The Realest Non-Housewife of Salt Lake City
The Realest Non-Housewife of Salt Lake City
Mormon feminism, revisited 🙏🏻
Pop quiz! What do the following 11 women have in common? (Aside from the fact that their names probably don’t ring a bell, unless you’ve listened to this week’s ~encore~ of The “Pretendian” Long Con.)
Andrea Smith
Michelle Latimer
Amie Wolf
Liz Hoover
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond
Sacheen Littlefeather
Carrie Bourassa
Kay LeClaire
Cheyenne Turians
Gina Adams
Buffy Saint-Marie
Answer: They’re all scholars and artists who’ve been outed in recent years for Indigenous identity fraud and labeled pretendians, folks who built their influence, funding and careers off of varying degrees of fabricated Indigenous heritage. But as we learn from guest and writer Michelle Cyca:
…in calling these people out, I can understand that instinct, but I do think it's not the biggest issue. I think it's a symptom of a bigger issue, which is that Indigenous identity has become understood by a lot of people as this individual thing…it doesn't entail any community connections that it isn't about the Nations themselves, which is the troubling piece because all Indigenous rights are rooted in sovereignty, in tribal sovereignty.
In 2022, Michelle, who is a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, found herself in an uncanny position regarding the penultimate name on that list above. Her story originally aired last January, and it’s an unforgettable interview worth a re-listen, I promise.
Good to know:
⚖️ Actually good SCOTUS news. (them) The Supreme Court is letting stand an appeals court ruling that barring trans students from using gender-appropriate school bathrooms is unconstitutional. Reminds me of that ol’ song, you say it best, when you say nothing at all.
🍑 Foster care is out of control. (WABE and NPR) Yes, this is a story about Georgia spending gobs of money to put unhoused children in foster care rather than keeping families together with housing assistance (700+ cases between 2018 and 2022!). But did you know that in most states, parents also get billed for it?
🫄Gen Z vs. hormonal birth control. (Vice UK) With TikTok awash in anti-hormonal birth control content, reporter Nana Okosi spoke with five young women about whether it’s influenced their contraceptive use. And while that is an extremely small sample size, so grain of salt advised, what they had to say might surprise you.
Unladies’ Room: The Realest Non-Housewife of Salt Lake City
“A 12-year-old boy has more power and authority than any woman in the [Mormon] Church, including his own mother and grandmother,” Kate Kelly told me way back on the first season of Unladylike. Her feminist activism and organizing sent shockwaves through the Church when she dared to defy its patriarchal doctrine and was punished with excommunication in 2014.
As the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City has been going viral in recent weeks, I’ve been thinking back on that interview and how Kate’s story offers a much realer look at women, gender and Mormonism. (Not that I’m confusing my beloved Bravo garbage television for feminist programming, but women and gender roles in the faith are recurring storylines.)
And now, you can hear my full, uncut conversation with Kate in the Patreon! To quote Unladies’ Room-er Karlie, the twists, turns and crises of faith Kate describes “feels like it could be a movie.”
💗 Thank you so very much to Laura, Maria and Daisy this week’s new Unladies’ Room member / patron of the Unladylike arts! 💗
unladies are saying
I feel like when there’s commercials with men doing “girldad” things, there’s often this hint of the guy’s kind of being like, ladies, you wanna fuck me, right? It’s like we’re supposed to be horny for it or something?*
- unlady and BRAND NEW #girlmom, Lauren, re: BoyMoms & GirlDads
*see also: every romcom single-because-his-wife-tragically-died dad
til next week…
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