"The Davises" (Yikes!)

[SeattleUte]

Just today I heard on NPR a profile of a family in Salt Lake City with a fictional name, "the Davises"--thirty-five year old man, three wives, twenty-one kids from 15 years to 15 days old, and one on the way. They call themselves "fundamentalist Mormons." The original wife is 36 years old, and the other two are thirty-five year old twin sisters. The narrator (a woman) said the wives are all "pretty". That was an interesting way to describe women in their mid-thirties; I pictured pioneer dress, etc. But when she talked to them they sounded modern, articulate, educated, and possessing feminist sensibilities. The original, only legal, wife has a career (unidentified in the piece). "Mr. Davis" as well sounded intelligent and normal. They talked to a few kids and they were learned in popular culture and sounded like ordinary kids.

The narrator lived with them for a couple of days, and overall the profile was very positive or impressive. It all sounded too good to be true. The only possible crack in the veneer I detected was when the narrator asked the original, legal wife if she ever grew jealous. I detected a tremor in her voice when she said, "Yes, I'm wired like every other woman." But, she added, she is able to pull through such moments through a prevailing ethic of trust and an atmoshpere of spirituality that are pillars of their family. The narrator also noted they are closely integrated into a larger community of "fundamentalist Mormons," and each of the subjects of the piece greew up in fundamentalist families.

Following the piece a discussion ensued in which, partially through clips of interviews with other women in plural marriages, the narrator and the NPR anchor woman sought to show that the stories of incest, abuse, and welfare fraud are "stereotypes" and don't do justice to the successful, moral, spiritual polygamous families such as the Davises. They went so far as to highlight how many people disagree that polygamy is anti-feminist, anti-woman.

I was very surprised at the positive presentation of a polygamous family, on NPR of all places. Then it occurred to me that this may be very bad for mainstream Mormonism because most the civilized world still thinks the Davises are just plain strange or bad, and a seemingly well adjusted, happy, productive family like the Davises just blurs the line between mainstream Mormonism, and fundamentalist Mormonism. In fact, if you listened closely, you might detect a note of condescension in NPR's presentation.