS women thought they have the rights and the power to bless others and exercise the priesthood. In the book there are probably 100+ examples of women exercising the priesthood in some form or other, and often with the full knowledge of an apostle. These stories alone make the book worth reading. Early LDS women definitely did not sit demurely for a priesthood holder to come to their home to bless a sick child or animal.
I am no historian, but at times I wished the author would have drawn more conclusions about the merits and faults of polygamy. She usually paints the picture and lets the reader draw conclusions. I guess I expected more of a pronouncement that polygamy was awful with no redeeming qualities but the author mostly just tells the history. The book is extremely well documented. I highly recommend it.