I refuse to watch the reality TV show about the 20+-member Duggar clan. I have 20+ reasons why. I think my head would spin to see what dinnertime looks like, or who folds the 200 loads of laundry that get churned out each week. I was chatting with someone recently who said I should tune in because the Duggar kids are cute. I didn't smack her but I wanted to. Bad.
I won't watch the show because it bugs me that the Duggar family's lifestyle, borne out of the conservative Quiverfull religion, is glossed over in favor of soft media stories about which daughter is getting engaged and how she is holding out for her wedding night. Quiverfull women, like many women who are part of fundamentalist Christian religious groups, have specific, submissive roles to fulfill; namely, they breed, feed, clean and follow what the male head of the household says. Unbelievable to me. Sad to me. Women are capable of so much more. I refute the notion that women are incapable of managing money or making significant decisions about their household and that their purpose is solely domestic. Come on. How unfun is that? It is also worrisome. When is that kind of male domination distinguishable from abuse, physical or emotional? There are countless stories of women escaping religious husbands and communities, like the fundamental Mormon branch who inflict damage on its most helpless members by exerting excessive control.
It's also irksome that we are being fed media stories about engagement rings, wedding registries and baby making. The human rights attorney Amal Alamuddin was far more interesting before she became reduced to a media story about "nabbing" George Clooney and who designed her wedding dress. But I digress.
No Duggar watching for me, faithful readers. If I want to go that far back in time, The Honeymooners is at least more entertaining.
Just because they only come every four years...
11 years ago
