YLCF writer leaves SAHD, courtship lifestyle behind (gasp!)

[silvia]

Not sure what to make of this... but there have been a couple of articles on YLCF recently by a writer, Jessica deCastro, who's unmarried, has moved away from her family into her own apartment, and is "learning that God has her right where she needs to be." http://ylcf.org/2012/01/the-perfect-chr ... rl-part-1/, http://ylcf.org/2012/01/the-perfect-chr ... irl-part-2. (YLCF already knows about us, so I'm not breaking the links.) Jessica also talks about being allowed to have a boyfriend, meaning she may be giving pieces of her heart away before marriage (oh, the scandal!).

This series seems like a definite departure for YLCF, which has long glorified parent-led courtship and SAHDhood (as personified by founder Gretchen, who lived out a very public courtship and obediently remained under her father's protection until she was married in her early 20s). What do you think? Is YLCF actually conceding that courtship and the SAHD lifestyle are passe/ unnecessary, or is this just an attempt to draw "girls and women... who have fallen" into the fold? (Could BFF Ashleigh's influence be inspiring Gretchen to move YLCF in a more liberal direction?)

[bea]

Quick, the smelling salts, I may faint!

Actually, I think as time has gone by, the YLCF crew (meaning mostly Gretchen) has realized that life is a lot more complicated than Anne of Green Gables books, and that being a grownup is sometimes really hard. And also that God might ask different people to do different things.

Now if only Gretchen would SAY THAT PUBLICLY, because I still think YLCF is guilty of presenting this idealized lifestyle of a SAHD-courtship-mariage-children as the only way to do things.

[fundiefun]

The header of the YLCF site is that of Gretchen and the other contributors? They look so young when that photo was taken how many years ago had to have that been? It's just odd seeing how young they look in that photo header to how old they are now and I wonder if they are eating their words since courtship and other things didn't work out for some of the girls they featured in their "success" stories section. You think by now they would either hand the reigns over to a new group of girls or close up shop.

[silvia]

The header of the YLCF site is that of Gretchen and the other contributors? They look so young when that photo was taken how many years ago had to have that been? It's just odd seeing how young they look in that photo header to how old they are now and I wonder if they are eating their words since courtship and other things didn't work out for some of the girls they featured in their "success" stories section. You think by now they would either hand the reigns over to a new group of girls or close up shop.

I have no clue who the girls are in that header -- it's not Gretchen or any of the other contributors, AFAIK. These headers cropped up in one of the site's recent redesigns; maybe they're stock images or who knows what. I'm a bit surprised that Gretchen hasn't turned the site over to someone younger, but maybe there's no one out there she trusts enough to take the helm?

I do wish the site would be more frank about things like failed courtships, and that Gretchen would be willing to clearly renounce some of her past extreme viewpoints, if in fact she has moved on intellectually and spiritually. My impression is that she's no longer quite as convinced of the merits of courtship and stay-at-home daughterhood, but that she's still very much behind the doctrines of Biblical inerrancy and wifely submission.

[LucySnowe]

I have no clue who the girls are in that header -- it's not Gretchen or any of the other contributors, AFAIK. These headers cropped up in one of the site's recent redesigns; maybe they're stock images or who knows what.

Dunno who they are either, but the photos are pretty recent and given the description of the photo shoots I doubt they're stock; my guess is Young Christian Ladies the photographers know:

http://ylcf.org/2011/01/celebrating-20-years/

[silvia]

That makes sense, LucySnowe -- thanks for explaining. Given how personality-driven much of YLCF's content is, it seems a bit odd that they would feature images of generic girls in the site's logo rather than images of the writers who actually produce the pieces, but whatevs. YLCF has seemed to get more design-savvy over the years, indicating a desire to appeal to a wider audience. (That handwriting-y font they use for "Recent Posts" and other headings is pretty hideous, though.)