Hello Tara, I want to thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts. As someone who grew up Mormon and was raised by a single mother who was a professor at BYU, I have witnessed first hand the wage gap that existed for my mother across her career as well as discrimination in a variety of ways.
I respect your decisions and determination to retain a sense of identity and deciding what works best for you. If I had the courage you have I might have remained a member of the Mormon church, but as you say the amount of pressure and judgment associated with just being yourself can take a toll. As a therapist by profession I talk with many women / people who are distraught and yes even suicidal because they cannot reconcile their sense of self with the expectations they feel they must meet to be accepted.
I believe your words will help encourage many women to live true to themselves and I believe that to be a contribution to the world. No one should live feeling badly about themselves. Thank you for your article. Tamara Vitela
Hello Tara, I want to thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts. As someone who grew up Mormon and was raised by a single mother who was a professor at BYU, I have witnessed first hand the wage gap that existed for my mother across her career as well as discrimination in a variety of ways.
I respect your decisions and determination to retain a sense of identity and deciding what works best for you. If I had the courage you have I might have remained a member of the Mormon church, but as you say the amount of pressure and judgment associated with just being yourself can take a toll. As a therapist by profession I talk with many women / people who are distraught and yes even suicidal because they cannot reconcile their sense of self with the expectations they feel they must meet to be accepted.
I believe your words will help encourage many women to live true to themselves and I believe that to be a contribution to the world. No one should live feeling badly about themselves. Thank you for your article. Tamara Vitela