Lori Alexander 74: Anniversary Pain

[CrochetingGuineaPIg]

On 2/15/2020 at 7:46 PM, Imrlgoddess said:

OK yall, if you're going to get witchy with it you're gonna need to fill out the appropriate forms at the meeting.  We do not discriminate against choice of familiar, obviously cats are suggested simply because they're naturally nonconformist. 

Once you've attested to your femininistness (say that 5 times fast) (no really, there's a test) you & your chosen familiar will be awarded with a customary RBF mask for those who are naturally cheerful & a leaflet of clever comebacks for cat callers, frat boys, politicians, etc. 

Cookies & chardonay will be provided. 

I'll be there with my guinea pigs! And look! She's already prepped for witchy shenanigans!

[louisa05]

I used to teach high school history. Lori’s drivel today reminds me yet again how unfortunate it is that until college level coursework (and those mostly populated by history majors), we teach no social history.  The reality Lori and her fan club are totally unaware of is that women worked throughout history. The world was never a 50s sit com.  

[klein_roeschen]

1 hour ago, louisa05 said:

I used to teach high school history. Lori’s drivel today reminds me yet again how unfortunate it is that until college level coursework (and those mostly populated by history majors), we teach no social history.  The reality Lori and her fan club are totally unaware of is that women worked throughout history. The world was never a 50s sit com.  

I feel like a brocken record when I again remind that even a housewife back than had her workload cut out for her without all our modern little and big technical helpers and housework was hard physical labor.

[wallysmommy]

My great-aunt worked at the Domino Sugar Refinery in the late 30's and 40's until she got married after WWII.  Women didn't sit around on the veranda drinking iced tea and wearing high heels and pearls.  They were scraping to get by.  A good view of what it was like in New Orleans in the 1800s for the Irish is Lace Curtain by Mary Lou Widmer, a local historian (RIP, Mary Lou).  She tells the story of Irish immigrants who came to New Orleans to work on digging the New Basin Canal.  How many Irish died digging the canal and were left where they died  is unknown.  The canal has since been covered and is the neutral ground (median) between West End Blvd. and Pontchartrain Blvd, and is under I-10 between the Superdome and the Canal Blvd. cemeteries.  Did they teach us this in school?  No.  But I have a passion for history and like to learn the context and reality of what it was like to live in that era.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

48 minutes ago, klein_roeschen said:

I feel like a brocken record when I again remind that even a housewife back than had her workload cut out for her without all our modern little and big technical helpers and housework was hard physical labor.

Unrelated to this thread, I was thinking about this this weekend.  If my great-grandmothers could time travel to now I was wondering what would amaze them the most?  Vacuum cleaner?  Washing machine?  Dishwasher?  Fridge?

I think it would be something simple like Charmin, or thick terry cloth towels.  Or indoor plumbing so they could take a hot shower and put those towels to use.  

I love this kind of domestic history stuff. 

[klein_roeschen]

19 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Unrelated to this thread, I was thinking about this this weekend.  If my great-grandmothers could time travel to now I was wondering what would amaze them the most?  Vacuum cleaner?  Washing machine?  Dishwasher?  Fridge?

I think it would be something simple like Charmin, or thick terry cloth towels.  Or indoor plumbing so they could take a hot shower and put those towels to use.  

I love this kind of domestic history stuff. 

I like to think that it is the washer, the fridge and general unlimited warm water. Not heating large amounts of water for bathing. And all the heavy work for washing, water soaked sheets are weighing a ton. And the idea of save food and not thinking about food spoiling. A housewife from 1920 transported to 2020 with all of the modern conviniences, I think she woulld rip Lori a new one.

https://www.1900s.org.uk/1900s-house.htm

The author of this page gives a very good discription on the housework and living of the working class in the first half of the 20th century in Britian.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

7 minutes ago, klein_roeschen said:

I like to think that it is the washer, the fridge and general unlimited warm water. Not heating large amounts of water for bathing. And all the heavy work for washing, water soaked sheets are weighing a ton. And the idea of save food and not thinking about food spoiling. A housewife from 1920 transported to 2020 with all of the modern conviniences, I think she woulld rip Lori a new one.

https://www.1900s.org.uk/1900s-house.htm

The author of this page gives a very good discription on the housework and living of the working class in the first half of the 20th century in Britian.

I read this before - highly recommend to anyone interested in this stuff.

ETA - I agree that the unlimited hot water would probably be the biggest improvement and the one they'd take back if they could only have one thing.

Edited February 17, 2020 by HerNameIsBuffy

[Imrlgoddess]

For those prohibited from the meetings, they can be recorded and shared so no headship-feline or otherwise-have feelings trod upon.  (we all know how fickle feminists can be)

Familiars are welcome at meetings, regardless of variety and/or temperment.  We would ask that potential predators and predatees be kept separate.  

Cookies and other appropriate snackies are permitted, however, any suggestions of "angel eggs", Velveeta/Rotel dip, tea cakes, or anything that may have been considered a Baptist/Pentecostal/FLDS/Catholic/etc fellowshippin' staple is prohibited.  Don't even come up in here talking about "but I tweaked the recipe and waved sage over it".  Be reasonable, do that mess in the parking lot like the drunks do at tent revivals.

Official membership will require at least one of the following:

*An open mind

*A tattoo, or former having of said tattoo, if you have never had a tattoo, a stick on will be provided.

*A familiar--if you do not have one, a gold fish will be assigned to you.  The nourishment of said fish will be your at home assignment.

*A sketchy partner history:  this can be any combination of genders, obviously the more actual lesbian activity the better. Should you be a total square and not possess a sketchy history, one will be provided in the form of rumor not to leave the sacred Witchy/Lesbian/Feminist circle.  Remember ladies, we're witchy, not bitchy.

 

 

 

[older than allosaurs]

25 minutes ago, klein_roeschen said:

https://www.1900s.org.uk/1900s-house.htm

The author of this page gives a very good discription on the housework and living of the working class in the first half of the 20th century in Britian.

Another fascinating source is "Never Done: A History of American Housework" by Susan Strasser

It's been years (decades?) since I read it, but but I love this book and have kept my copy for reference.

[Maggie Mae]

1 hour ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Unrelated to this thread, I was thinking about this this weekend.  If my great-grandmothers could time travel to now I was wondering what would amaze them the most?  Vacuum cleaner?  Washing machine?  Dishwasher?  Fridge?

I think it would be something simple like Charmin, or thick terry cloth towels.  Or indoor plumbing so they could take a hot shower and put those towels to use.  

I love this kind of domestic history stuff. 

I'm thinking in my family it's more like "heat." Or in demand hot water. No more going to feed the wood stove, or having kids splitting wood, or having baths in boiled water. Or maybe just modern methods of female hygiene. (Of course, my mom always was so grossed out by the idea of my grandmother and her "rags" that I never did tell her I too use reusable period catchers). 

[hollyfeller]

20 hours ago, lilwriter85 said:

 

 

 

I remember the incident with the pastor. I think his comments were deleted. Prior to that incident, I saw a few incidents where men who disagreed with Lori or called her out on her shit got their comments deleted. One incident was back in the early days when she started using FB more. She did one of those posts saying that career women were working for designer clothes and other material items. A guy posted that he was proud that his educated wife had a career and he didn't care if she wanted to buy designer clothes with her salary. That comment got deleted.  Another time a guy posted a comment saying that some SAHMS would be in deep trouble if their husbands divorced them or passed away. I think that guy had been observing Lori's page for awhile and likely knew about many of Lori's followers talking about money issues. Her fangirls attacked him and then his comments went poof later on. I've seen a few other situations with men leaving disagreeing comments that end up being deleted. I remember sometime before my last fundie break, a guy posted on Facebook that Lori wasn't Christian. I can't remember if it was deleted or not.

My ex husband had a lot of bad qualities, but he loved that I was educated and had a good job.  Mostly he liked the money, but I digress.  He was the only one of his friends who married a woman with a STEM degree and he was proud of me.

[Alisamer]

On 2/14/2020 at 11:21 AM, Free Jana Duggar said:

 The wife of the seminary president where my husband attended would speak in chapel occasionally, but would speak from the floor and not from the pulpit.  

This is something the pastor at my church specifically speaks against. It was the rule in the church he grew up in, and he is solidly against it. I can't remember the last service I went to where a woman DIDN'T speak from behind the pulpit, at least once. It's not even uncommon for him to ask children, including girls, to come do a reading from behind the pulpit. When the youth are in charge of the service, one of them will give the message - and it's a teen girl at least as often as a teen boy.

3 hours ago, klein_roeschen said:

I feel like a brocken record when I again remind that even a housewife back than had her workload cut out for her without all our modern little and big technical helpers and housework was hard physical labor.

Seriously. I'd love to see Lori go back to the days when laundry took a couple days. Without her housekeeper.

[Caroline]

6 hours ago, louisa05 said:

I used to teach high school history. Lori’s drivel today reminds me yet again how unfortunate it is that until college level coursework (and those mostly populated by history majors), we teach no social history.  The reality Lori and her fan club are totally unaware of is that women worked throughout history. The world was never a 50s sit com.  

And high school kids would probably enjoy history class and be better thinkers if they were taught social history.  Everyone can relate more to the past when they can imagine themselves living the experiences of their ancestors.  Lori probably thinks college history classes are a waste of time anyway....

[Maggie Mae]

2 hours ago, Caroline said:

Lori probably thinks college history classes are a waste of time anyway....

Lori appears to think life is a waste of time. The woman has no joy or interest in anything.

[Fallgirl30]

32 minutes ago, Maggie Mae said:

Lori appears to think life is a waste of time. The woman has no joy or interest in anything.

Sometimes I think women like Lori won’t be happy until the rest of us are as miserable as she.

[delphinium65]

1 minute ago, Fallgirl30 said:

Sometimes I think women like Lori won’t be happy until the rest of us are as miserable as she.

That's why I have no sympathy left for Lori. Some of her misery may not be her fault, but she's absolutely hell-bent on forcing all women into her prison, locking the door, and throwing away the key. 

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

23 hours ago, quiversR4hunting said:

We all know GS cookies are the cookies for feminist, witches and slutish women (and men)

Plus GS cookies, especially Thin Mints and Samoas, are enchanted and cast spells over your mouth.

Must. Eat. More. Thin. Mints.

[Sweet Caroline]

I keep trying to avoid Lori’s writings, but I am drawn to them like a moth to a flame. 

Lori’s version of what happened in the past is different from what I have heard from my grandparents and experienced myself. I am sure that there are many of you here that have or have heard similar situations. 

I mentioned long ago that Lori thinks women wore pearls and aprons and greeted their working husbands at the end of the day with a kiss on the cheek and a glass of Scotch.  I have pictures of my grandmothers to prove that didn’t happen. They were born in 1913 and 1918. The first had 3 children and the second had one. I should also mention that they were working moms. My grandfathers were employed full time, but didn’t make enough to support their families. One worked on refrigerator trucks. The other was a tool and die worker. My oldest grandmother was a waitress. The other worked at White Castle. Not glamorous jobs, but they were able to contribute financially. They didn’t grow their own food, like “people did back then” .  My family is from Chicago where houses are on 25 foot wide lots.  You can reach out your window and shake hands with your neighbor in their house.

Lori brags about her family growing up during the depression with seven kids. She probably doesn’t know all the details. Lori makes it sound like their lives were unaffected by the financial climate of the times. My grandma would not eat potatoes because as a child during the Depression, she ate boiled potatoes with buttermilk, EVERY DAY! She was happy to have food, but didn’t like it.

But yeah, Lori, it was soooo much better back then. I grew up during the gas crisis of the 1970s, the huge mortgage rates of the 1980s, the housing crisis of 2008, etc.  She has selective memory. 

As far as family size, I have two boys. Can’t have any more. Problems with infertility. I wouldn’t want to be judged by Lori and her stupid fans for having a small family. They brag about their number of children like it’s a pissing contest. I am thankful for what God gave me. 

Tl;dr: Lori grinds my gears about women of the past, large families, working moms, and birth control. 

[Pammy]

I read/hear somewhere (maybe a podcast?) that the Depression isn't always represented well in terms of the difference between being employed and being unemployed. It seems that families weren't really living some kind of "average" level between abject poverty and life-as-usual. Rather, it was one thing or the other: life as usual if one could keep a job, and abject poverty if one was unemployed and/or attempting agriculture. I'm Canadian, so I'm trying hard to remember my source so that I would know if this was relevant to Canada, or a wider scope. The thing I recall being said is that  consumer goods and food actually became cheaper because so many people could afford so little. These lowered costs actually increased the buying potential and the standard of living for people who continued to be employed through the Depression.

That perspective does nothing for people who were living off potatoes and buttermilk (so horrible!) I don't mean that it was a good thing! But it does explain why some family histories are suspiciously lacking any perception that the Depression was important. Some families skipped it, living as bystanders to the suffering around them.

Really, I think that many of the rich and powerful dynasties still in play may have actually launched from having good luck, maybe foundational wealth, and *no* compassion during the Depression. Buying land, goods and labour for peanuts while people were desperate, and then laughing when the value of everything was restored to normal levels seems like a viable strategy for an amoral tycoon.

[Maggie Mae]

14 hours ago, Sweet Caroline said:

I mentioned long ago that Lori thinks women wore pearls and aprons and greeted their working husbands at the end of the day with a kiss on the cheek and a glass of Scotch.  I have pictures of my grandmothers to prove that didn’t happen. 

To be honest, I do have one (out of two) grandmother who did wear pearls and greeted her husband with a martini as he walked through the door. 

However, there was more to the story in regards to their relationship and his relationship to his four children. 

My other grandmother grew up on a farm, fishing and doing farm chores as a child, then married, was widowed, she went to work picking cherries, remarried, moved onto another farm, raised kids. When the last one went to school, she went to work at in retail, because she hated homemade clothing. 

14 hours ago, Sweet Caroline said:

Lori brags about her family growing up during the depression with seven kids. She probably doesn’t know all the details. 

I know my grandparents that Lori would approve of (until she realized that they weren't her brand of hate everyone church goers) had serious issues with hoarding canned goods, and serving expired foods. During pre-hospice time, the comfort foods they turned to were straight out of the depression. 

1 hour ago, Pammy said:

 But it does explain why some family histories are suspiciously lacking any perception that the Depression was important. Some families skipped it, living as bystanders to the suffering around them.

A lot of people don't know their family history as well. 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

Regarding the depression era - have any of you seen Clara's depression era cooking on youtube?  Sadly, she's passed but her vids live on.  

Comfort vids.  Makes me wish I had a gramma.

 

[Maggie Mae]

@HerNameIsBuffy I love Clara. 

[Hane]

@Pammy, your comments on differing social standings during the Depression make sense. My dad’s and mom’s sides of the family fared differently during the Depression: My maternal grandfather, the child of Italian immigrants, had put himself through Columbia University and became an architect, but lost his shirt when the Depression came. My grandma kept the family fed by doing piecework at the kitchen table. He was devastated when she became pregnant with their third child.

My paternal grandparents immigrated from Italy when they were young. They were hardly well to do, but Nonno had a shoe repair shop and made orthopedic shoes for podiatrists. They had nine kids, and a few of their older ones dropped out of high school to help support the family. I also heard that Nonno’s mother, back in Italy, was fairly well off and sent him some money during hard times.

Edited February 18, 2020 by Hane

[delphinium65]

3 hours ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Regarding the depression era - have any of you seen Clara's depression era cooking on youtube?  Sadly, she's passed but her vids live on.  

Comfort vids.  Makes me wish I had a gramma.

This is the first I've seen of them.  Those are actually useful, and Clara comes across as a kind person, passing on helpful information, and isn't painting some romantic 'everything was perfect back in my day' picture.  In other words, the opposite of Lori.  

[hollyfeller]

20 hours ago, Sweet Caroline said:

I keep trying to avoid Lori’s writings, but I am drawn to them like a moth to a flame. 

Lori’s version of what happened in the past is different from what I have heard from my grandparents and experienced myself. I am sure that there are many of you here that have or have heard similar situations. 

I mentioned long ago that Lori thinks women wore pearls and aprons and greeted their working husbands at the end of the day with a kiss on the cheek and a glass of Scotch.  I have pictures of my grandmothers to prove that didn’t happen. They were born in 1913 and 1918. The first had 3 children and the second had one. I should also mention that they were working moms. My grandfathers were employed full time, but didn’t make enough to support their families. One worked on refrigerator trucks. The other was a tool and die worker. My oldest grandmother was a waitress. The other worked at White Castle. Not glamorous jobs, but they were able to contribute financially. They didn’t grow their own food, like “people did back then” .  My family is from Chicago where houses are on 25 foot wide lots.  You can reach out your window and shake hands with your neighbor in their house.

Lori brags about her family growing up during the depression with seven kids. She probably doesn’t know all the details. Lori makes it sound like their lives were unaffected by the financial climate of the times. My grandma would not eat potatoes because as a child during the Depression, she ate boiled potatoes with buttermilk, EVERY DAY! She was happy to have food, but didn’t like it.

But yeah, Lori, it was soooo much better back then. I grew up during the gas crisis of the 1970s, the huge mortgage rates of the 1980s, the housing crisis of 2008, etc.  She has selective memory. 

As far as family size, I have two boys. Can’t have any more. Problems with infertility. I wouldn’t want to be judged by Lori and her stupid fans for having a small family. They brag about their number of children like it’s a pissing contest. I am thankful for what God gave me. 

Tl;dr: Lori grinds my gears about women of the past, large families, working moms, and birth control. 

My two grandmothers had very different lives.  One was a teacher who earned her Master's degree while her sons were  in high school.  Her husband was a professor.  They were middle class, but still needed both incomes.

My other grandmother had a bipolar husband who couldn't keep a job.  She didn't even have a high school education, but she had to support her family entirely alone - husband plus four children.  She was a tough lady and she worked hard, but she didn't have the qualifications to get a job that paid well.  The family of six had almost nothing.

Now tell me how either of those situations fits into Lori's idyllic "past?"