Maxwell 42: The Young and the Vestless

[freejugar]

That wasn't very nice of Danny. You know he wouldn't be trying that shit with a man.

[Black Aliss]

3 hours ago, Bethy said:

Honestly, it bothered me. Like she's his possession. No identity of her own.

Which, I guess, is what she's considered to be in Maxhell.

It bothered me a bit, but then I realized there's no alternative. I expect they asked Anna III what she would like to be called, because, you see, we already have an Anna Maxwell and she responded that she'd like to be called by her given name, Anna. 

[ElizaB]

4 hours ago, Bethy said:

Honestly, it bothered me. Like she's his possession. No identity of her own.

Which, I guess, is what she's considered to be in Maxhell.

I am torn on this comment. On one hand I feel like if I were referring to my own friends and clarifying a spouse or significant other this is a phrase I may use. However, there wouldn't be any gender bias behind the comment. I would just as likely say, "Anna's Jesse" as "Jesse's Anna." But on the other hand we know the Maxwells are sexist so the comment is more loaded. In their views she does "belong" to him. 

[Dysfundamental]

8 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

In a normal world, Abbie will be joining her school's basketball team! She's incredibly tall!

She's changing diapers instead of that.

Heyyyy, not all tall people like (or are good at) basketball! Love, a tall lady who much preferred cross-country running. ?‍♀️

[fundiefan]

10 hours ago, freejugar said:

That wasn't very nice of Danny. You know he wouldn't be trying that shit with a man.

That's what I thought. First, apparently it's so "cute" Sarah has to make a blog post about it. WTF? Second, if that were a kid in my family, he'd be spoken to. Not punished or anything, but it would be explained that it's not a fair or nice way to play Frisbee and if you can't play fairly or appropriately you aren't going to play. 

But, in Maxhell, they don't really grasp so many concepts of life and behavior and common courtesy. 

Edited September 10, 2020 by fundiefan

[petrushka]

12 hours ago, freejugar said:

That wasn't very nice of Danny. You know he wouldn't be trying that shit with a man.

My gut tells me Danny is quite the handful; purely speculation on my part.  

[Tatar-tot]

10 hours ago, ElizaB said:

I am torn on this comment. On one hand I feel like if I were referring to my own friends and clarifying a spouse or significant other this is a phrase I may use. However, there wouldn't be any gender bias behind the comment. I would just as likely say, "Anna's Jesse" as "Jesse's Anna." But on the other hand we know the Maxwells are sexist so the comment is more loaded. In their views she does "belong" to him. 

What the Maxwell’s fail to follow is that  the picture no further explanation is necessary, and  please just refer to her as Anna.  
 

If the Maxwells feel further descriptive is necessary then you start off “Anna, Jesse’s wife, was having a blast playing with......” or “My newest SIL, Anna,”.  “Jesse’s Anna” sounds like she is a dog that is owned by Jesse. I would guess Anna is not “owned” by Jesse in any way shape or form.  
 

The overall issue with Sarah’s writing is it is stilted.  It is as if she does not speak English and is using a translator to express her thoughts on paper. There is no natural rhythm to her prose.  Given her writing, I think she would have an extremely difficult time carrying on a conversation with someone where she is not reading from a script that has been rehearsed one too many times.  

Edited September 10, 2020 by Tatar-tot

[Giraffe]

I always think my cat looks like he’s wearing a vest. In honor of the vest titles, I shamelessly give you a picture of the reason I woke up at 5:30 this morning. 
 

Edited September 10, 2020 by Giraffe
Changing words

[Botkinetti]

Four women in my extended family had the same name and three of them were aunts. We always called them uncle Jim’s Susan , uncle John’s Susan etc. In no way were they considered property or less than. We lived an ocean away from them and it was simply the easiest way to keep track of who we were talking about. 

I know the Maxwells do think of wives as being possessions but it isn’t always the case.

[FiveAcres]

11 minutes ago, Botkinetti said:

Four women in my extended family had the same name and three of them were aunts. We always called them uncle Jim’s Susan , uncle John’s Susan etc. In no way were they considered property or less than. We lived an ocean away from them and it was simply the easiest way to keep track of who we were talking about. 

I know the Maxwells do think of wives as being possessions but it isn’t always the case.

In my partner's family, I generally use the construction, "M, P's wife." If I tell you that the family is Catholic, you can probably guess what M stands for. Damn if there aren't a lot of Ms in that family. 

[Jana814]

29 minutes ago, Botkinetti said:

Four women in my extended family had the same name and three of them were aunts. We always called them uncle Jim’s Susan , uncle John’s Susan etc. In no way were they considered property or less than. We lived an ocean away from them and it was simply the easiest way to keep track of who we were talking about. 

I think that’s a great way to keep track of them. 

[IReallyAmHopewell]

18 hours ago, Bethy said:

Honestly, it bothered me. Like she's his possession. No identity of her own.

Which, I guess, is what she's considered to be in Maxhell.

But they are now ONE ?

[Black Aliss]

2 hours ago, Botkinetti said:

Four women in my extended family had the same name and three of them were aunts. We always called them uncle Jim’s Susan , uncle John’s Susan etc. In no way were they considered property or less than. We lived an ocean away from them and it was simply the easiest way to keep track of who we were talking about. 

I know the Maxwells do think of wives as being possessions but it isn’t always the case.

My mother had two sisters-in-law named Liz and they were always disambiguated by Liz-of-Abe and Liz-of-Jake, when referred to in absentia.  In person they were just called Liz, of course. This was many decades before Margaret Atwood wrote the Handmaid's Tale so we didn't think anything of it.

Now that @Tatar-tot has made some excellent suggestions, I retract my assertion that there was no good alternative. It was an opportunity for Sarah to liven up her writing, and she blew it.

Edited September 10, 2020 by Black Aliss

[usedbicycle]

My family has the opposite problem - 2 of my sisters married guys with the same name. We always call them Susan's Jim and Sarah's Jim (made up names). Maybe I'm old fashioned but I don't think the possessive form is bothersome when speaking of married couples.

[freejugar]

8 hours ago, fundiefan said:

That's what I thought. First, apparently it's so "cute" Sarah has to make a blog post about it. WTF? Second, if that were a kid in my family, he'd be spoken to. Not punished or anything, but it would be explained that it's not a fair or nice way to play Frisbee and if you can't play fairly or appropriately you aren't going to play. 

But, in Maxhell, they don't really grasp so many concepts of life and behavior and common courtesy. 

On the one hand, they peddle the Moody books where the kids act like Rod and Todd Flanders, but they praise this rude behaviour on the blog? 

On a kid this might seem cute, but in adult it's called being an asshole, you have to correct it.

Anna is new to the family and is probably trying very hard to get liked so she puts up with this

[thoughtful]

On 9/9/2020 at 1:21 PM, allyisyourpally5 said:

It will be about a family that travels round the country, spreading their ministry. It will cover all their whacky adventures - getting a flat tire, loosing one of their bibles, forgetting one of the matching jumpers, winning arguments with people who don’t think it’s sinful to have friends, teaching non family children how to have real conversations just like them.....

And the mom will accidentally take a bite out of a sandwich that still has the cheese paper in it!

Hilarity will ensue.

[Don'tlikekoolaid]

10 hours ago, Giraffe said:

I always think my cat looks like he’s wearing a vest. In honor of the vest titles, I shamelessly give you a picture of the reason I woke up at 5:30 this morning. 
 

If you look very carefully you’ll see kitty is giving us all the middle finger.  Probably for judging him because of his early breakfast call.  Cats rule, it’s a fact.

[anniebgood]

My brother, my husband, and my BIL are all named Richard. Brother and husband share a middle name. Luckily we don't get together very often. 

[PennySycamore]

@Giraffe, your kitty has the longest whiskers I've ever seen!  They are magnificent and he is beautiful.  

Edited September 11, 2020 by PennySycamore

[Giraffe]

7 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

@Giraffe, your kitty has the longest whiskers I've ever seen!  They are magnificent and he is beautiful.  

Thank you! His whiskers have their own personality. He was found as a stray and his hair was cut short when I adopted him. I was shocked when his hair started growing out! I assume he was matted when he was picked up.  

[FloraKitty35]

Danny's behavior regarding the frisbee wasn't cute, he was being a little shit.   In the family that I grew up in he would have had the frisbee taken away from him. 

[Black Aliss]

Okay, I may be clueless about the frisbee tossing but I thought the point was to make the other person have to work to catch it. Within reason, of course. Rather like playing tennis--you don't hit the ball straight to your opponent but you keep it inside the lines. Now, if Anna, Jesse's wife, had been making it hard for a little kid to catch the frisbee, I agree that would have been bad form on her part.

[bluelady]

19 hours ago, Botkinetti said:

Four women in my extended family had the same name and three of them were aunts. We always called them uncle Jim’s Susan , uncle John’s Susan etc. In no way were they considered property or less than. We lived an ocean away from them and it was simply the easiest way to keep track of who we were talking about. 

I know the Maxwells do think of wives as being possessions but it isn’t always the case.

Something similar happened in my family.  In the small village where I'm from, three women with the same first name married cousins with the same last name.  Three women with the exact same first and last names in a village of 500 people. So, people started referring to them as their first name followed by their husband's first name. One of the women was my grandmother.  The village referred to her as Mary Henry.  The others were Mary Paul and Mary John.

 

[PennySycamore]

@Giraffe, thank you for giving your kitty a home!

[Hane]

12 hours ago, anniebgood said:

My brother, my husband, and my BIL are all named Richard. Brother and husband share a middle name. Luckily we don't get together very often. 

My late dad, my BIL, and my nephew share a name. As my sister said, “75% of the people in my house are named John.”