203:, finding that many women are attracted to polygamy because of the socioeconomic support it offers, replacing a rather difficult life in the mainstream where their status as divorcees, single mothers, widows, and "unmarriageables" limited their access to good men and the economic and spiritual affirmation that comes from a community of worship. In addition to using polygamy as a tool for marginalized women to marry and improve their social standing, she found that women in some communities hold positions of religious or political power in the community, often exercising considerable independent power. They can raise their children with minimal oversight by their husband, manage their household, and work in the all-important female support networks. Finally,
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In her early work, she produced the first ethnography of modern-day Mormon polygyny in her masters' thesis. For her dissertation, she explored the factors contributing to female conversion patterns and investigating the intimacies between co-wives in the holy wedding ceremony which bonds women to
243:, where 460 children were removed from their homes is found in Cardell Jacobson's anthology and in her Mellen book. Her analysis of O'Dea's shortcomings in evaluating the experiences of women can be found in another of Cardell Jacobson's works. Bennion also evaluating the factors causing
175:. With her appointment to Lyndon State College, in Northeast Vermont, she received the Vermont Women in Higher Education Scholarship and the Carol E. Moore Merit Award. Most recently, she was recognized as an individual of distinction for her latest comprehensive look at polygamy,
219:, where she finds an interplay of the desert and the unique social traditions and gender dynamics embedded in Anglo patriarchal fundamentalism. Bennion identifies the variability in all four major polygamous movements in the West in her latest volume,
321:"History, Culture, and Variability of Mormon Schismatic Groups" and "The Many Faces of Polygamy: An Analysis of the Variability in Modern Mormon Fundamentalism in the Intermountain West", in
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responds to new visibility with an overview of the subject that, despite occasional academic language, will appeal to general readers seeking more details than the soap operatics of
223:(2012), finding that some Mormon women experience more individual satisfaction within the dynamics of a polygamous family than they could in any other marital form.
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116:. She has raised the question of decriminalization of plural marriage in a variety of radio and television forums and several international scholar venues at
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Until the last decade, North
American polygamy was seriously examined by only a handful of scholars, including Bennion. In her first book,
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balances the deprivations and difficulties of the lives of polygamous wives with a promise of an afterlife as queens and priestesses. In
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375:"Abbas Raptus: Exploring Factors Contributing to the Sexual Abuse of Females in Rural Mormon Fundamentalist Communities," Fall 2007,
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As Janet Cannon: "My Sister, My Wife: An
Examination of Sororal Polygyny in a Contemporary Mormon Fundamentalist Commune", 1992,
183:. The book covers twenty years of ethnographic work, examining the variability within fundamentalist polygamist societies in the
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each other and to one man. She also contributed to several chapters in books. Her examination of the atrocities following the
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Modern
Polygamy in the United States: Historical, Cultural, and Legal Issues Surrounding the Raid on the FLDS in Texas
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527:"Desert Patriarchy: Mormon and Mennonite Communities in the Chihuahua Valley, by Janet Bennion"
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In 1994, Bennion received a Dean's
Scholarship Award for her ethnography, published by
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339:"Mormon Women in the 21st Century: A Critical Analysis of O’Dea’s Work", in
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Polygamy on
Primetime: Gender, Media, and Politics in Mormon Fundamentalism
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357:"Female Networking as a Factor of Female Status in Mormon Polygyny", in
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Women of
Principle: Female Networking in Contemporary Mormon Polygyny
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Women of
Principle: Female Networking in Contemporary Mormon Polygyny
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100:, Vermont, United States. She specializes in gender dynamics in
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The Forum on Public Policy: A Journal of the Oxford Round Table
260:(with Lisa Fishbayn Joffe), 2016, Utah State University Press.
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Anderson, KJ; Bennion, Janet (2000), "Women of
Principle",
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Desert
Patriarchy: Gender Dynamics in the Chihuahua Valley
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Feminist
Polygamy, Sex, Religion, Power and Politics
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Syzygy: Journal of Alternative Religion and Culture
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Mixed Blessings: A Study of Women in Fundamentalism
140:, Bennion received her B.A. in Anthropology at the
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581:"Professor and students study polygyny in Africa"
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579:Fratini, Mary Elizabeth (September 4, 2004),
211:, Bennion examines the lives of women in the
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469:Polygamy: The Next Marriage Rights Frontier,
247:among Mormon polygynists in an Oxford work.
623:"Bennion Writes to Decriminalize Polygamy"
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421:"Faculty salaries below national average"
108:. Bennion is one of the world's leading
598:Ditkowsky, Marissa (October 29, 2012),
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92:(born October 2, 1964) is Professor of
554:Harrison, Margot (November 14, 2012).
643:"A Vermont Expert's Take on Polygamy"
341:Revisiting Thomas O’Dea’s The Mormons
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621:Drown, Danielle (January 26, 2012),
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641:Harsha, Keagan (April 23, 2008),
730:Portland State University alumni
481:Tate, Karen (October 10, 2013).
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275:University Press of New England
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585:Vermont Woman Newspaper Online
343:, eds. Jacobson et al., 2008,
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292:University of Arizona Press
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181:Brandeis University Press
179:, published in 2012 with
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83:Professor of Anthropology
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700:Cultural anthropologists
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213:LeBaron polygamous group
132:Early life and education
671:at Lyndon State College
327:Oxford University Press
309:Oxford University Press
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16:American anthropologist
715:Social anthropologists
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455:Mormon Stories Podcast
427:, Lyndon State College
400:Mormonism and polygamy
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258:The Polygamy Question
225:Polygamy in Primetime
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543:on October 22, 2013
539:(2), archived from
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154:Beartooth Mountains
118:Brandeis University
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633:October 21,
627:The Critic
613:October 21,
604:The Justice
590:October 21,
556:"Love Plus"
532:BYU Studies
431:October 21,
425:The Critic
72:Citizenship
64:Nationality
679:Categories
573:References
561:Seven Days
80:Occupation
46:1964-10-02
648:WCAX News
241:YFZ Ranch
128:, Italy.
394:See also
307:, 1998,
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229:Big Love
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126:Florence
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406:Notes
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