The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been a topic of media sensation in many forms – The Broadway musical the Book of Mormon, Sister Wives, LDS influencers, the list goes on. However, many nonmembers don’t understand the doctrines that determine their beliefs and lifestyle choices.
If you do read LDS scriptures such as the Word of Wisdom, you see healthy instruction on how to treat the body as a temple and avoid addictive substances like coffee and alcohol. While the LDS church is not alone in having their religion dictate how to live or what to wear, they have created a unique culture in Utah that can impact how people feel about their bodies.
Here is one LDS members view on the subject, “…My body is the house for my spirit and they are intertwined… This is a gift that I’ve been given, and so it’s mine. I don’t need to look like the models on TV. I just need to be… growing my spirit. And growing it in the way that it makes me want to be the person that I want to be after this life.”
That was a friend and LDS church member describing her beliefs and how they have impacted her lifestyle as well as her self image. She has chosen to remain anonymous.
A recent article published by the Utah Women and Leadership Project titled Bodies at Church: Latter-day Saint Doctrine, Teaching, and Culture as Related to Body Image addresses this topic. Authors Sarah Coyne and Lauren Barnes from Brigham Young University composed face-to-face interviews and online surveys with women and men in the LDS church. Coyne says body image is multifaceted.
“It’s really easy to fall into the trap of thinking, I have to be perfect, my behavior has to be exactly like this, I have to look a certain way, I have to be a certain weight, to be worthy or to be accepted or to belong. That’s how everybody else looks.” Coyne said.
One thing Coyne found especially polarizing was the concept of modesty and how it was taught. She said when taught as a principle and lifestyle choice, it was related to good body image but when it was enforced as ‘clothes policing’ or objectifying modesty was related to poor body image.
LDS members can relate to this sentiment – “Growing up with the ‘cover your knees, make sure your shoulders are covered’ so I didn’t really have the best body image. Still don’t actually… but I’m recovering with that a little bit because I’ve realized that that’s not all my body is. And once I’ve come to love my body as it is, with all its flaws… I’m not going to cry… but did I have that in my head when I was sixteen – absolutely not.”
One form of modesty in the LDS church is wearing garments. Garments are white T-shirts and shorts worn under clothes that can often feel limiting to people in terms of style and finding confidence, yet many still choose to wear them as a symbol of purity and devotion to God.
“It’s an expression of my devotion and belief to Christ, who’s done everything for me. And so I’m willing to sacrifice that a little bit because that’s how I choose to show my devotion.” LDS member explains. “And I know he’s going to forgive me if I don’t treat my body right, and I get a sunburn. That’s life. We’re here to find life. And that’s getting sunburns and feeling good about our bodies.”
On the opposite side of the modesty spectrum in Utah LDS culture, is plastic surgery. In Coyne’s research she found 20% of participants had undergone some form of cosmetic surgery or enhancements which is more than three times the national average. Salt Lake City has been rated the ‘Vainest city in America’ as well as having more plastic surgeons per capita than Hollywood.
“Women are more likely to get plastic surgery if they had a lot of money, and then had high religious salience, which is like religion is really, really important to me. And then also feeding into that is like this idea of costly grace, like I have to earn God’s love. And I earn that by being perfect.” Coyne said. “And so you can kind of see how those three together like wrap into each other, whereas religious salience is really protective in general, for positive body image. So religiosity tends to be really, really positive on the whole, but it kind of can have a little darker underbelly.”
With billboards plastered across our main highways saying things like “God’s remodeling His temple. Isn’t it time to remodel yours?” It is hard to ignore this stress on appearance in Utah culture. Within the church, this feeling can be more present in certain areas than others.
“One of our major findings is that in places that are more diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, body shape, and size, people in those wards tend to report better body image… what we know is that people that live in a more homogenous culture, tend to have higher social comparisons…” Coyne explains. “I don’t want to be like every place in Utah is the same, because it’s not. But there is a flavor to this local Ward culture that I think we should be aware of and talk about.“
There does seem to be microcosms of culture within different ‘wards’ or neighborhood groups of churches that meet together for events and weekly services. There has been noted a high level of competition especially within some ‘Young Singles Wards’ or YSAs groups of people ages 18-35.
Coyne said “We heard a lot of this talk, especially from younger women in the sample, in singles Wards where they’re sometimes a lot more women than men. And so this idea of like, I have to look my best, I have to look perfect, I have to attract this eternal companion or I’m in trouble forever… And so if your wards feel competitive our research found that body image is worse.”
These wards can be a place of sanctuary for some LDS members but because they are composed of people within certain communities, they tend to be homogenous and it really depends on the demographics of an area and what kinds of people you are surrounded with.
In recent years, LDS women outnumbered men three to two, yet women hold specific gender roles as caretakers and leadership roles only in the Relief Society and the Primary. Women are not allowed the ‘priesthood’ and must go to men to receive ‘blessings’. These expectations for what roles women are allowed can determine how they feel they are supposed to look and act, and impact their body image.
“In our study, we found that the belief in an embodied Heavenly Mother was very protective for body image, especially for women. So this idea of like a god that kind of looks like me, and who might understand what I’m going through. I can connect with a woman up there. It’s absolutely beautiful.” Coyne said.
The Heavenly Mother is not well described in the LDS church yet many people choose to believe in the idea derived from a hymn ‘O My Father’ and discussed in the BYU Scholar article “A Mother There”.
Especially for women, beauty is deeply interwoven in every aspect of our culture and psychology but body image and self confidence is something that everyone struggles with.
“Those 10 pounds you got rid of, or shrinking or growing these things here is not gonna matter up there. It’s really not. And our bodies are going to be perfect anyway up there. So are we really defining what perfect is down here? Because I bet up there, it’s going to be way different than what you think it is.”
Coyne says it is important for all people to make empowering choices about their lives and individuality. She hopes we can have these harder conversations and encourages believers to accept their bodies.
“I think religion is a small piece.. This is why religion can offer a respite. There’s some beautiful doctrines in the Latter Day Saints Church, about the purpose of the body because it doesn’t focus on objectifying the body. It’s like the body is so much more than that, and beautiful means something really different. I think we have the potential to do a lot of good in offsetting some of the messages that the media sends around appearance, especially for young girls. If we do it, right.”