happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Aug 25, 2015 15:12:52 GMT -5
I didn't watch it either, more than a few snippets occasionally, but I think what was appealing abut them was two fold - they were unapologetic and deeply Christian at a time when some Christians are feeling discriminated against, and also that they seemed to have a self reliance that reminded some people of the pioneering days - or at least the good parts that were glorified in books like Little House on the Prairie - families pulling together, making your own soap and shampoo, everyone helping around the house or the yard, everyone sitting at the table to eat together. Both my MIL and SIL loved the show. I never liked it for the same reason you didn't. From what I could see, the oldest Duggar girls essentially ran the household while Mrs Duggar took care of the most recent baby. And it seemed (from the little that I watched) that, with homeschooling and working around the house, the kids didn't seem to get to socialize with other kids much. And Mrs Duggar seemed obligated by TV contract to keep popping out more kids.... very creepy. I think you're right. There's a certain segment of our society which are mainly conservative evangelicals that have a sort of religious idealism which makes it easy to fall prey to the notion that there's a way for a family to build a Utopian existence here on earth. My own Mother (in my best southern accent: bless her heart) has this annual Christmas fantasy about all of us getting together somewhere. She's actually pulled it off three or four times, and every time was a lot more Clark Griswold than Laura Ingalls-Wilder. However, even she didn't like the Duggars. This must be a mom thing. My mom always wanted all four kids, plus their spouses and the grand kids, to all stay together in one house for an extended vacation, preferably Christmas. How my mom and dad raised four such totally different kids I don't know, but all of us trying to stay in one building for a week would have lead to blows. The best we could manage was a couple beach trips where we stayed in neighboring cottages. |
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djAdvocate
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Post by djAdvocate on Aug 25, 2015 16:04:50 GMT -5
nearly dying of scarlet fever?  When you cranked out a dozen kids so you'd end up with 3, and the life expectancy was 45? spot on, Paul. i have family history in the US dating back to the mid-1600's. the AVERAGE in those early families was around 10 kids. |
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AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP
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Post by AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP on Aug 25, 2015 16:49:11 GMT -5
When you cranked out a dozen kids so you'd end up with 3, and the life expectancy was 45? spot on, Paul. i have family history in the US dating back to the mid-1600's. the AVERAGE in those early families was around 10 kids. Oh, I know. I have family in the states dating back to the early 1700's. I did not know the average was that high. However, there's infant / child mortality on both sides of my family as late as my grandparent's siblings- ranging from difficulties in child birth to polio (though, my great uncle died as a child from something that could kill any kid today-- fell through the ice he was walking out on). |
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AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP
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Post by AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP on Aug 25, 2015 16:54:02 GMT -5
nearly dying of scarlet fever? Hey, I didn't say I was a follower of that fantasy, I just said that it exists. If you look through popular blogs, there are quite a few dedicated to the 'homesteading' people who have given up TV and moved to the country to grow chickens and vegetables. Some of them are along the hippie-raw milk-back to the land - run around naked variety, some of them are ultra conservatives who want to wall themselves off from the rest of society, grow their own food, homeschool their kids and live a religious life. I admire them for trying. If I don't have AC in the summer I get all whiney, and I would have to make sure I know how to brew beer before I give up modern life and head into the hills.  I don't think it's good for your kids, though, especially if you feel you are religiously obligated to have 10 or 20 of them. The kids don't get to chose that lifestyle, and being raised in isolation like that can severely limit your career potential, especially if your hippie dippy mom didn't see the value of science or math.... or your very conservative dad thinks girls don't need much of an education to be a good mom and housewife. I don't know where the notion that conservative men don't think women need to be educated to be a good mom and housewife? I married a woman with a better education than I have, and who could sustain herself and take care of the kids if something were to happen to me. That's pretty darned important in my book, and I wouldn't have my daughter grow up believing anything else. |
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AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP
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Post by AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP on Aug 25, 2015 16:54:43 GMT -5
I think you're right. There's a certain segment of our society which are mainly conservative evangelicals that have a sort of religious idealism which makes it easy to fall prey to the notion that there's a way for a family to build a Utopian existence here on earth. My own Mother (in my best southern accent: bless her heart) has this annual Christmas fantasy about all of us getting together somewhere. She's actually pulled it off three or four times, and every time was a lot more Clark Griswold than Laura Ingalls-Wilder. However, even she didn't like the Duggars. This must be a mom thing. My mom always wanted all four kids, plus their spouses and the grand kids, to all stay together in one house for an extended vacation, preferably Christmas. How my mom and dad raised four such totally different kids I don't know, but all of us trying to stay in one building for a week would have lead to blows. The best we could manage was a couple beach trips where we stayed in neighboring cottages. It's good to know I'm not alone... (And it very nearly came to blows on one occasion) |
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