Editor:
While reading Jared Whitley’s Oct. 23 column, “Mormon Women and the Men who Try To Love Them,” I found myself laughing. Please don’t misunderstand; I was not laughing because I thought Whitley made a good point, or even that he was funny. Rather my amusement stemmed from the fact that someone as close-minded and theologically narrow as Whitley could have his “theory” printed in The Chronicle.
If I was forced to pick just one section of Whitley’s piece that was more offensive than another, it would have to be: “Real women know they can’t treat their men as draconianly as Mormon women do, because if they did, their men would commit adultery. Mormon women know they can treat us however they want because if we go have an affair, we’re screwed (both literally and theologically).”
In my 22 years of attending a non-LDS church, a little something called the Ten Commandments was often referred to. One of my favorites is the 7th: “Thou Shalt Not commit Adultery.” Believe it or not, non-LDS women and men take adultery very seriously and believe there are grave consequences as well.
I would like to know what exactly about Mormon women’s treatment of men Whitley considers “draconian.” Frankly, I reject Whitley’s theory of a “princess syndrome.” Rather, I believe in the “jack-ass syndrome,” something that spans across all religions, races and genders, and something from which Whitley acutely suffers. To all the so-called “princesses” out there, let me issue this warning: if you see Whitley coming your way, RUN!
Erin Laney
Senior, Economics