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Recent Posts
- Psaltery & Lyre’s New Site
- 123 Psaltery & Lyre: “Agricola Dreams of Flying” by J. Rose Lara
- 122 Psaltery & Lyre: “Communion: a love poem (a villanelle)” by Rachel Bollinger
- Book Review: Philip Metres’s Sand Opera
- 121 Psaltery & Lyre: Rachael Matthews, “Horsehead Nebula”
- Book Review: Monica Ong’s Silent Anatomies
- 120 Psaltery & Lyre: Rachael Matthews, “Return, pt. III” and “Gaia”
- Book Review: Claudia Rankine’s Don’t Let Me Be Lonely
- Book Review: Matthea Harvey, If the Tabloids Are True What Are You?
- Book Review: LoterÃa Cards and Fortune Poems: A Book of Lives
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Tag Cloud
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Knit Together Archive
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On Obedience
Posted on June 27, 2014 | 13 CommentsThis poem by the beloved Mormon poet Carol Lynn Pearson has been haunting my waking and sleeping thoughts all week: Obedient Girl Everybody was proud of this little girl.She loved to please and obey.She got good gradesAnd she baked good cakes And she cleaned her […] -
To the Mothers in Zion
Posted on June 17, 2014 | 10 CommentsAs is so typical, those feminists (say it with derision, come on, you know you want to curl your upper lip as you say it) at Feminist Mormon Housewives are encouraging us to help Ordain Women change its name by calling for us to pool […] -
There is hope smiling brightly before us
Posted on June 11, 2014 | 12 CommentsIn September 1993, I was a 20 year old, already-married (gasp!) undergrad at BYU. I watched the September Six play out with some combination of fear, horror, confusion, befuddlement, and disgust. And then I silenced myself. I retreated into a safe corner, […] -
Unglorifying Motherhood
Posted on May 8, 2014 | 18 CommentsApril showers are over and May flowers are starting to bloom. This beautiful time of year has many people reflecting on the gratitude they feel for their many blessings in life. It is only appropriate, then, that we show this gratitude by celebrating […] -
Boys, Safety Patrol and the Priesthood
Posted on November 21, 2013 | 43 CommentsA couple weeks ago, four out of five of us slept through our alarms. I rushed into Stuart’s room to see how he wanted to proceed. Because Stuart gets super anxious when our routine is disrupted or altered, I was going to let […] -
Equality is Not a Feeling, 7.0
Posted on November 20, 2013 | 4 CommentsToday’s Equality is not a Feeling post is a depiction of the number of General Conference speakers, by gender, from 1984-2013. Four women spoke in April 1984, when I was 11. Not surprisingly, I don’t remember that at all (again, I was 11). […] -
Book of Mormon Heroines for Our Daughters
Posted on November 19, 2013 | 3 CommentsHi, I’m Stephen Carter, a writer and stay-at-home dad raising two teenage sons and a four-year-old daughter. I like to read stories to my little girl, and I’m constantly on the lookout for books with strong female protagonists so that she can explore the many […] -
Equality is Not a Feeling, 6.0
Posted on November 13, 2013 | 38 CommentsThis week’s “Equality is not a Feeling” post is an illustration of the number of times the phrase “Heavenly X” or “X in Heaven” has appeared in any conference address since 1851 according to corpus.byu.edu. You’ll notice the difference between X=”Father” and X=”Mother” is 9,847 […] -
Equality is not a Feeling, 5.0
Posted on November 6, 2013 | 29 Comments–From Laura C. This week’s “Equality is not a Feeling” post is an illustration of the people needed–according to the Church Handbook of Instructions (Volume 1, Section 9)–in order to establish official church units (e.g., branches, wards, stakes). So, I know this might not really […] -
Equality is not a Feeling, 4.0
Posted on October 30, 2013 | 12 CommentsAnother illustration of a way to measure (in)equality in the Mormon church (for other measurements, see here, here, and here). Today we’re looking at male-female faculty representation in higher education in general (degree-granting institutions, in the U.S.) versus male-female faculty representation at BYU. […] -
Does it Get Better?
Posted on October 28, 2013 | 15 CommentsToday’s guest post comes to us from Brad Jones. Heather’s post the other day on the allocation of time between men and women is a stark portrayal of one form of gender inequality in the Church. Without question, women speak less frequently then men in […] -
Equality is not a Feeling, 3.0
Posted on October 23, 2013 | 10 CommentsHere’s another installment in my series, Equality is not a Feeling–in which I am trying to illustrate, visually, numerous ways in which (in)equality in the Mormon church can be measured. This one is similar to the first one (Equality is not a Feeling 1.0), […] -
Eshet Chayil
Posted on October 22, 2013 | 3 CommentsEarlier this year, I read Rachel Held Evans’s book A Year of Biblical Womanhood and hosted a Mormon Stories Book Club podcast with Rachel, who is fabulous. Rachel is an evangelical Christian blogger, author, and speaker whose expansive and inclusive worldview I appreciate immensely–especially […] -
An Economic Perspective on Female Ordination
Posted on October 21, 2013 | 7 CommentsToday’s guest post is by S. Mark Barnes, an attorney and a university law and economics instructor. He served a mission in Fukuoka, Japan. He comes from Mormon feminist stock, and is a committed supporter of Ordain Women. He has a profile on Ordain Women. […] -
Equality is Not a Feeling, 2.0
Posted on October 19, 2013 | 34 CommentsI have “equality” on the brain these days. What does it mean? What does it look like? How do you know when you have it and, more importantly, how do you know when you don’t? As Kate Kelly mentioned a couple weeks […] -
Equality is not a Feeling
Posted on October 16, 2013 | 40 CommentsTwo-part proclamation from me: 1. I don’t know what I think about God these days, but this much I know: God is not the author of inequality. I don’t care who claims otherwise. I’m not buying what you’re selling. 2. […] -
Smog-Breathers
Posted on October 1, 2013 | 4 CommentsI just read an amazing book called “Multiplication is for White People”: Raising Expectations for Other People’s Children by Lisa Delpit,an insightful writer whose work I have admired for the last ten years, which is about when I was first exposed to her. I […] -
Ordain Mormon Women
Posted on October 1, 2013 | 5 CommentsDoves and Serpents just received word that the fantabulous Cate has penned a song for the women (and men) of Ordain Women, who plan to stand in line this Saturday, October 5, in order to get into the priesthood session of General Conference. If […] -
My response to a Letter of Kindly-Intended Correction Regarding My Pro-Female Ordination Stance
Posted on September 9, 2013 | 72 CommentsBy Spunky On October 5th, there are a group of Mormon women who will go to the Priesthood Session of General Conference and request entry. The action is meant to draw attention to the inequality of a male-only presiding priesthood, and draw attention to the […] -
Straight Thinking on the Role of Women
Posted on August 25, 2013 | 76 CommentsElder Ballard addressed an audience at Education Week at BYU on August 20th, 2013. The topic of his address was the role of women where he reiterated that women have a separate but equal role to men, specifically, that the role of women necessarily […] -
The Next Generation
Posted on August 10, 2013 | 18 CommentsI’ve written plenty here about the (what feel to me like unrelenting) gender inequities in the Mormon church. And then I got tired of it. I just ran out of fight. I feel like I want to take my energy somewhere else, […] -
June: A Tough Pull
Posted on May 31, 2013 | 12 CommentsThe June lesson line-up for the Young Women and Young Men of the church is a tough pull. First, in Sunday School, a whole month of Sundays (there are five in June) on the priesthood. My personal favorite bullet point is the first one: […] -
Nerd Version of “Dance Moms”
Posted on May 30, 2013 | 5 CommentsI may have been known to make fun of “dance moms” and “cheer moms.” If I had a son who was into sports, I’d probably be making fun of the super competitive dads that are yelling at their kids when they strike out and […] -
A Celebration of Motherhood
Posted on May 12, 2013 | 2 CommentsMother’s Day is a pretty complex day–full of pain, annoyance, and sadness for a lot of women for a whole host of reasons, as well as fun memories and love and laughter for others. I love seeing these pictures of all kinds of moms […] -
Motherhood Is Not the Essense of my Personhood
Posted on May 11, 2013 | 26 CommentsDear Kennedy, Marin, and Stuart, Mother’s Day is tomorrow. Mother’s Day is not my favorite–for a whole host of reasons I’m quite sure y’all know about because I tend to not self-censor much with anyone. That includes y’all. I woke up this […] -
A Celebration of Motherhood
Posted on May 7, 2013 | 1 CommentLast night while I was running, I had the idea that we should put together a slideshow of pictures of mothers or grandmothers or other mother-figures. Or of ourselves as mothers. And run it on Sunday to celebrate all the women out there […] -
Mama Drama
Posted on May 7, 2013 | 34 CommentsAs Mother’s Day approaches, it’s the usual time I psychologically rent a limo so I can take my inevitable guilt trip in style. Leading up to this day of celebration, stories of the women who gave all they have for their children seem to come […] -
“Motherhood” in six short words
Posted on May 6, 2013 | 15 CommentsA few months ago, I was lucky enough to spend three blissful days reading, writing, walking, jogging, eating, and mostly gabbing for hours with four amazing women. (Before this weekend, I had never met these women in real life-only virtually–which kinda makes it one of […] -
Mormon Moms Meet Yale
Posted on May 4, 2013 | No CommentsFor the past few years, I’ve been a part of a wildly ambitious ward project that my friend, Lia Collings, spearheaded. It started out as a modest collection of essays, one that was doomed to remain un-read by anyone but our immediate families, and now […] -
A Screed: Random Drug Testing for High School Students
Posted on March 27, 2013 | 7 CommentsI learned a painful civics lesson tonight: go to school board meetings. I went to a meeting tonight to sign a mandatory “consent” form that will allow my daughter to be randomly drug tested at school in order to either participate in extracurricular […] -
I am the Law, and the Law is not Mocked
Posted on March 26, 2013 | 6 CommentsLast night I saw Les Miserables. Hugo’s work has endured because ideas and principles pulled from the story still apply today. This movie made me think. This movie made me question. Javert. Such a beautifully conflicted character. To him, life is black and white. Everything […] -
Morally “Straight”
Posted on February 6, 2013 | 3 CommentsI’ve been following the Boy Scouts of America’s anti-gay policy . . . and then their almost-change-in-policy . . . and then their non-decision. The BSA suggested today that, “due to the complexity of the issue,” they have decided to postpone the decision to […] -
Boy Scouts of America Changes Direction?
Posted on January 28, 2013 | 7 CommentsWow. I just read this article that says the national Boy Scouts of America organization is considering ending its ban on gay Boy Scouts and gay leaders. This would be huge–especially since they appeared to be digging in their heels on this just […] -
January 2013 YM/YW Lesson Comparison
Posted on January 6, 2013 | 10 CommentsThe church has finally updated the curriculum for the YW/YM’s programs. At long last. We published two comparisons of the YW/YM lessons in 2012–both written diligently and conscientiously by Laura C. You can read them here and here. The following is […] -
Guest Post Invitation: The Parenthood Juggle
Posted on December 28, 2012 | 10 CommentsI want my daughters (and my son!) to be able to read about other women's struggles. How did they go about deciding what to do and when? -
Twenty Years
Posted on December 19, 2012 | 4 CommentsI stumbled across this Facebook meme a couple months ago and sorta fell in love with it. I want to put it in a frame next to my girls’ beds so they can fall asleep every night seeing it. I don’t want them […] -
Heather Wears Pants
Posted on December 14, 2012 | 28 CommentsI was pregnant with Stuart, my third (and last) child when I decided I wanted to get a Ph.D. By the time he was three months old, I had already started my coursework. It was invigorating. I was excited to be reading […] -
Friendless in East Texas
Posted on December 12, 2012 | 16 CommentsI was born and raised in East Texas and have spent most of my adult life living here or Louisiana. But my parents are originally from California, which means that I don’t really have the necessary social capital required to happily live here. […] -
Though Hard to you, this Journey may Appear. . ..
Posted on November 1, 2012 | 17 CommentsToday’s guest post is written by Marilyn Mehr. One year ago today, I stood on the steps of the Bronx County Courthouse with my spouse, Betty Walker, celebrating our marriage. Filled with pride and wonder, I threw my wedding bouquet to the small party of […] -
A Review of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity Worldwide
Posted on October 24, 2012 | 6 CommentsToday’s guest post comes to us from Andy Richardson. I count myself among the minority of viewers who walked away more troubled than inspired by Half the Sky. This may sound strange coming from someone who not only considers himself an ally to vulnerable women […] -
Why This Mormon Woman is Voting for Barack Obama
Posted on October 23, 2012 | 17 CommentsToday’s guest post comes to us from Karin Olson of Huntsville, Texas. Yesterday I cast my vote for Barack Obama for president on the first day of early voting in Huntsville, Texas, wishing I lived in a swing state. I see him as the […] -
Another Look at the YM/YW Manuals
Posted on October 17, 2012 | 26 CommentsUnfortunately, this side-by-side comparison similarly shows that there are differences in the way we speak to both YM and YW and their teachers, and those differences appear to be deliberately chosen and inserted. -
First Lady Cookie Bake-Off
Posted on October 10, 2012 | 5 CommentsSome people have Superbowl parties. Others have March Madness parties. We have a presidential election party. We love politics. We love to talk about debates, polls, and pollsters. We roll our eyes at the crazy that is Fox News (and […] -
Babies and Grad School
Posted on October 3, 2012 | 16 CommentsToday’s guest post is written by Caitlin. My first week of grad school ended in an emotional break-down, not unlike one of an adolescent who came to a new school and had no friends. I sobbed to my husband that now that we left Utah […] -
I’m Hanging On . . .
Posted on September 26, 2012 | 21 CommentsA high school friend recently messaged me to say that-after reading my Facebook posts and my blog posts (as well as other Doves and Serpents posts)-she wondered why I stay in the Mormon church. If it’s such a source of pain and frustration, why […] -
Diversify your Spiritual Identity Portfolio
Posted on September 20, 2012 | 5 CommentsToday’s guest post comes to us from Nik Rasheta: About a year ago I read a book that helped me gain some needed insight in order to survive my career as a law enforcement officer, a very psychologically demanding career. One of the biggest […] -
Don’t You Want Muffins?
Posted on September 19, 2012 | 9 CommentsI was born with a seemingly infinite number of machine parts in my head — springs and sprockets and gears and levers and wires and nuts and bolts. They were mostly unassembled at birth — just random parts jangling around as I rolled and crawled […] -
Driver’s Ed
Posted on September 19, 2012 | 7 CommentsOur oldest daughter is approaching the magical age of 16. When I was her age, I took a semester-long course at school during which we learned all the rules and even practiced driving. If that were still an option, I would’ve signed up […] -
Shielding Children from our Emotions
Posted on September 12, 2012 | 10 CommentsI’ve read some really sad things lately and have been experiencing some of my own sad moments (hey, I’m 39, so it’s time, no?), so I’ve been thinking a good bit about grief lately and about what grief looks like once you’re a parent. […] -
Hankerin’ for a Spankerin’
Posted on September 5, 2012 | 9 CommentsI would like to preface this story with the statement that I love both my parents deeply. In my home growing up, Mom was the disciplinarian. Dad worked graveyard shift at the post office until I was in high school, so he didn’t have a […] -
To Read or Not to Read (Your Teenager’s Private Business)
Posted on September 5, 2012 | 15 CommentsWhen I was a teenager, I kept a journal. I wrote in it a lot. I sometimes worried about my parents reading it, so I hid it-in various places, to throw them off the scent. And sometimes I would do things like […] -
Restoring America?
Posted on August 29, 2012 | 4 CommentsPolitics is like blood sport at our house. We love it. I have a picture of Kennedy as a newborn, sitting in one of those vibrating rocker seats, “watching” Meet the Press with us on a Sunday morning before church. Our kids […] -
College Success 101
Posted on August 22, 2012 | 6 CommentsI teach some combination of undergraduate teacher education courses and graduate education courses. Most of my students are college juniors, so they’ve had a couple years of experience before they get to me. Starting next week, I’m teaching a course that our university […] -
Savoring (or failing to savor) the Present
Posted on August 15, 2012 | 19 CommentsOn one of the nights in the last two weeks when the Olympics were on, I got up from my home office chair, left the computer, and went into the TV room where all three of our kids were blissfully watching whatever Olympic event was […] -
Whole Lotta Hate
Posted on August 8, 2012 | 15 CommentsThere’s an awful lot of “hate” being thrown around on-line and in the media these days. Mormons and evangelicals hate gays. Chick-fil-A (the business and apparently, every employee of the company, by definition), hates gays. A deranged gunman hated Sikhs. Fred […] -
Olympic Moms
Posted on August 1, 2012 | 3 CommentsI’ve been really enjoying watching the Olympics the last few days. The kids planned an opening ceremonies party on Friday night. They made “patriotic eagles,” red-white-and-blue strawberries, and Olympic rings brownies, as well as a host of other “international” foods-gumbo (because Louisiana’s kind […] -
Scrapping the Scouts?
Posted on July 25, 2012 | 34 CommentsStuart started participated in Cub Scouts last year when he turned 8 (which is when Mormon boys start participating in scouting. We have our own troops and we kinda play by our own rules.) I was thrilled because all three kids could go […] -
The Green Room Piano
Posted on July 18, 2012 | 13 CommentsGrowing up in the Olson household, playing the piano was just something you did-kinda like breathing or eating. There were four of us-two older sisters, then me (four years later), and then my brother, the caboose (six years later). When I was a […] -
Help Wanted: Punishing tweens and teens
Posted on July 11, 2012 | 15 CommentsWhen I was a tween/teen, we didn’t ever really get punished-at least I don’t remember being punished. We didn’t really have rules per se, either. We were all motivated by desperately not wanting to disappoint our parents, so we pretty much did what […] -
On conquering our fears
Posted on July 4, 2012 | 8 CommentsMy Stuart is a pretty cautious kid. (That’s a nice way of saying he’s scared. Of pretty much everything-except for peer pressure pertaining to the fact that dance is his favorite hobby, and that takes some bravery, to be sure!) He’s afraid […]