Episode 228: Embracing Your Journey | A Conversation with Abby Maxwell Hansen

At Last She Said It

Cynthia Winward

Religion & Spirituality, Feminism, Motherhood, Ldswomen, Spirituality, Lds, Thechurchofjesuschristoflatterdaysaints, Mormonwomen, Religion, Marriage, Mormon, Faith

5 • 900 Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2025

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For many Latter-day Saint women, a faith journey begins as their personal experiences pile up and dots begin to connect. Abby Maxwell Hansen began to see a thread of internalized misogyny in her own story emerge like this: “Every time I went to church, I had some type of message—whether it was really overt or whether it was just sitting down at conference, and they didn't come out and say women's voices aren't as important, but all the speakers were men except for two. So whether it was implied or overtly stated, I got the message over and over that women are not as important as men.” In Episode 228, Abby joins Cynthia and Susan to share some of the experiences that shaped her church life beginning in childhood, and continue to inform her journey now.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I had three callings at the time that I put up my ordained women profile and everyone decided I was
0:08.0	deceived by Satan. I was in the primary presidency. I was the compassionate service leader and I was
0:13.0	award missionary and I was an awesome visiting teacher with a really great track record of getting
0:18.7	my visiting teaching done every month. I was doing everything.
0:22.6	And that's why it's so frustrating then for people to turn around and say,
0:26.3	oh, you just didn't have a testimony.
0:27.7	You probably didn't even go to church.
0:29.2	And you're like, I am giving my life for this organization.
0:32.4	I am trying so hard.
0:47.5	Hello. trying so hard. Hello, I'm Susan Hinkley. And I am Cynthia Winward. And this is at last she said it.
0:53.4	We are women of faith discussing complicated things. And the title of today's episode is Embracing Your Journey,
0:56.1	a conversation with Abby Maxwell Hansen. Hello, Abby. Welcome to the podcast. Hi, Cynthia. Hi, Susan. It's nice to be here with both of you.
1:03.2	Hey, thank you for being here. We're thrilled to have you. Could we start maybe by just having you
1:09.0	introduce yourself? What would you like our listeners
1:11.4	to know about you and maybe give a little context to this conversation? Well, sure. So I have long
1:18.9	admired you guys doing a podcast. I thought you guys are fantastic voices for Mormon women. So I love
1:24.4	that. On my end, I was part of Ordain Women years ago, and I led the first
1:30.8	group into the Marriott Center, you know, into a priested session. I was part of, well, I was featured on a
1:38.6	documentary, like a short documentary that got nominated for a BAFTA. That was pretty cool. That's like a
1:44.0	British Oscar,
1:44.8	if you don't know that. Right. Right. And then I have been part of the exponent too. I've been
1:49.5	blogging. That is a blog, a magazine, a retreat. It's a 50-year-old Mormon feminist organization.
	...

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