The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives reaches true greatness when the original cast is home, or at the very least, traveling as a unit. Utah is practically the tenth Mormon Wife, and the show just might not have the same impact if there are so many spinoffs keeping them away from each other.
On the page, we have total control - we see what's happening inside the character's mind, the narrative is designed to have a safe outcome, and there are no real-world repercussions. This allows us to safely explore strong emotions such as danger, obsession, or dominance. Often, these scenarios present these actions with emotional intensity, vulnerability, or chemistry, which can make them feel incredibly exciting and romantically charged, even though intellectually, we understand that these scenarios would not be appropriate.
When women actively support one another by sharing information, recommending colleagues for opportunities, and amplifying achievements, they help counterbalance these structural disadvantages. These behaviours reflect what psychologists often describe as prosocial leadership—using one's position or influence to help others succeed.
Beyond the reach of medieval Christendom, Viking-age Scandinavia drew its ideas about gender less from scripture than from myth, law, and the practical demands of life in a raiding and trading world. Luke Daly explores how women could wield real authority-as estate managers, property holders, ritual figures, and, at times, political actors-within a society that was still hierarchical and often violent. Beyond the cathedrals and the long shadow cast by Rome lay societies whose moral and social assumptions were not governed by the cross.
For thirty years, I watched this woman explain every decision she made. Why she worked part-time when the kids were young. Why she went back full-time when they were older. Why she didn't want to join the PTA. Why she did want to take that art class. Always explaining, always justifying, always making sure everyone understood her reasons. Then she turned fifty, and it all stopped.
Putting on makeup. Like, we're supposed to disguise ourselves; otherwise, people think we didn't take this outing seriously, didn't care enough, or didn't act professionally. In some ways, beauty standards are social obligations. Keeping up with nails, clothes, hair, etc., that's almost an expectation in some relationships.
Megan Keller was a 21-year-old next-big-thing-on-defense when she won her first Olympic gold medal, in Pyeongchang, the winter before her senior year of college. She was also very nearly the reason her team lost it. The refs whistled her for an illegal hit on Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin late in overtime, and her teammates spent 95 chilling seconds on the penalty kill atoning for her sins.
One of my late mother's widowed friends made the comment, "Finally I can have a scrambled egg for dinner. I'm never making another meatloaf again." And this was a woman who had loved her husband and had a pretty good marriage. Her grown kids were upset that when they came home to visit, "Mama isn't cooking anymore!" Yeah, Mama didn't care.
I really feel like the cultural norm around proposals is fundamentally silly and outdated. I wish more people would consider that women can propose too! It doesn't have to come from the male partner in heterosexual relationships. I asked my now-husband to marry me, and it was the best choice I've ever made. I think it's really interesting that this wasn't even mentioned in your advice-which goes to show how embedded this heteronormative idea about who gets to propose really is.
People think that marriage changes nothing, but it changes everything. Decisions made now have a lasting impact on the family for years to come, and what could have been decisions that were easily reversible before marriage are much more difficult after marriage. Staying employed becomes much more important, future planning becomes more about how we can afford to get pregnant soon than how we can afford to take a vacation or have a nice dinner, and lots of compromises must be made for the greater good.
"The smartest women with the happiest relationships are the useless women," Dianna Lee begins in her video. "As you can probably tell, I'm a highly capable woman. I'm capable throughout all areas of my life, through my schooling days, to my career, and I attacked my marriage life in exactly the same way. I just executed. I was fast, efficient, and I knew exactly what needed to get done. And in retrospect, it was so wrong."
I'm a woman, and I have been with my husband for 18 years. He is 22 years older than me. When we met, I was still recovering from a nasty divorce where my ex repeatedly cheated on me. After much thought, I rejected monogamy. My (now) husband was fine with having an open relationship. For the first 10 years, we had fun as swingers.
Monogamy, you may have heard, is in crisis. Fewer people are in relationships, let alone opting to be in one 'til death. And even those who have already exchanged vows seem to be increasingly looking for wiggle room. Quiet divorce mentally checking out of your union, rather than going through the rigmarole of formally dissolving it is reportedly on the rise, as is ethical non-monogamy (ENM) and opening up a relationship to include other partners.
My husband and I were on a road trip, pit-stopping in a couple of cities. One of my girlfriends asked if we could meet her for lunch, and we obliged. When the bill came, my husband paid for himself and me and left the remainder of the tab for my girlfriend to pay. She seemed surprised. We had never said out loud how we'd handle the bill, but frankly I was a bit surprised, too.
