One thing I felt was important to explore with my research was how LDS women generally feel about garments as a method of remembering covenants. Religions all over the world use physical reminders as symbols of religious devotion, and these come in many forms. In fact, one of my favorite versions of this is the kara, an iron bangle bracelet that is worn by many Sikhs to show their devotion. Isn't it beautiful?
Garments serve this same purpose, but have unique qualities to navigate because of their nature as underwear. One of my goals was to see if LDS women feel connected to garments despite some issues, or if the issues were substantial enough to negatively impact a woman's relationship with her garments in general. To that goal, I asked participants if, given the option, they would keep garments, make some changes to fabric and style, or choose another method. Here are the results from the overall group:
These are the responses from active members:
One of the most interesting comparisons is the responses from those that identify as Traditional/Devout (TD) and those that identify as Nuanced/Progressive (NP). There is a large discrepancy which is worth looking at. Relationship to garments may be significant indicator of how women relate to the church as a whole.
TD responses:
NP responses:
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