Maxwells are home!

[WonderingInWA]

I think the Muncks are financially stable, too, and that having a disabled child doesn't hold them back much. They have their own business, they seem to have a nice house, and then they just bought a farm. Elizabeth was probably very carefully chosen, but it turns out, it's not a game (Steve!), and that Elizabeth decided she didn't want to be part of the regime/prison that is Maxhell.

ETA: And I'm sure Steve is counting his blessings because any woman who would be willing to stand up for herself and break off an engagement to one of his children would certainly have been trouble down the road.

[YPestis]

Maybe Steve doesn't look over their tax returns, I'm thinking more in terms of "class". For example, small business owners and such are good but someone who cleans for a living and lives in a trailer may be questionable to marry into. I figure if Steve does have this attitude, it's not something he preaches or talks openly about but that he already had this attitude prior to being "saved". Secular and nonfundies can also be victims of such thinking so it stands to reason fundies also retain certain classist attitudes.

[WonderingInWA]

Maybe Steve doesn't look over their tax returns, I'm thinking more in terms of "class". For example, small business owners and such are good but someone who cleans for a living and lives in a trailer may be questionable to marry into. I figure if Steve does have this attitude, it's not something he preaches or talks openly about but that he already had this attitude prior to being "saved". Secular and nonfundies can also be victims of such thinking so it stands to reason fundies also retain certain classist attitudes.

Right. My thoughts exactly. And Steve will never talk about it openly (unless maybe he's talked about it a bit in one of his books -- I've never read them and am not sure how he would describe the "value" of a line of work and the class structure we all hate to admit is part of our culture).

And really, it's not like Rebecca's dad doesn't probably work hard with his janitorial business and floor refinishing work, but for some reason I feel like there's something about his past that feels questionable. Like maybe a prison term or something? I think I remember reading the forward of his book and he mentions his past not being something he's proud of and that he's got 5 kids. I'm guessing whoever the other 3 are are from other relationships. But then he's been married to Rebecca's mother for something like 22 years, so it would have been a long time ago. Some night when I get really REALLY bored, I'll buy the book and read it and report back.

[lilith]

I agree it's a class thing with the Maxwells. A family with middle class values and a good education (for the parents, not the poor homeschooled kids, of course), living in holy poverty to allow them to minister would probably pass muster with Steve for q daughter in law. He probably wouldn't give one of his daughters to a son of the family though. And the daughter of an uneducated janitor is never going to pass muster.

Steve is very proud of educating his boys to support a one income household and buy a home debt free before marriage. He's considers his sons great catches and he isn't going to throw all the work he's put into them away in an unworthy girl. But, as the girl doesn't bring assets to the marriage, I do think it's more about class than money for girls.

For his daughters, he would expect the groom to at least be where his sons were before marriage, as well as agreeing with Steve on every point under the sun, from theology to cleaning schedules to hairstyles.....

[socalrules]

Plus Rebecca won't arouse Steve so that means she's not godly enough. Any many who makes his daughters parade their new outfits in front of him to see if he is sexually defrauded by those outfits is a sick f*ck who judges women based on the surface alone.

Wait, wait, wait. Steve makes his daughters model their outfits in front of him to make sure he isn't turned on by them? I don't understand this line of thinking. If your adult daughter was standing naked in the same room you should not be turned on, so I don't know how their being fully clothed would stir any urges. There is nothing that should make a father be "defrauded" by his children. Maybe this explains the weird vibe I always get from this family. I get the same vibe from the Arndt family.

Sarah's writing drives me crazy. It is always confusing and completely souless. She writes about happy things but the emotion never gets through to the reader. Sarah has to explain every little detail, even when it is irrelevent to the story. Half the time I have to read it multiple times to figure out what she is trying to say. If English were her second language I would say that Sarah's writing was coming along nicely. Since this isn't the case, I feel bad for her. Sarah's writing will never improve unless she is allowed to read non-Maxwell materials in order to understand how to capture the reader's attention.

Am I the only one that cannot tell Sarah, Anna and Mary apart? I had to match the names to the fabric descriptions given by Sarah in her sewing post. Anna looks so much like Sarah and Mary that it seems like Steve wanted a daughter-in-law to match his own daughters. Creeps me out.

[lilith]

I think you are mixing up reversal and non reversal Anna. Non Reversal Anna, married to Christopher, has strawberry blonde hair and a larger build than any of the original Maxwell girls. Reversal Anna is the middle Maxwell daughter, who looks like a slightly awkward version of Sarah.

[Lillybee]

Poor Reversal Anna. her birthday party consists of a tea party with the nieces and a sewing party. So exciting.

[sparkles]

Dear Maxwells,

If you're going to spend a lot of time sewing (which you do), why not invest in the proper tools to make the job easier? For very reasonable fee, you can get yourselves a spiffy craft table that's 48" wide, extends to 72" long, folds down to 18", stores neatly and allows the sewer to cut efficiently at the correct height--no more crawling around on the floor. Really, check it out. You can make it a joint birthday present for the girl children so they celebrate their day with something a little more exciting than "shopping" for "new" fabric in the sewing cupboard. Or does crawling around on the floor and trying to maneuver in a narrow space between the kitchen cabinets bring you closer to god? Must the wimmins must suffer for their frumpers?

[Curly Girl]

Dear Maxwells,

If you're going to spend a lot of time sewing (which you do), why not invest in the proper tools to make the job easier? For very reasonable fee, you can get yourselves a spiffy craft table that's 48" wide, extends to 72" long, folds down to 18", stores neatly and allows the sewer to cut efficiently at the correct height--no more crawling around on the floor. Really, check it out. You can make it a joint birthday present for the girl children so they celebrate their day with something a little more exciting than "shopping" for "new" fabric in the sewing cupboard. Or does crawling around on the floor and trying to maneuver in a narrow space between the kitchen cabinets bring you closer to god? Must the wimmins must suffer for their frumpers?

Lol. So true!

[SisiL78]

Socalrules,

There's a post by Teri from way back when where she discusses contrasting buttons and v-shaped waist seams etc... and how they are off limits. And she goes on to describe how she and the girls model their outfits for Steve for approval, to see how those outfits are seen from a man's point of view.

The way it came out sounding to me was they were gauging Steve's opinion of whether or not the outfits would arouse him and if they did the outfits had to be returned.

I know 2 year olds with more autonomy over what they wear?

[WonderingInWA]

Socalrules,

There's a post by Teri from way back when where she discusses contrasting buttons and v-shaped waist seams etc... and how they are off limits. And she goes on to describe how she and the girls model their outfits for Steve for approval, to see how those outfits are seen from a man's point of view.

The way it came out sounding to me was they were gauging Steve's opinion of whether or not the outfits would arouse him and if they did the outfits had to be returned.

I know 2 year olds with more autonomy over what they wear?

Wow, even I missed that post. No contrasting buttons! Is that like NO MORE WIRE HANGERS? Holy crap.

[sparkles]

Here's the thread with a link to the article, in case anyone missed it. Yeah, creepy.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2383

[justakitten]

What a coincidence. Maxwell blog has a new post about redoing the front of John/Jesse/whoever he is's house.

Wasn't that just discussed a few days ago?

[WonderingInWA]

What a coincidence. Maxwell blog has a new post about redoing the front of John/Jesse/whoever he is's house.

Wasn't that just discussed a few days ago?

Yes, someone posted here about the ugly exterior! LOL! Hi, Steve!

[sparkles]

So Joseph will end up with a lovely house that may take years before it actually becomes a home. Because heaven forbid an adult man can be trusted to live his own life away from his parents. Steve emasculates his sons in the same way he infantilizes his daughters.

[WonderingInWA]

So Joseph will end up with a lovely house that may take years before it actually becomes a home. Because heaven forbid an adult man can be trusted to live his own life away from his parents. Steve emasculates his sons in the same way he infantilizes his daughters.

Yes, well, the house is a mile away from the compound, so way too far away to be safe for him to live there alone. So he'll just work on it and continue living at the Maxwell Penitentiary unless he finds a girl who will actually follow through and marry him.

[lilwriter85]

Poor Reversal Anna. her birthday party consists of a tea party with the nieces and a sewing party. So exciting.

Since I've been following the Maxwells, I have found the birthday parties to be a bit sad for different reasons. The Maxwell kids are stunted in a lot of ways. I feel bad that a young woman celebrates her 20th birthday with a tea party with her nieces. Yes, it is good to sometimes celebrate your birthdays at home surrounded by your family. But sometimes it is good to have friends to have celebrations with.

[WonderingInWA]

Since I've been following the Maxwells, I have found the birthday parties to be a bit sad for different reasons. The Maxwell kids are stunted in a lot of ways. I feel bad that a young woman celebrates her 20th birthday with a tea party with her nieces. Yes, it is good to sometimes celebrate your birthdays at home surrounded by your family. But sometimes it is good to have friends to have celebrations with.

But that's their gig. The Maxwells don't have any friends. They're not allowed.

[YPestis]

The Maxwell girls don't know what it's like to celebrate birthdays with friends. As far as they know, celebrations of any kind is done with families and the occasional family acquaintances. In some ways, it's a good thing that the kids grew up so isolated because they don't know what they're missing. What I'd love to see is one of the Maxwell kids accidentally getting into an activity that is fun and with people their age. I figure a church group activity could be a 'gateway' to the larger world. Of course, the Maxwells are so isolated that they would never let one of their own venture into a group activity like that.

The class thing is interesting too. As much as the family preaches about Christ love, they are just as prone to the ideas of class and social status as anyone. I wonder if they know even among fundies, they are considered kind of weird? Regardless, I'm sure they consider themselves respectable, prosperous, pillars of society. I'm actually not snarking on them for this since it's not their fundie-ness that makes them think this way, it's how a lot of Americans think too. It's just interesting that Steve is not really immune to societal attitudes despite all the smoke about being a superior human being.

[Lillybee]

Are there other fundie families as rigid and isolated as the Maxwell's? They seem to be unique unto themselves.

[gustava]

Are there other fundie families as rigid and isolated as the Maxwell's? They seem to be unique unto themselves.

The Arndts', to start.

[Sydney Fox]

The Arndts', to start.

Yes, but at least they're allowed to play sports. Steve forbade team sports when Nathan and Christopher were kids.

[Witsec7]

Beige, they are all beige.

[Petronella7]

Poor Reversal Anna. her birthday party consists of a tea party with the nieces and a sewing party. So exciting.

How was her birthday different from any of her other days? She stayed at home/on the compound, with the same people she sees every day, doing the same repetitive homemaking chores that she does every day.

edited to add: Why did Sarah list the sewing patterns they used for their skirts? Do they think that so many people want to dress like them? In any case, I just googled the patterns, and laughed out loud to see the way the clothes are depicted on the Butterick and Simplicity websites. The skirts as designed are knee-length, flared, paired with pretty stylish fitted blouses and modelled by confident-looking women with healthy hair, makeup, and provocative poses! The Maxwell girls had better keep their patterns under lock and key or their brothers will be sneaking them off for some private viewing. They are the most defrauding images to ever come through the door of that house. As bad as Playboy or Penthouse, Steve!

[Rosie]

Beige, they are all beige.

I noticed that about their new skirts: Shades of Beige.