Common myths about Mormon women: Cathy Chamberlain speaks to the LDS Business Conference

PARK CITY — Cathy Chamberlain spoke about recognizing and remedying common misperceptions of women in the LDS Church, at the 4th Annual LDS Business Conference.

"There are a lot of myths out in the world about who Mormon women really are," Chamberlain said Friday in Park City. "The most common myth outside of the church is that LDS women are second-class citizens in the church. Among our own women, they're not sure their roles are as important as men's roles.

"We've got some cultural myths we've got to remove, and it's become a mission of mine to figure out how you break down those myths."

Chamberlain, Deseret Book's managing director of market strategy, enthusiastically spoke about a new tool she believes can help LDS women strengthen their sense of self-identity: the minutes of six lectures church founder Joseph Smith delivered to the Relief Society — a female service organization that continues in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — between 1842 and 1844. Less than two weeks ago, the historical documents recording these lectures became available to the public at the Joseph Smith Papers website.

"Joseph Smith taught women some pretty powerful things about what their role and responsibilities were within the church," Chamberlain said. "I think for many years (church leaders) have been re-teaching what the Prophet taught, but I'm not sure that women have totally understood or had ears to fully understand what it was they were telling them."

For more than 30 years, Chamberlain's research has focused on what women think regarding a broad range issues ranging from politics to spirituality. She prescribes a paradigm shift for LDS women wanting to rectify their own misconceptions about where they fit in their church.

"When women come to really understand who they are, they will understand their role and what they came here to do," Chamberlain said. "When you don't see yourself for who you really are and whose you really are, you can be really distracted by the validation that comes from the world. If you try and get validated the way the world validates, you get going around in a circle and on a treadmill that you just don't know how to jump off of."

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