Feminism, Authority, and Garments: A conversation with Deidre Green

About this episode

As a feminist and lifelong member of the LDS faith, Deidre brings an important voice to this community. In this episode, she shares her own temple journey, which—like mine—began with challenges but ultimately evolved into something deeply meaningful. She describes the temple as a space that empowers her as a woman and expresses her belief that it holds a vision of who women truly are and who God is inviting them to become. In the second half of the episode, we explore the garment. Deidre has drawn fascinating meaning from it, some of which we discuss here. I highly recommend reading her article for Wayfare, where she delves more deeply into this topic—it was an impactful read for me. She speaks about the garment as a symbol of the veil and suggests that, in wearing it, we are perpetually standing before the veil, declaring, “Here I am,” and communicating to God our openness, trust, and willingness to submit to His will. Step by step, God has drawn me into this holy surrender, transforming me and setting me free in more ways than I can express. Deidre Green is Assistant Professor of Latter-day Saint/Mormon Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. She is t