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Sister missionaries need to be colorful and cute but can’t wear flower bras. Men respond to them anyway. #myozbituary

The #myozbituary is trending right now, a riff on the unfortunate wording of author Colleen McCullough’s obituary in The Australian which begins “COLLEEN McCullough, Australia’s best-selling author, was a charmer. Plain of feature, and certainly overweight, she was, nevertheless, a woman of wit and warmth. In one interview, she said: ‘I’ve never been into clothes or figure and the interesting thing is I never had any trouble attracting men.’”

Now what does this have to do with Mormons? Well also this week there was a ABCNews Nightline Interview with some sister missionaries in Florida. Titled “New Wave of Mormon Missionaries Is Young, Energetic and Female” the article and accompanying video spend what is, in my opinion, way too much time on what these young sister missionaries are wearing.

‘Always I’m going to respond to a woman,’ Santana said. ‘I’m a man.’ ‘People are definitely more open to a female missionary,’ said Sister Thomson. ‘Part of it may be what we wear.’ Unlike their male counterparts, they say they are are encouraged to wear cheerful clothing. Female missionaries wear blouses and long skirts, which can be flowery and feminine. ‘Just recently they told us to be colorful and look cute,’ said Sister Thomson. There are guidelines about their underwear, too, which must be white or nude. ‘We wear modest, attractive clothing,’ said Sister Lindsay Pugmire, 22, of Snohomish, Washington. ‘You don’t want a flower bra to be seen through your shirt.’

Now obviously it’s interesting to see how people present themselves in a variety of settings, so I get that some discussion of clothing and appearance will happen, but really, flower bras? People are way too interested in Mormon underwear as it is.

So do you see any problems with how this article was presented? If so, what should they have focused on? I liked the line about powerful women, I would have loved some explanations on what makes women powerful in the Mormon Church and how that translates to mission experiences.

And, for fun, what is your #myozbituary?