Mormon women speak frankly about sacred underwear

Although he amuses himself with his campaign, Peyton is serious about why he cares. I converted to the faith a decade ago and was heavily influenced by the temple endowment rituals, which include dressing for the first time and receiving a body-defining blessing.

At that moment, he said, “I felt this divine connection to my body.” “In a world where throughout my life, as a larger woman, I have been told that my body must be different,” she said, receiving a blessing focused on the strength and holiness of her body was a moving experience.

Not everyone associates with the idea of ​​keeping clothes. Lindsay Perez, 24, who lives in Salt Lake City, had persistent urinary tract infections that she said were made worse by her clothes. Now take them off at night and after showering.

If she had a choice, she said, she would prefer to wear a necklace with a cross on it, or a ring — popular with young church members — with the letters CTR, a nod to the “Choose the Right” motto, a reminder of moral decisions. “There are so many different ways to remind myself of what I promised,” Perez said. “I don’t need to be through my underwear.”

She said clothing is a constant topic of discussion in the church’s women’s Facebook groups. There are some women who hope for improvements and with others who defend them as they are. But few are comfortable going to male leaders to discuss bodily fluids, infections, and sexual intimacy.

“People are too afraid to be frank, to say, ‘This doesn’t work for me.’ ‘It doesn’t bring me close to Christ,’ said Perez, it gives me urinary tract infections.

The open debate is also thorny because clothing is a frequent target of ridicule from people outside the church. When church member Mitt Romney ran for president in 2012, some well-known commentators mocked him for wearing “magic underwear.”