Chelsea Pomeroy 2

[JermajestyDuggar]

7 hours ago, Smee said:

The difference is money. The kids are fed and get medical care because they can afford it. The difference between "we homeschool so that our children are brought up only learning exactly what we believe and their mother is the teacher" and "our children go to a private school attached to our church where they learn only exactly what we believe and their father is the principal" is money. The petticoats and smocked dresses are far more expensive than the Duggar's handmade Sound of Music type frumpers, but they all still meet ridiculous 'modesty' standards. I also bet they do proselytize, maybe not quite as overtly.

Are they quiverfull? I don't know. Six children isn't exactly a small family but they're pretty spaced out and they've never talked explicitly about birth control.

Do they have daddy-approved courting rather than dating? I don't know, but the girls are definitely expected to aspire to marriage and motherhood. The eldest daughters are old enough to make one wonder about how dating works in their church.

 

It’s similar to the Clarks. They have money and they have their own church and school. They also believe in birth control. I wouldn’t be surprised if Chelsey’s particular church is ok with some kinds of birth control. 

[Milly-Molly-Mandy]

Actually the women in their church are encouraged to get further education. Many RN’s, pharmacists etc. but not encouraged to leave the church or area and to marry within the church. Birth control is fine. They are encouraged to marry young but wait til they are established to have children. 

[SolomonFundy]

Chelsea and other members of her congregation seem to push for "prestige" occupations for their children, and presumably also encourage the education and training necessary for those jobs. She's posted "future president!" captions for all of the kids at some point or the other, usually on their frequent vacations to DC. 

I know absolutely nothing about the Pentecostal faith, but she and Seth seem to be pretty typical of their online church peers based on social media, except for the themed costuming of their children past kindergarten age. The Pomeroys personally seem to revere strong female figures within the church community, and Pentecostals do allow the ordination and leadership of women. 

That said, it's hard to look at the hot pink chiffon floral ruffled dresses with neon contrast pompom trim and rationalize how that's supposed to represent either egalitarian gender roles, or modesty in any way.

[postscript]

Now that the oldest girl in each family is in high school, I wonder what's going to happen to them when they graduate. Both families have the money to send the girls to college, and they seem like they would want the kids to pursue high-status careers. The girls themselves seem intelligent. Will they go to college? If not a regular 4-year college, will they be allowed to go to community college or some sort of denominational school? Or will the girls be pushed into early marriage while the little princes are funneled into law, finance or politics? 

[Milly-Molly-Mandy]

I wonder too. Olivia Kate is a senior and a talented artist but they don’t seem to encourage art too much within the church. 
I suspect a health industry ie RN, pharmacist, speech therapist in Arkansas, just because that’s where all the academic girls at Calvary seem to go into. I hope I’m pleasantly surprised and she moves away to a small liberal arts college to study art and law or something. 

[Smee]

I think they'll go to college. What I want to know (and also kind of don't, because the kids deserve privacy and didn't choose to be living Instagram dolls their whole lives) is whether they've had boyfriends yet. I'm curious how dating goes in their church. If a girl gets a crush on a boy can she ask him out or does she have to wait for him to notice her? Do they have chaperones? Is every relationship supposed to be a precursor to marriage or can they date like normal to see where it goes, as long as they don't have sex?

IME evangelical dating runs the gamut from "PIV sex is a sin until marriage but can I finger you in the park on the way home and we won't tell anyone" to "we mustn't ever ever ever be alone together until we are married at 19, lest we give in to temptation (which of course is only an issue for boys)". I feel like the Pomeroys, unlike the Duggars, would rely on the belief that they've imparted their own faith and values into their children. I think they'd trust them to make their own decisions about dating and wouldn't do chaperones, but who knows.

[anachronistic]

In Chelsea's Easter pictures George is wearing an outfit that I literally have never seen ever. It almost looks like weird plus fours. She is slowly inching him into pants I guess. Is Pentecostal fashion very big and blousy like what the older girls wear? It looks like the shape would be comfortable but the fabrics wouldn't be. I guess if you are aiming for a potato sack shape you need to add as much lace and ruffles and florals as possible to make sure that people know it is clothing.