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.