Tiffany Unwin Sowby

In 2017, I was asked to be the president of the women’s organization of my local church. Although overwhelmed by the responsibility and magnitude of the position, I accepted knowing I could be a key player in the lives of the 170+ women for whom I was responsible. One of my responsibilities was to attend a meeting twice a month, in which two other women and I met with 10-12 men to discuss the needs and logistics of the entire church congregation. I didn’t allow this unfair ratio to prevent me from asking questions, speaking up, and challenging status quos. I found the courage many times to speak up when tradition suggested I keep quiet. Many times I left meetings frustrated and saddened by the gender disparity, but I always returned determined. I couldn’t let go of my nagging question, “What about the women?” I cared about the women. I was disappointed when I attended a large gathering of local church leaders and saw very few women. I repeatedly and respectfully over the following few months asked, “Where are the women leaders?” A year later, in a similar meeting, I noticed a third of the leadership seated in front of the large gathering were women! I cried tears of joy! Asking my question had made a difference. At the end of my two-and-a-half-year assignment, I was proud and humbled at a comment made in a public setting by my male superior: “Tiffany Sowby gives a damn about every woman” (Sowby, 2020).

I always knew the injustices of life affected me in a different way than they did those around me. I realize now I have been drawn to basic human rights and social justice from a very young age. Human rights and social justice are about recognizing the value we all have as human beings. Although our societal positions and advantages create natural disparities, those disparities should not infringe on individual rights or ever lead us to assume one’s value is greater than another. Most of my opinions regarding social justice and human rights come from my spiritual and religious beliefs that ultimately, we are children of God with equal worth. However, this doesn’t fit in with religious or secular history, practices, or lifestyles. As a Christian, I have always been drawn to those whom Jesus referred to as “the least of these.” The (rhetorical) question for me becomes: how did we get to a place where there is so much disparity? Of course, it is impossible for life to be fair, but social justice is the effort made to attempt to close the gaps between inequalities and inequities.

During my first class in the program, I was fascinated by Sirma Bilge’s Beyond Subordination vs. Resistance: An Intersectional Approach to the Agency of Veiled Muslim Women. Bilge writes about the agency of veiled Muslim women and the importance of understanding and acknowledging the agency of the individual rather than seeing the veil as a means of oppression, or a “site of contention” within the study of feminism (Blige, 2010). As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the Mormon or LDS Church), I appreciated the emphasis on agency, rather than the assumption of oppression. To look at a veiled woman or a woman in a patriarchal religion and assume immediately that they haven't made the choice to be a devout and faithful believer is harmful and disempowering. This article among other themes of social justice affirmed my interest and desire to center women and religion during my time in the SJHR program.

This capstone is a culmination of my academic work within the Social Justice and Human Rights program, my original research, and my experience as a woman in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I would like it to serve as a framework for conversations and actions that will work towards increasing the visibility of women within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Some call it delusion thinking the visibility of women will be increased at church; 

I call it hope.

Tiffany Sowby lives in West Bountiful, UT: she and her husband are the parents of five children ages 13-23 (please don’t ask about the 17 goats). Although she has primarily been a stay-at-home mother for the past 23 years, she is also the co-host of The Sisterhood Podcast, founder of the nonprofit Rising Violet, owner of Sinc Constructors Co., and will graduate in May 2022 with a Master's degree in Social Justice and Human Rights from Arizona State University.

Tiffany loves playing games, laundry, chips and salsa, and shopping. She eats too much chocolate, enjoys being alone way more than she should, always has a trip scheduled, and owns too many pairs of shoes.

Her life motto comes from the words of Ruth Bader Ginsburg:

Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.