Melissa Proctor

MELISSA PROCTOR earned her B.A. in Near Eastern Studies at Brigham Young University in 1997. Before graduation, she spent a semester abroad in Jerusalem and served a mission to Tokyo, Japan. She received her M.A. in Biblical Studies in 2001 from Yale Divinity School. Currently, she is a Ph.D. student at Brown University in the Religious Studies De￾partment. Melissa has taught courses that range from Biblical Hebrew to Philosophy of Religion, and her research interests include Mormon Stud￾ies, Biblical Interpretation, and Christian Ethics. She teaches Gospel Doc￾trine in her singles ward in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Articles

Bodies, Babies, and Birth Control

Dialogue 36.3 (Fall 2003): 159–175
In this paper I will explore official and unofficial messages that theLDS church has sent to girls and women about childbearing during the twentieth century and the effect those messages have had on women’sreproductive choices.

Read more

Podcasts

AUDIO: Bodies, Babies, and Birth Control

In honor of Women’s History Month 2025, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought presents the essay “Bodies, Babies and Birth Control” by Melissa Proctor from the Fall 2003 issue. This automated voice rendering is provided… Read more