“It's good you have something to keep you occupied." I smile stiffly and turn away from her. Because I'm this far from asking what the fuck she thinks I do all day. But even through the surge of anger that's… — Nicole Hardy Copy Share Image
“The separation of young single adults from (plain old) single adults is supposedly a precaution against older men courting girls as young as eighteen. I'm not sure why said girls can't be taught to simply say no to men they're not interested in dating. Truthfully, I'm not sure it's a good idea to separate singles at all. Because we're absent… — Nicole Hardy Copy Share
“That feels like the worst part: denying people hope. I don't know where I'd be if I couldn't even tell myself that any day… — Nicole Hardy Copy Share Image
“I would, for the love of God, feel a man's hands on me before I die.” — Nicole Hardy Copy Share Image
“Sariah and Kim both nod when I say I woke up one day wondering, Whose life is this, and how did I end up… — Nicole Hardy Copy Share Image
“I played along, spent the next two hours searching for Mormon men who are attractive, employed, educated, no more than two inches shorter than… — Nicole hardy Copy Share Image
“If I say no, sex isn't everything--those mechanics, that act--but it affects everything, she will say, "Be faithful." If I say sex casts a monstrous shadow over my life: the visceral wanting of it, the religious sanctions against it, the looming threat of disfellowship or excommunication, and the damaging ways I've devised to resist it, she will tell me to… — Nicole Hardy Copy Share
“We seem expected to put up with bad manners and bizarre behavior from LDS men, I say. Things we'd never subject ourselves to on dates with nonmembers--simply because of their LDS-ness. My theory is that many LDS men have never learned how to treat women properly because they've always been the supply to an unrelenting demand. Leila continues, saying there… — Nicole Hardy Copy Share
“My throat closes against the words I can't swallow, not one more time. Because it's not true, what they're telling me--what they've been telling… — Nicole Hardy Copy Share Image
“Rather than envy, anticipation, or joy, what I feel when I look at the bride is a shortness of breath. I hear the echo… — Nicole Hardy Copy Share Image
“There have to be men out there like us: committed to the Gospel, if not the culture of the church, she says. I nod… — Nicole Hardy Copy Share Image
“I can't bear to look at the screen itself, the women in pastels, like so many Jordan almonds. The men in suits, wearing equally angelic expressions. Members just like men, ostensibly. Who have vowed to be obedient to God's laws, and to repent of their sins. They've promised to be honest, true, chaste, benevolent, and virtuous; they've promised to be… — Nicole Hardy Copy Share
