YLCF => Kindred Grace: New or Same Old, Same Old?

[mangoshake]

Hey Natalie! Great to see you here and get your perspective on the new site.

[Anne Tudor]

In the "introduction to this new brand" post, the author speaks of being "transparent enough to show the wear without wearing a mask." What does that mean?

I think it means meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

I always get the heebies when people start talking about branding on blogs.

[erunerune]

I agree, nice to get your take, Natalie! FWIW I think Natalie's departure was the point when YLCF officially jumped the shark for me :)

[Sister Mozz]

Oh, Lanier. I would love to know if she is markedly different in person from the type of over-the-top, reality-distant person her internet presence suggests. quote]

I met Lanier in person once, and though we did not have any personal conversation between the two of us, I was surprised at how normal she seemed. Aside from maybe being a little babied by her husband, she seemed to fit in just fine with a roomful of people.

I hadn't read anything she's written in a long time, and when I tried to read the infertility link above I just couldn't. Too many words that didn't really say anything.

[defrauding]

If the site is about "conversations between sisters in Christ," why are all of the authors writing about themselves instead of engaging with each other the way that, say, the authors of the 72-27 Blog at Christian Feminism Today did? How boring.

And hoipolloi, you're definitely right about the Allume influence: several of the authors, including the author of the latest entry, appear to be trying out the all tips they learned in the "SEO for Interchangeable White-Bread Christian Blogs" session they attended.[*]

[*] Session may or may not actually exist.

[silvia]

Natalie, not sure if you talk to Gretchen anymore, but I wondered if you might have any insight into why she's into all this rebranding stuff. Do you think she genuinely regrets a lot of what she wrote as a teen and is hoping people forget about those old writings? How much has her outlook actually evolved since she was eighteen years old? Is she trying to make the YLCF concept palatable to a more mainstream audience? It seems to me like the more incarnations the site goes through, the murkier its true purpose becomes.

And yeah, that "show the wear without wearing a mask" wording = total ugh. Even high school English teachers warn their students not to use mixed metaphors.

[Mama Mia]

My first thought on the name change is "Kindred Grace" covers a wider age range. Since it doesn't sound like "Young Ladies" applies so much anymore.

[mangoshake]

Seems Gretchen has already acknowledged that many of her ideals and opinions were over the top....check out these blog posts....

http://gretchenlouiseDOTcom/2012/09/a-l ... -old-self/

http://gretchenlouiseDOTcom/2011/09/a-f ... rmer-self/

She seems to have stepped away from being preachy about courtship and being a SAHM is only 'God's will' for everybody else. However she steadfastly continues to boast proudly about how SHE loves her role as a SAHM (while whispering in low tones that her daily life is not all peaches and cream, lol).

[mangoshake]

My first thought on the name change is "Kindred Grace" covers a wider age range. Since it doesn't sound like "Young Ladies" applies so much anymore.

Yea.....the original creators of the YLCF blog aren't exactly.....spring chickens.....anymore now that the majority of them have married off and have multiple babies/kids now.

[nataliemn]

Natalie, not sure if you talk to Gretchen anymore, but I wondered if you might have any insight into why she's into all this rebranding stuff. Do you think she genuinely regrets a lot of what she wrote as a teen and is hoping people forget about those old writings? How much has her outlook actually evolved since she was eighteen years old? Is she trying to make the YLCF concept palatable to a more mainstream audience?

Hmm. Well, 1) no, I don't talk to Gretchen. It's actually been several years since I've had any contact with her.

2) I think all the blogger mommies are just on a kick right now when it's cool and the "thing to do" to try and get popular while writing about their daily lives. Building up their brand seems (to me) to be one way to make yourself into whatever you want to be--and distance yourself from everything in the past you (and others) don't like. So yeah, I can see it possibly being that the old YLCF just was too offensive, controversial, and legalistic (if not downright wrong) on many levels. Apparently they think there is still a place for that community online, so they have to remake it so that it can stay alive.

3) Obviously I knew her well until about 5 years ago, and could hazard a guess as to why she is doing what she is doing. But we haven't had any contact in so long, so I'm hesitant to say anything for sure. I wouldn't want someone stating my reasons for doing something now based on who I was five years ago.

I may write more later, but I have to get back to class (taking some amazing classes at the U of C this week). :D

My first thought on the name change is "Kindred Grace" covers a wider age range. Since it doesn't sound like "Young Ladies" applies so much anymore.

Yup. It worked when we were 21 and I started on the YLCF blog, but when you are all pushing 30, you are not "young ladies" anymore. The only person who can get away with calling me a "young lady" these days is my grandfather. :)

[Guest Anonymous]

Hmm. Well, 1) no, I don't talk to Gretchen. It's actually been several years since I've had any contact with her.

2) I think all the blogger mommies are just on a kick right now when it's cool and the "thing to do" to try and get popular while writing about their daily lives. Building up their brand seems (to me) to be one way to make yourself into whatever you want to be--and distance yourself from everything in the past you (and others) don't like. So yeah, I can see it possibly being that the old YLCF just was too offensive, controversial, and legalistic (if not downright wrong) on many levels. Apparently they think there is still a place for that community online, so they have to remake it so that it can stay alive.

3) Obviously I knew her well until about 5 years ago, and could hazard a guess as to why she is doing what she is doing. But we haven't had any contact in so long, so I'm hesitant to say anything for sure. I wouldn't want someone stating my reasons for doing something now based on who I was five years ago.

I may write more later, but I have to get back to class (taking some amazing classes at the U of C this week). :D

Yup. It worked when we were 21 and I started on the YLCF blog, but when you are all pushing 30, you are not "young ladies" anymore. The only person who can get away with calling me a "young lady" these days is my grandfather. :)

To the bolded: isn't this also what you are trying to do yourself? Do you think that there would be any value in you and the other YLCF women talking about the realities and the dangers you met along the way, in order to warn people who may have bought into the ideals that you promoted in the past? Do you feel any responsibility to your former readership now? Or is it just a matter of rebranding and moving away from what you were then?

[nataliemn]

To the bolded: isn't this also what you are trying to do yourself? Do you think that there would be any value in you and the other YLCF women talking about the realities and the dangers you met along the way, in order to warn people who may have bought into the ideals that you promoted in the past? Do you feel any responsibility to your former readership now? Or is it just a matter of rebranding and moving away from what you were then?

Lots of questions. Okay, I'll do what I can and then continue later.

1. I suppose it could come across that I'm trying to do the same thing. I don't think I am, but then, some of what I'm doing is still below the surface, and it won't be until later in the year that a lot of the pieces I've been putting together make sense (i.e. blog posts, various work in different ministries/publishers etc.). I guess I see what I'm doing as different because a) I'm not writing about daily life. That's boring, and a waste of everyone's time. b) My blog and writing are not about building up a brand (if I'm understanding the term brand correctly), but about promoting awareness of some crucial issues (since the ancient times of 2006 things like the persecuted church, human trafficking, and more recently mental illness, sexual abuse, the whole purity/courtship mess).

2. I think I have written quite a bit on the realities and dangers. I don't know if it's appropriate for me to post links here, but on my blog are a number of pieces on everything from "guarding your heart" to why courtship doesn't work to being divorced to why the idealistic view of God is shallow. And I'll write more. It's there for whoever wants to see it.

3-4. Granted, not every blog post from the past is still live, but the ones I took down were taken down because they were a waste of time to read, not because my views have changed. I took down boring book reviews, photos (for my family's privacy), or things that simply weren't appropriate like me writing about life with my ex-husband while I was still married. But nowhere do I pretend that stuff didn't happen. If anything, people tell me I'm too open about stuff. (And they haven't seen anything yet...)

Bottom line: Yes, I've changed. I don't have a life like I ever expected, so of course I'm not who I was 5 or 10 years ago. But I also feel like I am (or at least am becoming) the same person. This is just what me, what this person, looks like when she's been through what I've been through. And that sentence was horrid. But I have to go--lunch break is over. Sorry for any typos--no time to reread!

[nataliemn]

Re: 1. You won't see many pics of me (from recent years) online. This is another reason I feel like I'm not in the typical "brand yourself as a blogger mommy" camp. (There might be a few here and there...I can't remember for sure right now.) But I know there's none on my site. I'm not doing the whole "make your headshot associated with your brand" thing. (Yes, that is advice branding experts often give). And I don't post pics because I don't like how I look or something stupid like that--it's because that's not the point. That's not what I'm about. At least not anymore (I do love photos, so I used to post tons).

I don't write about my son or post pictures of him. This is partly because of serious security concerns, but also because I think it should be his choice if he broadcasts photos or details of his life online. If I was him, I'd be upset at Mom if she had put countless photos and details of everything from potty-training to temper tantrums online where they will never be fully erased.