Maxwell 26: The Toothbrush Thing Is Real

[anachronistic]

It’s past time to send gifts to Europe and Asia from the US if you want them to arrive by Christmas. There is no way that they will arrive in rural ‘Africa’ (I hate saying Africa and not a specific country but I really have no idea where they go other than that). What do they think the shoeboxes are for, if not for Christmas? They could spend the time and money helping a local family have a nice Christmas, presents, food, household goods.....but they wouldn’t because they need to be seen as white Christian saviors. 

I would also like to know what they consider boy designs and what are girl designs, and why they assume that strangers on the other side of the planet will understand, let alone embrace, their weird, two gendered world.

[anjulibai]

They are so weird about some of the information they share. 

[Foudeb]

It's more likely to be reverse modesty though - that the number of boxes isn't that impressive 

[SoConfused]

Did you read Eligible? Amazing for P&P fans. 

[fundiefan]

29 minutes ago, anjulibai said:

They are so weird about some of the information they share. 

Yes. They will share about NR Anna's varicose veins and how she teaches her kids that some people kill babies, and they'll share on the blog, and at weddings, all about Steve's balls, but they won't share how to cut lettuce with a pizza cutter or how many boxes they pack up or where anyone goes for mission-cations. 

They want blind followers, not interaction or involvement with people. 

[HereticHick]

1 hour ago, freejugar said:

why not? modesty?

To foil the Leavenworth criminal community, lest they decide to break in the Maxwell house and steal a mountain of random plastic crap packed into shoeboxes.

[Jana814]

1 minute ago, HereticHick said:

To foil the Leavenworth criminal community, lest they decide to break in the Maxwell house and steal a mountain of random plastic crap packed into shoeboxes.

Love this! So funny! 

[OhNoNike]

 

Spoiler

Caption suggestions for above:

”This girl almost put a blue lizard in a girl box instead of a boy box!”

”Box stuffing going on here”

 

It is annoying how she stresses how complicated it could be.  Combs are just for boys.  Hairbrushes for girls.  And water bottles are girl or boy “themed”.  

My girls have long hair and I still use a comb.  They also have blue water bottles.

Please add them to your prayer lists, y’all. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

I have such extreme BEC for OCC that I might have to walk away from this thread. Otherwise I’ll be getting petty AF pretty quickly ?

[Dru]

14 hours ago, SPHASH said:

Why do they call every work project that involves the family a party?  Sheetrocking party at Smug Joes, landscaping party at Gigi's, blech!

Because god forbid they have an actual party.

14 hours ago, Jingerale said:

But...Anna and Mary are adults...right?

Don't be silly. Not until they get married or grow a penis.

[catlady]

Spoiler

i love Arnold in this photo; he's being a typical cat, but it's like he's saying FU to the whole project.  to play @OhNoNike's caption game:  "Arnold sits *on* a box because they won't let him sit *in* a green one."

[nelliebelle1197]

3 hours ago, Foudeb said:

It's more likely to be reverse modesty though - that the number of boxes isn't that impressive 

That was my first thought.

[fundiefan]

2 hours ago, OhNoNike said:

 

Caption suggestions for above:

”This girl almost put a blue lizard in a girl box instead of a boy box!”

”Box stuffing going on here”

 

It is annoying how she stresses how complicated it could be.  Combs are just for boys.  Hairbrushes for girls.  And water bottles are girl or boy “themed”.  

My girls have long hair and I still use a comb.  They also have blue water bottles.

Please add them to your prayer lists, y’all. 

The stuffed thing has pink on it. Is she filling a boy box AND a girl box simultaneously? I'm so confused. 

[PennySycamore]

4 hours ago, OhNoNike said:

 

  Hide contents

Caption suggestions for above:

”This girl almost put a blue lizard in a girl box instead of a boy box!”

”Box stuffing going on here”

 

It is annoying how she stresses how complicated it could be.  Combs are just for boys.  Hairbrushes for girls.  And water bottles are girl or boy “themed”.  

My girls have long hair and I still use a comb.  They also have blue water bottles.

Please add them to your prayer lists, y’all. 

I have short hair usually*, but it's curly and I eschew both brushes and combs except occasionally I use a comb to straighten my part.  Brushing just makes curly hair frizzy.  And no, my hair does not look messy.  Putting a hairbrush or comb into each box makes the assumption that the child would actually find them useful.  That's not always the case.

*I say usually, because my hair is longer than normal since my stylist is on maternity leave.

[Dru]

34 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

I have short hair usually*, but it's curly and I eschew both brushes and combs except occasionally I use a comb to straighten my part.  Brushing just makes curly hair frizzy.  And no, my hair does not look messy.  Putting a hairbrush or comb into each box makes the assumption that the child would actually find them useful.  That's not always the case.

*I say usually, because my hair is longer than normal since my stylist is on maternity leave.

I'm a curly haired girl too and the only time a comb touches my hair is in the shower while I have tons of conditioner in my hair. Never a brush. Never.

[Candydandy]

Y’all won’t believe this but I use a comb on my hair- a wide tooth comb, and it’s blue! And Im a girl! My hair tangles so quickly a comb nearby is necessary. I think sending needy people things they need is a great idea. A box o junk with tracts is not. What poor child overseas needs a cheapo water bottle-or other dollar store stuff? I hate being cynical towards a good deed. 

 

[Maggie Mae]

6 hours ago, anachronistic said:

There is no way that they will arrive in rural ‘Africa’ (I hate saying Africa and not a specific country but I really have no idea where they go other than that). 

On the OCC website, they show kids receiving the boxes in Zambia, Uganda, and Honduras (or El Salvador, it was a whole 30 seconds ago and I already forgot which North American they listed). So I guess they might not even go to Africa? I don't know. Looking at the website made me angry. 

52 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

Putting a hairbrush or comb into each box makes the assumption that the child would actually find them useful.  That's not always the case.

This is a good reminder to everyone that donates to their local homeless or youth shelter to donate black hair-care products. 

[anjulibai]

1 hour ago, Candydandy said:

Y’all won’t believe this but I use a comb on my hair- a wide tooth comb, and it’s blue! And Im a girl! My hair tangles so quickly a comb nearby is necessary. I think sending needy people things they need is a great idea. A box o junk with tracts is not. What poor child overseas needs a cheapo water bottle-or other dollar store stuff? I hate being cynical towards a good deed. 

 

It's not truly a good deed, though. It's a cynical ploy to bribe children into a specific version of Christianity. Totally okay to be cynical about a cynical thing. 

[LilMissMetaphor]

8 hours ago, anachronistic said:

It’s past time to send gifts to Europe and Asia from the US if you want them to arrive by Christmas. There is no way that they will arrive in rural ‘Africa’ (I hate saying Africa and not a specific country but I really have no idea where they go other than that). What do they think the shoeboxes are for, if not for Christmas? They could spend the time and money helping a local family have a nice Christmas, presents, food, household goods.....but they wouldn’t because they need to be seen as white Christian saviors. 

I would also like to know what they consider boy designs and what are girl designs, and why they assume that strangers on the other side of the planet will understand, let alone embrace, their weird, two gendered world.

 

It says somewhere on the website that the boxes do NOT get there in time for Christmas because of distances and logistics involved with most places.  They say the kids are happy to get them whenever they get them and don't worry too much about the Christmas part, which makes sense.  But also, people packing the boxes need to realize that a kid in Ecuador receiving a box in April is not going to care much about a dumb Santa ornament.   

It's weird that Maxwells wouldn't say how many boxes they packed.  

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 hour ago, Candydandy said:

Y’all won’t believe this but I use a comb on my hair- a wide tooth comb, and it’s blue! And Im a girl! My hair tangles so quickly a comb nearby is necessary. I think sending needy people things they need is a great idea. A box o junk with tracts is not. What poor child overseas needs a cheapo water bottle-or other dollar store stuff? I hate being cynical towards a good deed. 

 

I have a wide tooth comb for my hair but it’s hot pink. Because I don’t want my husband mistaking me for a man when I am doing my hair. 

[Lisafer]

6 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I have such extreme BEC for OCC that I might have to walk away from this thread. Otherwise I’ll be getting petty AF pretty quickly ?

Er, me too. Shall we sit in the prayer closet together? Boxes of dollar-store shit with tracts, ffs.

[fundiefan]

1 hour ago, Maggie Mae said:

On the OCC website, they show kids receiving the boxes in Zambia, Uganda, and Honduras (or El Salvador, it was a whole 30 seconds ago and I already forgot which North American they listed). So I guess they might not even go to Africa? I don't know. Looking at the website made me angry. 

This is a good reminder to everyone that donates to their local homeless or youth shelter to donate black hair-care products. 

This is the first thing I thought of when they said they were putting combs, brushes  & hair ties into the boxes. Those boxes are, in high likelihood, going to places where the children do not have white European hair. In their rush to present an image of doing something worthwhile, they send useless toys that many kids don't know what to do with (I'll never forget what I read about the damn slinky), products that are not useful or practical, and overall, a total waste of time and money that have no offsetting benefits. 

Also, I second your advice. When donating, remember there are more than white Europeans in the world. 

[Black Aliss]

4 hours ago, Lisafer said:

Quote

I have such extreme BEC for OCC that I might have to walk away from this thread. Otherwise I’ll be getting petty AF pretty quickly ?

Er, me too. Shall we sit in the prayer closet together? Boxes of dollar-store shit with tracts, ffs.

I have a bottle of old vines zinfandel. Is there room in that closet for me? Because what is a kid going to do with a plastic lizard?

[FloraDoraDolly]

Sadly, the sexism among kids' toys, clothes, and accessories goes beyond fundie culture. I read it was easier to find gender neutral children's merchandise  at any point in the 20th century than it is now. For more on this, check out @LetToysBeToys on Twitter.

[Don'tlikekoolaid]

I would send t shirts, hard candy and stuff like that.  I met some women from Africa years ago at a Gov’t function. They were dressed in full ethnic clothing and they were BEAUTIFUL and regal.  I wonder what they would have said about this BS, because they looked like they didn’t need a damn thing from whitey or men or anyone!

There are better ways to donate to others.