My wife's words: "WTF IS IT WITH THIS FUNDIE FAMILY!?!?" also why dresses?

[redirish28]

My wife cannot believe TLC is having another Duggar season again. She has been so disappointed with TLC for a good 15 years but it is to the point where she is just about to give up on the channel all together.


She remembers when the channel "actual" educational stuff. Like Documentaries about how the bible was developed through out the centuries. She said it actually talked about how things where taken out or interpret a certain way.


She remembers when they has a series on the rise and falls of the Celts and wish it would go that way just a little. One or 2 nights out of 7 isn't that bad but to put the Duggars on is just fluff.


And as she went on with her rant she said something that really threw me. WTF is it with Fundie's and clothing girls and women in dresses no matter what is happening. Taking the kids on a nature walk Boys have heavy shoes and pants on. Girls are in dresses.

[Quantess]

1. Females in pants may cause gender confusion.

That's the only reason I can fathom.

[spinbaby]

12. Are they easily confused?

:shrug:

[Coexist]

13. and it may lead to dancing.

[kestrel91316]

2. They believe women are forbidden by God to wear men's clothes.

Not sure if they eschew cotton-poly blends, however.

[kestrel91316]

3. They believe women are forbidden by God to wear men's clothes.

Not sure if they eschew cotton-poly blends, however.

[MinneapolisMatt]

4. You know a channel is in trouble...

...when it goes from being called "The Learning Channel" to "TLC".

Just like "A&E", and a bazillion others.

[Moostache]

18. I am sickened by this trend too!

Pretty much everything is getting a serious case of "teh stupid"...

I used to actually watch TLC, Discovery Channel, History Channel or the Science Channel programming 3 or 4 times a week. I am now luck if I can find something worth watching 3 or 4 times a month and even THAT is a real stretch at times...

It is true...the Powers That Be do NOT want an educated and conversant population...much easier to control people when they willingly anesthetize themselves nightly to watch freakshows on every available outlet (from "news" shows to "reality" shows to "reality-challenged" shows like those abominations on TLC now....)

[tanyev]

27. Me three.

We were without cable for many years, but bowed to the inevitable and signed up a couple months ago. I was worried that the easy availability of The Learning Channel, A&E, the History Channel, et al., would turn me into a couch potato again, but that hasn't been a problem. I was stunned to discover that they are now trafficking in the same low-rent reality crap that infests all the other channels. At least we can now watch Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Battlestar Galactica.

[mzteris]

5. because females

are not supposed to "dress like men"

"a woman must not wear men's clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this." (NIV, Deuteronomy 22:5)

{{{{ 'cause, you know, "HE" can't tell them apart if'n they have the wrong clothes . . . }}}}}

and they should always "be modest"

"I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God." (NIV, 1 Timothy 2:9-10)

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful." (NIV, 1 Peter 3:2-5)


amd then there's the "hair thing"

"Any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head disgraces his head, but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head--it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved. For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, she should wear a veil. For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since he is the image and reflection of God; but woman is the reflection of man." (NRSV, 1 Corinthians 11:4-7)

[Quantess]

14. Does "dressing like a man" include wearing pants like these?

[RaleighNCDUer]

63. And what do they think of a man who is wearing pant like those? nt

[lunatica]

21. Jesus, Joseph and Mary look like they're dressed exactly the same in pictures

Same 'dress' like garments and no pants of any kind anywhere in sight, even on the Romans. Some religious groups just seem to love making it all us as they go. Some asshole decides what the proper clothing is and tells everyone that God decrees.

[Kansas Wyatt]

60. OMG!

You mean all the men in the Bible wore dresses???

Quick, we must burn all those paintings showing this, rip out any pages saying this in the Bible, and remove those who would speak such trash, before the children hear it.
:sarcasm:

[lynnertic]

45. oh barf.

[mzteris]

59. you do know

I absolutely do NOT subscribe to what I posted. Jes providing the information . . .

[havocmom]

58. 'olden day' clerics wore dresses

hey, some now-a-days clerics still do. Hmmm, :think: so if dresses are for god's fellas dressing like a man could mean wearing a dress... if we have to dress differently from the gents, we get to wear the pants!

Seriously, I am so old, girls were not allowed to wear pants to school as they were 'immodest'. Of course, the mini-skirt was the rage and many a high school administrator was known to have participated in actually measuring how far above a girl's knees her hem hit. Too far above the knees and the young lady would be sent home. Our vice-principal (or principal of Vices, as we knew him) would retire to his office, not to be disturbed under any circumstances, after a round of measuring skirts to knees. Yeah, that is the guy to have protecting virtue and modesty. NOT!

One principal in our county actually got his ass in trouble for his dress code enforcement tactics. He was VERY CONCERNED at the possibility that some young ladies were not wearing bras. He called many high school girls into his office (privately) and insisted they jump up and down so he could ascertain whether or not they were wearing bras. One father did not take kindly to the news when his 14 year old daughter was hysterical and explained why she WOULD NOT go back to school. He was a lawyer.

We finally revolted my senior year, when a very cold, rainy winter flooded the street in front of the school. Parents would drop kids off, and we female students had to wade through water almost up to our waists, then spend the rest of the day in wet, clinging skirts. We started toting PANTS with us and changing into dry PANTS once we got to the higher ground of campus. They still threatened to send us home, but when some of us pointed out that parents would have to come through the flooded streets AGAIN to pick us up, they might just be pissed enough to pound some sense into repressive administrators.

I understand the dress code allowed girls in pants the next year. :evilgrin:

[csziggy]

61. I was also in school during the transition from girls having to wear dresses to wearing pants

At first, our school tried to limit girls' pants to "store purchased" pants suits. Mom pitched a fit. Since girls were required to take Home Economics so we could learn to cook and sew, she went into the the school board and asked why we had to learn to sew if we were not allowed to wear the clothes we made. Since we made most of our own clothing to save money, Mom was not going to allow them to force us to only be able to wear dresses.

Mom won, though we were pissed that they changed the rule to "No jeans for girls."

Mom also complained that girls were required to take Home Ec while boys were not required to take an equivalent class. That meant college bound girls had one less class credit for college applications. So the rules were changed to require all boys take shop class one year. By the time I got to Home Ec, the girls got to spend one grading period in shop and we learned to wire a lamp, how to hammer a nail and some other simple things. Boys spent that time in Home Ec and learned to boil eggs, how to iron a shirt and sew on buttons and how to wash dishes.

With four college bound girls, Mom was an early women's libber.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

6. They don't want men to wear dresses.

Even though in Biblical times, men wore togas and loose dresslike garments to keep the air circulating and fight the heat.

I had to wear a dress to school every day for twelve years, and I HATED it. Froze my ass off in the winter. In high school, had to get a long dress to wear to stay warm.

Pants are far more modest than short skirts, but they act like they don't know that.

[Bolo Boffin]

7. It's like fundies are ducks. n/t

[AndyA]

8. Really, the Duggars seem a bit off their rockers.

That many kids. Sure, they seem happy and well adjusted, but I'll bet there's more than we know going on behind the scenes.

That poor woman needs a rest. Mr. Duggar needs to keep it zipped up and give her a little room.

It is strange about the girls not being able to wear appropriate clothing. And often, the dresses they wear have lace and frillies all over them, like they're from the 1800s or something. Very, very strange.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

9. I can't handle the long, messy hair either.

Some fundie churches tell their women they cannot cut their hair.

That is the height of stupidity.

If I did not cut mine it would be unmanageable. It's very thick and wavy, even curly.

Stupid control freak assholes. :grr:

[ipfilter]

11. There are a lot of these churches in my part of the country.

They are easy to spot in a crowd with their long hair, no make up, and ankle length denim dresses.

[MountainLaurel]

39. My friend coined the term

"Pentacostal hair-bow women" to describe them.

[Brazenly Liberal]

10. TLC = The Litter Channel

The Duggars, Jon & Kate and their 8. I understand they will also be featuring octomom and her brood.

I worked with fundies for years and, as I recall, the dresses are about being modest. Pants show the shape of the body too clearly.

[deaniac21]

15. Two questions

1. What is TLC?
2. What is a Duggar season?

[akwapez]

24. I can answer the first....

The Learning Channel.

But, I still don't know who the heck the Duggars are.

[jmowreader]

37. The Duggars are the family with eighteen children

[RamboLiberal]

50. Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar and their brood

[Canuckistanian]

16. They should have a reality show featuring Richard Dawkins

If they want to call themselves a "Learning Channel", they should be showing dissenting opinions about religion and lifestyles.

[Bill McBlueState]

65. I agree

Richard Dawkins would do a pretty good show. Like Bill Maher but less whiney and more intellectual.

[AlCzervik]

17. you don't dig the Sister wife outfits?

Where the fuck is my show, i have one kid so when do we celebrate that and how about the childless, when do they get a show on tlc?

[redirish28]

22. I know what you mean. You only have a show if you have kids.

and it my be hyprocritical but she does find "Little People Big World" interesting because it actually shows the various family members overcomming challenges and BEING family you know the fighting and fustration with each other.

[Hello_Kitty]

33. If they did shows about one child and childless families

Everyone who has more kids would get jealous. :evilgrin:

[Missy Vixen]

34. There will never be a childfree show on TLC

We're not interesting enough. ;-)

[NeedleCast]

46. I'm not sure what the market is

For watching my friend "Beard" try to chug five beers from glass boot and then puke into a bucket of corn chips, but my friends and I thought it was pretty damn funny...

[Missy Vixen]

47. Actually, there's thirteen million childfree couples across the US

according to the last census.

Then again, I'm also sure it would be boring for some. We don't have the dramas involved in childrearing. Plus, we'd be the next "Real Housewives of Orange County" as far as doing stuff the rest of the population would be pissed off to see.

Let's just say we don't talk about the stuff like sleeping in on the weekends and amorous activity whenever both parties are in the mood. The parenting friends want to throw things at us.

[Critters2]

40. I have no kids, but 4 pets. My life is fascinating, too.

Or I could make it so, if you paid me a lot of money and set up cameras in my house.

[Best_man23]

19. They're just practicing ESP

ESP=Every Sperm is Precious.

[Dukkha]

20. just a blatant ratings grab

what else are fundies going to watch besides Waker Texas Ranger?

all the niche cable channels have veered way off their formats. TLC is now the freakshow channel.

[ipfilter]

25. They all do this.

"The Dog Whisperer" should be on Animal Planet instead of NGC. For a few years Discovery became the Chopper channel. Most of the stuff on The History Channel should go on a channel like TLC.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

26. You have all summarized the reasons that I cancelled cable

One by one, the channels grew dumber and dumber.

Finally, I was paying for dozens of channels that I never watched, but then business slowed way down in the fall of 2007, and I decided that cable was utterly expendable.

[Dukkha]

31. History channel is now the Apocalypse channel

Animal Planet is the dog show channel
Bravo is also the dog show channel (oooh snap!)
MSNBC is the prison channel
Discovery is the Dangerous jobs channel
Sci-Fi is the ghost hunters channel
and Court tv is where soap opera reject actors go now

[Stevenmarc]

23. Because dressing like Holly Hobbie is hot.

[Hello_Kitty]

29. LOL! Those are some butt-ugly dresses, aren't they?

[RaleighNCDUer]

28. The Learning Channel TLC is as much about learning as

American Movie Classics AMC is about classic movies.

When they started going by their acronym instead of their name they lost their mission.

That's right up there with the History Channel spending weeks talking about armageddon - not even historical references to it, but entirely focusing on the mythological FUTURE, which has nothing to do with history.

[AlCzervik]

32. AMC sucks now, classics my ass. TCM, i'll stick with that and they better not start

showing mutha fucking top gun.

[Hello_Kitty]

35. But they do have Mad Men. Which is Teh Awesome.

I agree with you re: the rest of their lineup. Not only do they show movies far too recent to be classics, but they run ads now, which is bullshit. So now Top Gun is 4 fucking hours long.

[redirish28]

30. My wife Wikied Duggar Family just to see what it said. Take a look at this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duggar_Family



Interesting:


The Oldest Boy married in September of 2008. Now wife happened to see the Today appearence before Michelle gave birth to the last one. They clamied to just be seeing each other.


The baby was born December 2008.

[Stevenmarc]

36. I wouldn't make that much of it

It appears that this season has been edited and shown out of chronological order. They did the birth special before they showed the big wedding spectacular. They wedding show was kind of interesting right from where they vowed to let God decide how many kids to the rip roaring reception minus alcohol and dancing. My favorite was when the brides father explained that when Jesus turned the water into wine it wasn't wine but grape juice because there appears to have been some sort of biblical translation faux pas.

Oh and the last episode was when they made their Christmas float for the towns holiday parade and she was still pregnant, this was after the birth show, and you saw the kids were wearing their wedding rings and even *gasp* kissed in public.

[ipfilter]

38. You can't tell that story in a church like context

without that little disclaimer.

[lolly]

43. Amazingly, though

It's absolutely the only case in the entire English translation Bible where something was mistranslated! Nothing else in the entire several thousand pages--especially not the parts about hating gays, or women being subordinate to men (quoted above in this thread)--are in any way, shape, or form open to alternative interpretations.

[redirish28]

42. So this "new season" is all about the wedding.... So where will the

young couple live and will there be a season beyond this with Mother and Daughter-in-law pregnant?

[BlueMTexpat]

44. 17 children?!!!!

Sheehs, I thought that Octuplet Woman with 14 was bad enough!

What on EARTH is wrong with such people?

And First Son at 20, already a father?

Yes, such a public service TLC is providing! The Litter Channel, indeed.

*******
I was happier in my blissful ignorance. :banghead:

[Critters2]

49. It's a movement...the Quiverfull Movement!

Voila':

http://www.quiverfull.com/

[AyanEva]

41. And this is why I stick with The Science Channel

The History Channel's not so bad either a lot of times. Contrary to popular belief, it's not just stuff on World War II.

[Ilsa]

48. National Geographic Channel in HD for us. nt

[EmilyAnne]

51. I grew up in a church like this.

I wasn't allowed to wear pants until I was in 5th grade and, even then, I couldn't wear them in front of certain people and never to church.

Not only was it immodest, but it "usurped" the authority of men.

I wasn't allowed to wear shorts or a bathing suit. When I went to summer camp meetings, the younger people would sometimes go canoeing or rafting and, guess what? The boys would all go in jeans. The girls, myself included, would be in these hideous, long homemade culottes. I'll never forget the horrible feeling of swimming in what was basically a dress.

Luckily, homeschooling hadn't become the rule with these people, so I went to a public school.
I wasn't permitted to play sports because of the shorts. My mother even made a special pair of very long culottes to wear as my gym uniform.
I wasn't permitted to take ballet or any kind of dance because it was "vulgar" and "lewd."
My mother called gymnastics "gymNASTIES."
Keep in mind that I am 30, so its not like this happened in 1951.

I can't count the number of sermons I sat through that obsessed about some minor point in regards to gender roles.
Could women work "outside the home"? They shouldn't, but won't go to hell for it if they are working because they HAVE to. If they are working because they WANT to, they might go to hell.
Could women have short hair? No way! They will probably go to hell for that!
Who is the authority over a woman? Why, her husband, of course! And its such a wonderful thing! She should praise God that she doesn't have to worry about making any decisions.
Is a woman who chooses to remain unmarried and without children selfish? Pretty much, yes.
Are women to remain "silent in the assembly?" Of course. In fact, our little extremist break off church believed that Sunday school and organized bible study meetings were sinful because they often led to, gasp, women in positions of authority.
Women had no right to teach!
If little boys were taught Sunday school by a woman, dear God, what would the consequences be?
If women in a bible study group started airing their opinions about the scriptures or doctrines, well, they just might get too big for their long, homemade denim skirts!

At 17, I was engaged to marry this kid that I thought was cute enough and nice enough and he went to the same church. I actually had a big white dress and had chosen my bride's maids. I wasn't really excited, but just sort of going through the motions.

I literally woke up one morning after I graduated from high school and realized that, no, I wasn't going to get married. My parents, the boy's parents, my entire extended family and the entire church was stunned. The old women at the church would sometimes corner me to chastise me for going back on my word, telling me that it was very bad to be known as a girl who would do something like that.

I got a job at a grocery store and store of shut down, still living at home, still going to that church.

When I was 19, I secretly applied to a "liberal" university and when I informed my parents that I had been accepted, they're reaction was....joy? Congratulations? Nope. My father told me that it wasn't right for an unmarried woman to leave her parents home. My mother practically pulled out her hair as she erupted in shrieking tears. I applied for loans and I went.
My parents were extremely embarrassed that I went because they were seen as failures by the church people.

The dearest people in this world to me are my two little brothers. My parents told me that if I ever said or did anything to encourage my brothers from leaving the church, that I could never see them again. So, when visiting home, put in a happy face and played along because to lose contact with them would have been too painful. Plus, they were naturally bright, artistic kids and I had a feeling that the bullshit of this church would be apparent to them by the time they reached high school and they would need me to confide in. I was right.

The three of us are openly and happily atheist. I don't miss having some sort of spirituality because church was never about that. I never felt good in the company of these people or loved by God.

I think public schooling saved me.
I went to an excellent school in the suburbs and I was placed in the gifted and talented program, mainly because I didn't have behavior problems and made good grades because my parents were strict about my homework. I was challenged by good teachers. I was taught evolution. I read good books. I was exposed to alien political and philosophical beliefs. One of my favorite teachers in my junior year started an Amnesty International group! Talk about an alien concept to my 17 year old brain.

If I had gone to a shitty, underfunded school in an urban area, I probably wouldn't have had a chance.
If I had been homeschooled like these Duggar kids, I would have popped out my own litter at this point.

In school, I read 1984 and Faulkner novels. I read Flannery O'Connor and Steinbeck.
I believe these books, especially in their full form, are not on most public high school reading lists anymore.
I learned about the history of art and we visited art museums.
A curiosity about the world was fostered and once that starts, there is no going back.

Anyway, that is my very lengthy story about how this sort of thing works and how very difficult it can be for kids like these Duggars to even conceive of leaving when they are isolated by home schooling.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

52. I feel sorry for you.

Your parents are fucking idiots. Sorry but anyone who thinks bringing up children in the manner you describe is normal are IDIOTS.

I was raised by Mormons but they did not have any sort of rigorous dress code. Shorts, jeans and bikinis were fine but dresses for church - I rebelled at the pushing of all of us young girls to get married and have lots of babies. I said fuck that noise and was never going to have any children - ever - then, in my 40's I had my 2 wonderful kids - I became an atheist after searching for something that made sense - it all made me say :wtf: - Except Buddhism - But I am not the joining kind of person and so I just stay clear of it all.

Steinbeck and Faulkner should be mandatory reading for HS age people - I read all of Mark Twain's stories (books) by the time I was 16.

I commend you for getting out of that mindset and becoming a thinking human. Bravo! :applause:

[redirish28]

56. My wife just read this. She feels for you and is happy you found

your way. She doesn't think she would have had the courage you had. She is now really finding her voice in a sense.

[Bill McBlueState]

66. Where can I get some of these magical pants

that immediately confer me with authority when I put them on? I could use some when I teach.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

53. The Duggar's are

the most boring bunch of nutjobs on TV --- They make me sort of feel sick to my stomach.

[Raine]

54. Iloved the wedding episode

where they passed the bride from her father's "authority" to her new husband's. :eyes: :puke: :argh:

[Stevenmarc]

62. Yes that was a sweeet ride on the crazy train

Don't forget the vow to let God decide on the amount of kids. The gem was the brides father explaining that Jesus actually turned the water into grape juice not wine.

[JVS]

55. If those girls wear pants, they might get in the habit of wearing them.

That would be a hinderance to the flow of babies that are supposed to spring forth from them when they're adults.

[crim son]

57. I've never seen either the show or anything on the channel. No cable.

What a shame.

[Marrah_G]

64. it's a religious/cultural thing

Sort of like the Amish.

[bridgit]

67. Abomination! Thy goodie wife's disinclination toward pastel cotton weave potato sacks...

to the neck high and the wrist long then to the ankle deep under flowing locks up whilst under bonnets nice is a screeching instead to the ears of thine programmers at TLC