DUGGARS!!

theycallmelinz

FI and I are watching 19 Kids and Counting and he's never really watched it. I'm schooling him on their lifestyle and his mind is blown haha I'm loving it

JCbride2015

I can't with them.  You know, I understand they love their kids.  But as the kids get older, it becomes more and more clear that those girls are just baby making machines to them.

This is a really funny but well-researched article about that lifestyle.  http://www.cracked.com/article_21061_5-insane-lessons-from-my-christian-fundamentalist-childhood.html

theycallmelinz

Oh I totally agree! And I hate how these girls are talented but are only good to be wives and mothers. It's just entertaining to watch him watch this

JCbride2015

It really is like witnessing a train wreck.  I get captivated by all the crazy.

lyndausvi

I'm still not use to the Mountain time zone. I forget it's on early here.

ShesSoCold

Duggars and SOA. I may never accomplish another thing on a Tuesday night.

wrigleyville

Michelle's voice is so soothing and mom-like that I'm getting completely wrapped-up in it. I've never seen it before, but they've been showing it on TLC all night. I'm tempted to start from the beginning. 

I mean, part of me just can't with the lifestyle, but I can't stop watching. I feel like an anthropologist. It's just so interesting.

luckya23

I love the Duggars! I met Michelle when I was in Little Rock (okay, I went there to meet them), and she is just so sweet, even though I totally trespassed on her property. She wears a TON of makeup though! She was probably filming just before though.

beethery

Michelle has an ASMR voice. Some people are into that but it always weirds me out. I can't deal with that show or those people.

hellohkb

I can't help but love them yet be creeped out by them. I'M SO CONFUSED BY THEM.

AprilH81

I both admire and criticize their lifestyle...

Last night's episodes were a bit awkward.  Jill and Derek (engaged couple) were out on a date for her birthday.  He brought her flowers and you could tell she just wanted to give him a quick "thank you" kiss.  I totally understand the no sex before marriage, but the no kissing at all is just weird.

southernbelle0915

JCbride2015 said:

I can't with them.  You know, I understand they love their kids.  But as the kids get older, it becomes more and more clear that those girls are just baby making machines to them.

This is a really funny but well-researched article about that lifestyle.  http://www.cracked.com/article_21061_5-insane-lessons-from-my-christian-fundamentalist-childhood.html

So much this.

wrigleyville

AprilH81 said:

I both admire and criticize their lifestyle...

Last night's episodes were a bit awkward.  Jill and Derek (engaged couple) were out on a date for her birthday.  He brought her flowers and you could tell she just wanted to give him a quick "thank you" kiss.  I totally understand the no sex before marriage, but the no kissing at all is just weird.

Yeah, a quick kiss on the cheek would have seemed ok, but they keep talking about how the rules are there to keep them from being tempted.

I always laugh when I see them holding hands, though, because they're always rubbing each others palms and squeezing and basically doing more to get each other turned-on than a simple kiss on the cheek would do.

I also found it sort of awkward for the little brothers who chaperoned both couples, because the couples were saying all these sweet things and being all moony over each other, and the little brothers were just sitting there in the background like, "Yeah... so... um... yeah..."

wandajune6

I never watched the show until I heard about it on TK a while back. I'm drawn to it now, kind of of like watching a train wreck.

jynxiie

I find it crazy some of you like her voice - I think it's creepy as fu--.

ShesSoCold

jynxiie said:

I find it crazy some of you like her voice - I think it's creepy as fu--.

Agreed. Totally creepy, mechanical and rehearsed sounding. Like she's recalling and repeating whatever her husband has said. 

The older girls too when they're talking about courting and rules and stuff - "we don't kiss because we reached that decision mutually with our parents and each other" and blah blah blah is such a rehearsed Miss America answer. 

VulgarGirl

I'm just waiting for one of them to be gay. 

Look they say 1 in 10 people are gay (in my world it's more 1 in 10 are straight but whatever). Now I'm not sure who they are or who they reached this conclusion, but the Duggars have got to have at least one gay kid. I want the whole damn world to see this "loving family" handle a gay kid.

Of course I know the kid will be sent off to conversion camp, I just want to see them justify making a kid pray away the gay on national television.

And then I totally volunteer to take that one in and guide him/her under my little gay wing until they're a big gay birdie who can fly on their own.

JCbride2015

jynxiie said:

I find it crazy some of you like her voice - I think it's creepy as fu--.

Even her voice is cultivated based on a Bible verse.  "A soft answer turns away wrath."

http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/19-kids-and-counting/videos/michelle-duggar-video-blog.htm <--- Video 10/16 ("keeping calm") on this page.

*ETF Bible verse, not Bible voice.  Although she does have a Bible voice.

beethery

MagicInk said:

I'm just waiting for one of them to be gay. 

Look they say 1 in 10 people are gay (in my world it's more 1 in 10 are straight but whatever). Now I'm not sure who they are or who they reached this conclusion, but the Duggars have got to have at least one gay kid. I want the whole damn world to see this "loving family" handle a gay kid.

Of course I know the kid will be sent off to conversion camp, I just want to see them justify making a kid pray away the gay on national television.

And then I totally volunteer to take that one in and guide him/her under my little gay wing until they're a big gay birdie who can fly on their own.

Unless that kid acquires the means to escape their set lifestyle, there will never be an out gay Duggar. They will struggle with denial and suffer for it, because being yourself in that family/religious sect just ain't allowed. It's very sad.

SBmini

I saw some of the first season and was fascinated by it. Just the mechanics of it all. I think back then it was 17 kids. The idea of cooking for 17 kids. Teaching 17 kids. Washing clothes for 17 kids. It was like a nature documentary, but instead of watching Prairie Dogs I was watching the Duggars. 

After the initial fascination wore off though, I because very sad about the whole thing. I feel bad for those kids. They seem happy and everything- but they've also known nothing else. They have no idea what else is out there, who else is out there and what life is like for most people. They get married when they are still kids- to a person that they've never been alone with, and just start pumping out kids. Those kids just chain them to the lifestyle even more. 

But more than mourning for how sheltered they are- I also find the lack of trust in one another incredible disturbing and enraging. The fact that they won't allow their children alone with someone of the opposite sex. That they won't allow their children to be schooled by anyone else. They basically don't trust their kids to make good decisions on their own. Which tells me they don't trust themselves either. This is straight up 1984 level brainwashing and indoctrination. The Duggars aren't a family, they are a dictatorship. The lack of trust is what gets me the most. That is why I cannot watch the show.

JCbride2015

SBmini said:

I saw some of the first season and was fascinated by it. Just the mechanics of it all. I think back then it was 17 kids. The idea of cooking for 17 kids. Teaching 17 kids. Washing clothes for 17 kids. It was like a nature documentary, but instead of watching Prairie Dogs I was watching the Duggars. 

After the initial fascination wore off though, I because very sad about the whole thing. I feel bad for those kids. They seem happy and everything- but they've also known nothing else. They have no idea what else is out there, who else is out there and what life is like for most people. They get married when they are still kids- to a person that they've never been alone with, and just start pumping out kids. Those kids just chain them to the lifestyle even more. 

But more than mourning for how sheltered they are- I also find the lack of trust in one another incredible disturbing and enraging. The fact that they won't allow their children alone with someone of the opposite sex. That they won't allow their children to be schooled by anyone else. They basically don't trust their kids to make good decisions on their own. Which tells me they don't trust themselves either. This is straight up 1984 level brainwashing and indoctrination. The Duggars aren't a family, they are a dictatorship. The lack of trust is what gets me the most. That is why I cannot watch the show.

The bolded is one of the things that makes the least sense to me.  They say that resisting temptation makes them better people and closer to God.  But by constantly having a chaperone, the kids never actually get a chance to resist temptation.  They never give the kids any real experience with making their own decisions.  How are you supposed to grow and learn by resisting temptation, if you are never actually tempted?

ohannabelle

They just freak me out. The lack of individuality, the interchangeable Duggar hair do, the crippling conformity, the regimented organization. 

That's not a family, that's a DIY cult, and JimBob is the leader. 

I can't watch them.

[Deleted User]

Don't the do the blanket rule on their babies? I'll say it; they suck and their lifestyle can eat a dick, which would be a HUGE improvement for everyone involved.

beethery

pinkrevenge said:

Don't the do the blanket rule on their babies? I'll say it; they suck and their lifestyle can eat a dick, which would be a HUGE improvement for everyone involved.

YUP. Blanket training is fuuuuuuucked.

wajohnson09

wrigleyville said:

AprilH81 said:

I both admire and criticize their lifestyle...

Last night's episodes were a bit awkward.  Jill and Derek (engaged couple) were out on a date for her birthday.  He brought her flowers and you could tell she just wanted to give him a quick "thank you" kiss.  I totally understand the no sex before marriage, but the no kissing at all is just weird.

Yeah, a quick kiss on the cheek would have seemed ok, but they keep talking about how the rules are there to keep them from being tempted.

I always laugh when I see them holding hands, though, because they're always rubbing each others palms and squeezing and basically doing more to get each other turned-on than a simple kiss on the cheek would do.

I also found it sort of awkward for the little brothers who chaperoned both couples, because the couples were saying all these sweet things and being all moony over each other, and the little brothers were just sitting there in the background like, "Yeah... so... um... yeah..."

--------------- no box?-----------
One of my friends and her H saved their first kiss for the wedding. Both really nice people, very religious, and really naive. They just had their first baby, hopefully she's not rebellious because they will have no idea what to do or what she's even up to.

birdybride2014

What's blanket training??! I'm curious!

theycallmelinz

I'm curious about blanket training too.

Talking about the whole "this life is all they know", my FI said the same thing and he said that they probably have a completely different mindset about relatinoships so it may not be a big deal to them that they can't kiss or whatever.

But as someone said earlier, when Jill and (I forget her now-H's name) hold hands they're being really affectionate about it and stroking each others fingers and all, which tells me they want to do more. And I wonder if they feel guilty about these feelings? Which leads to internal conflicts with them? (The therapist in me wonders this lol)

lyndausvi

not sure about the boys, but the girls are not allowed out of the house without someone else.   That includes work.   That is why you see Jill and Jinger at home births together.  It's not the Jinger necessary wants to be a mid-wife like her sister.  It's just Jill has to have an accountability partner with her at all times.  

Need to run to the store for milk? Someone has to tag along.  It's weird.

Once they get married they follow their husband's rules.  It must be strange going from having to always have an accountability partner to being able to run to the store by yourself?  It must be strange to be home alone for the first time when you husband goes to work.   In Jill's case that will only last a few months until the baby is born.  Still until she got married she was never allowed out of the house without someone with her.  Lord knows she was never alone at home.

wanderwoman135

birdybride2014 said:

What's blanket training??! I'm curious!

Blanket training is where you basically teach your infant to stay on a blanket - by smacking them every time they try to crawl off. After enough smacking they'll never try to crawl off the blanket again and then wherever the parent puts the blanket the kid will stay there. 

I grew up around families that did this (actually my upbringing was really similar to the Duggars...I'm really glad I figured out it was all wrong and got out) and it's no way to treat a child. The way I look at it, it's no different than putting a shock collar on a dog and training it not to leave your yard. Children obviously aren't dogs so you really shouldn't treat them that way. Blanket training also punishes a child's natural curiosity and makes them timid - really not something you want to do to your kid before the poor thing can even walk or talk. 

Ugh, it pisses me off. 

bethsmiles

Allilovesgus said:

birdybride2014 said:

What's blanket training??! I'm curious!

Blanket training is where you basically teach your infant to stay on a blanket - by smacking them every time they try to crawl off. After enough smacking they'll never try to crawl off the blanket again and then wherever the parent puts the blanket the kid will stay there. 

I grew up around families that did this (actually my upbringing was really similar to the Duggars...I'm really glad I figured out it was all wrong and got out) and it's no way to treat a child. The way I look at it, it's no different than putting a shock collar on a dog and training it not to leave your yard. Children obviously aren't dogs so you really shouldn't treat them that way. Blanket training also punishes a child's natural curiosity and makes them timid - really not something you want to do to your kid before the poor thing can even walk or talk. 

Ugh, it pisses me off. 

That is horrifying! I had never heard of blanket training before and I'm appalled.

I've watch a bit of the Duggars, it's so obvious none of those kids can think for themselves. They all give really obviously rehearsed answers and none of them really know the reasons behind the rules. I have yet to see any of them give a good explanation as to why they do things the way they do.

I expected watching the Duggars to be like watching Sister Wives but I'll be honest, I much prefer Sister Wives to the Duggars. Those kids aren't nearly as sheltered or controlled by their parents. They don't all feel the need to live their lives exactly the same way and they have goals and ambitions that are unique to them individually and seem to be allowed to pursue their passions.

SBmini

Allilovesgus said:

birdybride2014 said:

What's blanket training??! I'm curious!

Blanket training is where you basically teach your infant to stay on a blanket - by smacking them every time they try to crawl off. After enough smacking they'll never try to crawl off the blanket again and then wherever the parent puts the blanket the kid will stay there. 

I grew up around families that did this (actually my upbringing was really similar to the Duggars...I'm really glad I figured out it was all wrong and got out) and it's no way to treat a child. The way I look at it, it's no different than putting a shock collar on a dog and training it not to leave your yard. Children obviously aren't dogs so you really shouldn't treat them that way. Blanket training also punishes a child's natural curiosity and makes them timid - really not something you want to do to your kid before the poor thing can even walk or talk. 

Ugh, it pisses me off. 

That is awful! Children learn through experimenting and experiencing new things. By putting them in a blanket prison you are devoiding a child from the only ways they have to learn. Plus I'm sure that trauma is one of the things that keeps them so devout to their parents. The training doesn't stop- the blanket just grows.