Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism

by Taylor G. Petrey

Overview

Taylor G. Petrey's trenchant history takes a landmark step forward in documenting and theorizing about Latter-day Saints (LDS) teachings on gender, sexual difference, and marriage. Drawing on deep archival research, Petrey situates LDS doctrines in gender theory and American religious history since World War II. His challenging conclusion is that Mormonism is conflicted between ontologies of gender essentialism and gender fluidity, illustrating a broader tension in the history of sexuality in modernity itself.

As Petrey details, LDS leaders have embraced the idea of fixed identities representing a natural and divine order, but their teachings also acknowledge that sexual difference is persistently contingent and unstable. While queer theorists have built an ethics and politics based on celebrating such sexual fluidity, LDS leaders view it as a source of anxiety and a tool for the shaping of a heterosexual social order. Through public preaching and teaching, the deployment of psychological approaches to "cure" homosexuality, and political activism against equal rights for women and same-sex marriage, Mormon leaders hoped to manage sexuality and faith for those who have strayed from heteronormativity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469656236
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	04/17/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Taylor G. Petrey, associate professor of religion at Kalamazoo College, is author of Resurrecting Parts: Early Christians on Desire, Reproduction, and Sexual Difference.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Bold, original, and timely, Tabernacles of Clay is a field-defining book that does for Latter-day Saints what they have never fully done for themselves: lending a degree of ideological continuity to their shifting views about gender, sexuality, and marriage. A landmark step forward in both documenting and theorizing modern church teaching on sexuality and sexual difference, this is a work that Mormon studies has been waiting for and will come back to again and again." —Patrick Q. Mason, Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture, Utah State University

Based on exquisite primary research constituting an extensive documentary history of LDS teachings on gender and sexuality since World War II, Taylor Petrey presents an astute historical analysis of how the Mormon Church has adapted, rejected, and accommodated broader cultural shifts. An essential contribution to the study of religion and sexuality and the conflicts they incite." —Sara J. Moslener, Central Michigan University

Editorial Reviews

★ 03/09/2020

Petrey, a professor of religion at Kalamazoo College, combines meticulous research with illuminating insight in this landmark work on gender and sexuality in Mormon thought. Petrey shows how Latter-day Saint teachings about race, marriage, homosexuality, and gender roles have adapted to different social contexts between post-WWII America and today, and argues that opposition to same-sex marriage has replaced opposition to interracial marriage or egalitarian marriage as a lightning rod for LDS leaders. He also examines contradictions in LDS ideologies—such as church leaders explicitly teaching that gender roles are inherent, while also fretting about parents not properly teaching their children how to “perform” their gender role properly. Information-packed, with a forceful thesis and jargon-free prose, this is an important contribution to Mormon studies as well as a convincing consideration of the ways religions construct and maintain frameworks. Any academic studying the intersection of religious practice and progressive social change will want to pick this up. (Jun.)

Publishers Weekly

[A] landmark work on gender and sexuality in Mormon thought. . . . Information-packed, with a forceful thesis and jargon-free prose, this is an important contribution to Mormon studies as well as a convincing consideration of the ways religions construct and maintain frameworks. Any academic studying the intersection of religious practice and progressive social change will want to pick this up."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

A brilliant exception to studies of sexuality, gender, and religion that too often focus on a narrow subject and don't speak to broader concerns of larger issues in history and society. . . . Petrey writes beautifully, offering readers across a wide variety of academic fields, including religious studies and the history of sexuality, an elegant intellectual text that will please casual readers as well. Highly recommended."—Library Journal, starred review

Meticulously researched and well-balanced in structure and argument, Petrey's book provides new insights into the church's relationship with gender and sexuality policies. . . . Accessible and addictive in content, this book comes highly recommended."—Segullah

Petrey . . . looks at how post–WW II political, social, and cultural transformations shaped LDS church leaders' conceptions of race, sexuality, and gender. . . . Adding nuance to the history of Mormonism, Petrey's book is a remarkable addition to the literature."—CHOICE

A fascinating, invaluable resource for those interested in Mormon ideas of sexuality and gender." —Association for Mormon Letters

Petrey's work bridges a gap in the field of Mormon studies where the study of women is often separated from the study of LGBTQ+ sexuality, obscuring 'a fundamental overlap between these two issues.'" —Journal of the American Academy of Religion

In a sea of scholarship, it can be difficult to know which books are worthy of your time . . . but don't sleep on this one. . . . Tabernacles of Clay is an instant classic in the field. Pick it up, read it, and assign it to your own students. You'll be glad you did." —American Religion

Petrey's book . . . substantially contributes to gender and religious studies as well as to Mormon studies. His work enriches the current scholarship from multiple perspectives . . . excellent."—Reading Religion

From the Publisher

04/24/2020

Petrey's work (religion, Kalamazoo Coll.; Resurrecting Parts: Early Christians on Desire, Reproduction, and Sexual Difference) is a brilliant exception to studies of sexuality, gender, and religion that too often focus on a narrow subject and don't speak to broader concerns of larger issues in history and society. Here, the author integrates an analysis of how the Latter-day Saint religion fits into the story of sexuality and gender in American society within a larger frame of Latter-day Saint history generally. Importantly, he demonstrates how race enters into the mix of sex and gender in Latter-day Saint practices and theology. Petrey's insights are grounded in the thought of philosopher Michel Foucault and scholar Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, among others, in a successful effort to move beyond previous examinations of Latter-day Saint concepts of marriage, patriarchy, family, and homosexuality. Historical analysis of key primary sources serves as the foundation of the book providing evidence that there is no essential Mormon position but always an emergent one. VERDICT Petrey writes beautifully, offering readers across a wide variety of academic fields, including religious studies and the history of sexuality, an elegant intellectual text that will please casual readers as well. Highly recommended.—David Azzolina, Univ. of Pennsylvania Libs., Philadelphia

Library Journal