Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 1990 An exploratory study of female networking in a Mormon fundamentalist polygynous society Janet Bennion Cannon Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Mormon Studies Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Cannon, Janet Bennion, "An exploratory study of female networking in a Mormon fundamentalist polygynous society" (1990). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 4025. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.5909 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Janet Bennion Cannon for the Master of Arts in Anthropology presented June 4, 1990. Title: An Exploratory Study of Female Networking in a Mormon Fundamentalist Polygynous Society APPROVED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE 1HESIS COMMITTEE: Sharon Carstens, Chair , Daniel Scheans - \ i ' nette Davis Leonard Cain The present study is comprised of two parts: 1) an exploratory ethnography of a contemporary polygynous community governed by a strong patriarchal ideology in Pinesdale Montana with emphasis on social relationships, and 2) an analysis of the factors which have allowed women's groups to develop in Mormon fundamentalism. The ethnographic account of the community contextualizes the occurrence of female groups in Pinesdale. A model of the formation of female groups designed by Nancy Leis (1974) in 2 her study of the West African Ijaw is used to provide a better understanding of how female groups are formed, and is applied to the Pinesdale community. This model suggests that the combination of features relevant to the occurrence of female groups are virilocality, patrilineality, polygyny, and economic independence. In spite of the kin-based nature of her African study, which limits its applicability to Western society, Leis suggests that her model "would predict the presence or absence of women's groups elsewhere," and encourages a cross-cultural study to prove her hypothesis. My thesis investigates the strengths and limitations of Leis' model within an ethnographic framework. The data were obtained through four weeks of participant observation and informant interviews, and several months of library research conducted at Portland State University. The data are a reflection of the sociocultural patterns that shape the lives of Pinesdale women, and are compiled in the text to best illustrate how women group themselves with other women to support community structure and their own significance in a male-relegated system of power. The results of this investigation indicate that both men and women have formed their own separate networks--one based on ideology, the other based on the reality of daily living. These two networks operate on the yin-yang dualistic philosophy which suggests that man and woman are complementary; the one cannot operate completely and wholly without the other, each operating within his/her own realm. The relations between men and women, rather than explained through biological propensities, are shaped by a culturally defined division of labor, a distinctive socialization, and a rigidly controlled ideology--all based on sex. The female network, the focus of this study, is by far the larger and more stable, and is founded on common belief and experience. Within the realm of this common experience, there are several vital factors which bond Pinesdale women together in groups: polygyny, ideology, economic interdependence, and the separation from the ecclesiastical and civil authority of men. Although common household residence and kinship are also 3 factors in the formation of female groups in Pinesdale, I submit that these are minor factors and are not directly responsible for the grouping of females. 1 Further analysis of female group formation in Pinesdale suggests that female networks are strongest in times of economic necessity, and during periods of religious and social change. 1 Rather than one prototypic residence marker, such as matrilocality or patrilocality, there exists in Pinesdale a "matrifocal" residence, as defined by Smith (1956), which more directly affects the solidarity of women than either matrilocality or virilocality. The term, "matrifocality," is used to suggest that houses in Pinesdale are organized around women and that the children are raised mainly by their mothers. In other words, residence is "matrifocal" when household living conditions are under the sovereignty and primary care of the female. Kinship is a minor factor in group building because of the preadapted female relationship among co-wives. When sisters, cousins, and mothers and daughters, aunts and nieces, and affines marry the same man, they have already established a significant bonding prior to their entrance into polygyny. This strengthens further the solidarity of women as a whole, but is not a major factor in female group formation. Although Pinesdale residents are of bilateral descent, and do not subscribe to a unilineal pattern of kinship, there is still enough evidence that women in Pinesdale are able to successfully form groups in and among themselves. My analysis suggests that because Pinesdale residents adhere to a patrilineal ideology, that is, they align themselves in a patrilineal descent group after death, this strengthens the solidarity of the entire community. For females alone, however, this ideology has no significance in group building before death among other females. AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF FEMALE NETWORKING IN A MORMON FUNDAMENTALIST POLYGYNOUS SOCIETY by JANET BENNION CANNON A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Ill ANTHROPOLOGY Portland State University 1990 TO THE OFFICE OF GRADUATE STUDIES: The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Janet Bennion Cannon presented June 4, 1990. Sharon Carstens, Chair Danie} Scheans f7 ( .. .f Nanette Davis Leonard Cain APPROVED: Kenneth Ames, Acting Chair, Department of Anthropology C. William Savery, Interim Vice Provost for Gr.a£fuate Studies and Research TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF FIGURES . v PREFACE ... \'l CHAPTER I THE HISTORY . The History of Mormonism The Renunciation of Polygyny . 8 Pinesdale Fundamentalism . 11 n WORLDVIEW: THE MALE IDEOLOGY. 16 Patriarchy: Kings and Kingdoms 19 Celestial Marriage . 7:6 The Order of Heaven . 10 The Female View of the Ideology . 14 Ill THE PEOPLE .......... 42 The Socio-political Structure 46 The Economic Order. , ......... , . 5.1 Community Life Patterns . , . 67 N FAMILY STRUCTURE AND SOCIALIZATION, 86 The Family . 86 Socialization . 97 iv V NETWORKING: THE FEMALE REALITY . 127 Networking: How Does It Work? . 127 The Sisterhood . 139 Summary of Female Networking . 146 VI CONCLUSION: IN SEARCH OF FEMALE GROUPS ...... 149 Factors Allowing For Female Groups . 150 Social, Economic, and Religious Change . 161 Conclusion . 167 REFERENCES. 169 APPENDICES A THE REVELATION OF PLURAL MARRIAGE AS DICTATED TO JOSEPH SMITH, 1930-1934 ... 176 B THE DOCUMENT OF THE UNITED ORDER OF PINESDALE ESTABLISHED BY DR. RULON C. ALLRED, 1961 . 182 C THE SERMON DELIVERED BY LEROY JOHNSON, WLY 10, 1977, SUNDAY, IN COLORADO CITY, ARIZONA .. 189 D THE RULES OF CONDUCT IN THE FAMILY ORDER BY ORSON PRATT, 1853 ..................... 194 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1. Map of the Bitterroot Valley, Montana 43 2. A map of Pinesdale, Montana. 45 3. The Pinesdale Priesthood Hierarchical Structure .............. 50 4. The Ten Most Common Male and Female Jobs . .65 5. A Monthly Household Budget Sample for November 1989 .........90 6. Sample Genealogy of Pinesdale Polygyny . 94 7. Sample Chart of Co-wife Kinship Ties . 96 PREFACE Let us never cease from thinking--what is this 'civilization' in which we find ourselves? What are these ceremonies and why should we take part in them? What are these professions and why should we make money out of them? Where in the short is it leading us, the procession of the sons of educated men? VIRGINIA WOOLF The third birth occurs when we have become comfortable within the other culture ... and turn our gaze again toward our native land. VICTOR TURNER This thesis is the product of four weeks of anthropological field studies in the Mormon "fundamentalist" town of Pinesdale, Montana--a schismatic, polygynous colony on the Idaho/Montana border. In addition, I spent a total of three months of library research, text compilation, and thought in the production of this paper, which presents an ethnographic analysis of social relationships in contemporary polygyny with emphasis on the roles of men and women in society. This analysis contextualizes what interests me most about Mormon polygynous lifestyle--female support systems. By necessity, I will discuss sex roles and gender relations in the thesis. No ethnography of social relationships would be valid without such a discussion. My premise in regards to sex roles is that relations between men and women in Pinesdale are shaped by a culturally defined division of labor and religious duty based on sex. It appears in Pinesdale that both sexes tend to maximize the benefits of their roles in the ideological structure, distorting fundamentalism to provide each with his/her own specific needs and