Mormon Women Are Filling Up Our Screens (and the New York Times is here for it)

The New York Times Called Mormon Women "The Church's Best Export" — Here's Everything Wrong With That

The New York Times published a trend piece on Mormon women in reality TV. A podcast host called them "the church's best export." The Times printed it. This episode is the follow-up they didn't do.

An export is something you produce, brand, and send out for someone else's consumption — it is not a person with agency. Jess and Hannah dissect the New York Times piece through the line Heather Gay actually gave them: "We've been trained our whole lives to spin it positive." The "elevated standards" praised by employers are a trauma response — what happens when worthiness has been evaluated since age three. The competition that "can't be named" has a name: Salt Lake City has the second-highest density of plastic surgeons in the country, ahead of Los Angeles. Utah leads the nation in antidepressant use, eating disorder rates, and anxiety diagnoses. The church itself declined to comment, saying these productions depict practices "blatantly inconsistent" with its teachings — which raises an obvious question about what the church actually teaches about women's appearances and worth.

In this episode: the New York Times trend piece on Mormon women in reality television; Heather Gay's "trained to spin it positive" quote and what it reveals; the elevated standards myth and its origins in worthiness culture; Salt Lake City's plastic surgery density compared to Los Angeles; Utah's antidepressant, eating disorder, and anxiety statistics; the church's official non-comment and what it implies; why celebrating women monetizing their own oppression is a different story than examining why the oppression exists.

Support the show: buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortem

Ad-free listening from $2/month: patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem

TikTok & Instagram: @postmormonpostmortem

postmormonpostmortem.com

New episodes every Sunday at 9 AM — just in time for sacrament meeting.