Pioneers in Petticoats (1969): LDS Girl Fights off R*pist only to be Sl*t Shamed by Her Community!
Welcome brothers and sisters to Mormon Movie Reviews: Where LDS movie lovers belong!
Pioneers in Petticoats (1969)
https://youtu.be/zlMj7n-8l70
Running Time: 43 minutes
Synopsis When Brigham Young created the Young Women's Retrenchment Society in 1869, the headstrong Abigail Harper was called as president in her rural community. Though bucking at the restrictions imposed upon her, she strives to serve well and fellowship an inactive girl. One night, when her parents are out of town, Abigail wears an immodest dress to a church ball. After embarrassing herself she leaves and winds up inside a tavern, where things go from bad to worse when she refuses alcohol. An unknown gentleman offers to escort her home, with the inactive girl and a non-Mormon boy secretly following. When the stranger attempts to rape Abigail they intervene and save her. Later, when the young women meet to decide what to do with Abigail as Retrenchment Society president, the inactive girl arrives and defends her, showing that we all make mistakes and need forgiveness.
Background This film was commissioned by the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Associate for their centennial in 1969 and was the BYU Motion Picture Department's most important production for that year (although the sleeper hit Johnny Lingo has proven more enduringly popular). The values championed decidedly belong in 1969, not a century earlier.
Not only was it an important production for 1969, but it was the longest film undertaken at BYU up to that point; the producer Judge Whitaker called it the closest thing they had done to a feature. The original version was edited down to forty-four minutes for easier classroom use, and this is that latter version.
In 1969, Church was dealing with concerns about the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, the changing structure of the family, and most especially the role of women. Though Church leaders did speak out directly about such issues, Pioneers in Petticoats allowed the Church to displace growing anxieties about the place and responsibilities of women in the 1960s onto an already resolved conflict over women’s roles in the Church in the 1860s.
Conclusion At the most basic level, Pioneers in Petticoats is a fictionalized account of the origins of the LDS Young Women’s program in the early Church’s Retrenchment Society. In light of the historical situation in which the film was made, however, it is also clearly a statement and reminder about what the Church expects of LDS women in the 20th century: modest dress, demure behavior, and fulfillment through domestic work. Dare I say, Keep Sweet, Pray, and Obey?
Like virtually every BYU Motion Picture studio film ever made, this film completely erases polygamy. It doesn’t exist. It never existed. In 1869, Abigail's father would NOT be a bishop without having multiple wives, but we never get to see that.
Film really emphasizes an outdated culture. The identifiable rituals of purity culture are present here – such as cliquish organizations and pledges. Many former purity culture adherents grapple with its negative after-effects. Many spend years analyzing how purity teachings affected their view of their body and relationships with other people. Women in particular have described feeling trapped in their own skin. Purity culture endures in the memories, bodies, relationships and trauma of those who were raised within it.
Please consider making a donation by joining our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/MormonNewsRoundup
Email: kolob@mormonnewsroundup.org
Website: https://mormonnewsroundup.org/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mormonnewsroundup
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mormon_news_roundup/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dives.lazarus/
X: https://twitter.com/NewsMormon
New episodes every night at 9:30 PM Eastern.
Please like and subscribe and hit the notifications bell. Remember remember, no unhallowed hand can stop this podcast from progressing!