Today’s guest post is a continuation of Equality is not a Feeling 16.0 and Equality is not a Feeling 17.0, by Laura C.–both of which depicted gender references in our LDS hymnal. Today’s post is the last in the hymnal series and shows the percentage of hymns that reference only males vs. those that reference only females.
By way of summary, LRC says:
I found two pieces of information that struck me:
- The hymns I’ve been most drawn to are those most likely to be gender neutral or nearly so (may reference simply Jesus or Savior or Lord)
- The “gender neutral” hymns are those traditionally associated with women (we sing them on mother’s day, or they’re ‘fluffier’ than the others)
While it would be a challenge to change the hymns to be completely gender-neutral in referencing God, it would be very easy to adapt those that speak only of men/mankind/brothers to be gender inclusive.
And many of the hymns that merely reference “Lord” could be adapted to say “God” in those places and make them more female-inclusive as well.
And if you’re interested in the list of gender-neutral hymns, look no further:
