OMG - New Maxwell Post

[marmalade]

From the comments:

Who posted this? :lol:

It's my fault Steve-o removed it. I brought it to this board's attention last night.

The only thing that can redeem me now is a good spanking from Zoot. :dance:

[browncoatslytherin]

It's my fault Steve-o removed it. I brought it to this board's attention last night.

The only thing that can redeem me now is a good spanking from Zoot. :dance:

and then spank me!

and then...oral sex!

[Aurora]

I'm just glad I got to see it once before it disappeared. Rebecca KKKKKKK!KKKKKKK is genius. Realy genius.

[bananacat]

Nah, I'm with ya. I don't think they're starving or underfed so much either, but just really worried (well, Steve is really worried) about enjoying the food they eat too much and making enjoyment of eating a big part of life. So, the main part of their day should be the bible study, not the dinner beforehand, even if dinner beforehand is perfectly adequate, well made, and filling.

When they post about "wow look what we made for dinner" probably being happy and treasuring that particular meal is a big deal to them, so it's a party and postworthy. Not for the eating, but for being all "wow, this is goooood!" about it.

You don't have to be starving and emaciated to have issues with food. That's really an unfair bar to set. They really have messed up eating and I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of those kids ends up with an eating disorder (or already has one). Steve himself might even have an eating disorder. It's not healthy to have such an obsession with food, whether it's in binging or restricting.

[skankbiscuit]

I don't think having an exact set menu week after week after week ad nauseum is healthy. It is obsessive and controlling.

[bananacat]

I agree with you Y - they don't seem to be starving and most Americans consume way too much meat. I do believe the punishment where the boys had to eat crackers while the family ate in Taco Bell, while not abusive, was certainly odd. Yes, a common punishment in the past was to go to bed without any dinner (usually my dad would just send us to bed right after dinner because he wanted us to eat). I felt like the "no Taco Bell" punishment was not about the boys not being able to eat, but more about not getting the fun of going into a restaurant. Drastic? Maybe not so much, but it's certainly not a punishment I would've chose for my own children. I think I would have meted out some other kind of discipline once we arrive home.

Thanks for the heads up Garden, I'll check that out.

I really have to object to this attitude that being fat is OMG the worst thing evar! and so it's fine to have really messed up control freak issues with food, because it's always better than eating too much. I'd rather see a fat and emotionally healthy Sarah than a thin one who is so under her father's manipulative control. Being emotionally healthy matters just as much as physical healthy.

But no, better to eat just raw vegetables than to be fat, amirite?

[gardenvarietycitizen]

Yeah. You can eat a normal amount and still be obsessed with exactly what and how. For them it seems to be about taking pleasure in it, being a bad thing. There's a Corner where Steve talks about how preventing food being an "idol" is hard, because we do have to eat, you can't just ban food (like he can just ban alcohol and Pepsi and pleasure reading).

That's very WTF, in my opinion, even if everyone there is physically fine on the amount they get.

[Jezebel]

You really DON'T want to check it out, trust me. Once you have heard it, you cannot unhear... :D

Telling me I don't want to check something out is like saying, "Go! Go! I double-dog-dare ya!" SO I WENT.

And now I'm wondering what a perfectly nice song like "I'll Fly Away" did to make them torture it so. :(

[buddingmedievalist]

I don't think having an exact set menu week after week after week ad nauseum is healthy. It is obsessive and controlling.

Or you just aren't a good cook/don't like to cook. My best friend's mom hates cooking, so she makes the same things all the time--she's not a bad cook, but she just doesn't want to branch out

[fundiefan]

Oh yes, it is definitely possible to have a food obsession even though you eat an average diet. The obsession is rarely about the food itself anyway - more often, it's about control, even when it's anorexia or bulimia. And we all know how Steve loves his control. It is very definitely WTF in that house. Food as reward and/or punishment is unhealthy; a set diet that must be met - whether specific food on specific nights or measuring calories or counting fat grams - all lead to over thinking and eventually, in some, obsession.

I worked with a woman who was visually a completely average 30 year old woman. She wasn't overly thin and she was nothing resembling 'over' weight. She was, basically, just right. She was, however, 100% obsessed with food. What she ate, how much at a time, what it contained...she refused to eat anything with gluten in it one week then anything with sugar the next. One week milk was horrible for you, the next week it was ok but eggs were gonna' kill you. She ate ALL DAY LONG. She brought her breakfast from a take out restaurant every day and ate half when she got to work and the other half a couple of hours later and ate candy bars and pudding in between, or rice cakes and carrots if she was avoiding sugar or dairy or whatever. She pretty much spent her entire life thinking about food and/or eating food. Every day after work, she'd go to the gym for 90 minutes, another set thing that became an obsession; it wasn't just 'daily gym time' it was 'do this for 20 minutes' then 'this for 15 minutes' and all MUST total 90 minutes...a pattern, and one that changed as often as her food choices. She'd spend one week praising a new workout plan then the next week it was something new entirely.

To look at her, you'd see a totally healthy person. To watch her eat maybe just one meal at lunch or dinner or even to just be with her when she had meals and not see everything in between, you'd think nothing of it. To know she worked out daily you'd think she was keeping fit. I happened to share a cubicle with her and saw - and heard - it all, for almost two years.

She has a totally unhealthy relationship with food. I have no idea why; I didn't dare ever ask or bring it up since she was so focused on it already. Food issues and eating disorders are mental/emotional issues, not physiological ones and like most mental illness, cannot be 'seen' without other evidence.

We know Steve has control issues and there is no reason to believe they wouldn't extend to food. That doesn't mean his family isn't eating enough, overall, but it could mean that they do not have a healthy relationship with food. Which also wouldn't be surprising since they have unhealthy relationships with just about all things 'of this world'.

[Chrystal-J]

The Maxwells live like we are already in some kind of post-apocalyptic hell, a crazy world in which animal crackers must be rationed and anyone outside the commune is a brain-sucking zombie. Jeez, they make Christianity look horrible. Why would anyone want to join them? I think that is going to be the biggest hurdle in marrying off the kids: no boy will be somber and depressed enough for one of the daughters, and no girl in her right mind will marry into the commune (especially now that we can see the miserable existence of the current DILs).

They look and sound so miserable. Even in happy events, they are just a wet freaking blanket.

Ditto here. They make Christianity look so glum, they could be driving people away from it instead of toward it.

[lilwriter85]

I know that Steve and Teri have banned Christmas trees and Xmas decorations from their home. Wonder if Nathan and Melanie, and Chris and Anna have followed suit in their homes or have some festive decorations (minus Santa, because I doubt they will allow him into their homes)? I kinda hope they do. Both Nate and Chris must remember the not-so-fundy days of their childhoods.

I think the Maxwell boys and their wives have probably followed suite, unless Melanie or Anna managed to convince their headships to allow trees and decorations. But I get a feeling Nathan and Chris are following daddy as always.

[FriendlyFundie]

I remember reading a few years ago somewhere that Steve wanted the family's food to be what someone else said - adequate. They were only to eat until no longer hungry and the food didn't need to be seasoned or anything because God made it perfect just the way it was. Looks like papa killjoy lifted that restriction at least a little bit. Maybe that's why nights like this are such big freaking deals to them, food with flavor! Golly!

[WonderingInWA]

I remember reading a few years ago somewhere that Steve wanted the family's food to be what someone else said - adequate. They were only to eat until no longer hungry and the food didn't need to be seasoned or anything because God made it perfect just the way it was. Looks like papa killjoy lifted that restriction at least a little bit. Maybe that's why nights like this are such big freaking deals to them, food with flavor! Golly!

Feeding a large family like his must be very expensive, especially since they don't grow any of their own food.

And I wonder a little bit -- does anyone know if Stevie grew up in poverty? That would explain the views on food and waste. Well, a little bit.

[anniebgood]

I don't think that the Maxwell diet is generally restricted either, but I think Steve himself has food issues which he imposes on the family at times.

Remember the Bible Study with the ladies? 8 Strawberries for 8 people, not one less, not one more. That's controlling food. Who would give a lunch and ration the food?

:evil:

[FriendlyFundie]

I think Steve just has major control issues. Most likely they were always there but once he got a taste of the absolute control that uber patriarchial fundyism gave him it was all over. I'm sure that it is very expensive to feed that many people all the time, even the Duggars admit that they spend something like 1500/wk on food but to decide that for a treat everyone can how a whole two animal crackers combined with all the other food related posts plus, well - everything else you can see how tightly he holds the clan. I do hope that as the children age out and are able to escape they enjoy some of the lives they have. Break free, go to an amusement park, play ball with the kids, visit a zoo, sit down to watch a game with a bag of chips, a case of Pepsi and a few dozen wings...smile for real and not just because you were brought up to smile no matter how miserable you were.

[LurkerOverThePond]

I remember reading a few years ago somewhere that Steve wanted the family's food to be what someone else said - adequate. They were only to eat until no longer hungry and the food didn't need to be seasoned or anything because God made it perfect just the way it was.

Then why did God create spices, Steve?

[browncoatslytherin]

Then why did God create spices, Steve?

spices are of the devil, dontcha know? :naughty:

[ChickeyMonkey]

he must've been having some intense prayer time while he was cooking

Maybe he called them "chicken chests" so he wouldn't have to say the b-word. :D

[Guest Anonymous]

Maybe Christopher is off photographing one of the ultimate modest, Christian weddings today and he had to leave before the big book party? He did do Dan & Bethany's wedding, as well as a Bradrick brother and didn't he also just do one of the former Interns who is a buddy of Peter Bradrick? Meaning, he's kind in as far as fundie weddings go (I can't imagine his clientele is outside certain fundie circles, and I can't imagine one in those circles having many acceptable, Christian photographer choices).

If Christopher was out at a wedding they could have held the book launch party a different day - it is not as though any of them have friends or church commitments that take them outside the family compound.

I hope NR Anna is OK. The last time Christopher and Anna 'couldn't make it' to a family dinner it turned out they had gone to visit her family at short notice.

I would love to know the dynamics in the Chris-Anna relationship.

[Eclipse]

Another example of how an ordinary night in most families is a major change of pace for the Maxwells!

I don't get the hide and seek. I play hide and seek with children because they think its fun to play with adults acting like kids. I doubt Maxwell children are allowed to act like children. I've played it as an adult with only adults but it usually involved being at university, alcohol and a playing in territory way bigger than just a house. Sometimes water guns were in play.

On the food issue, I don't think the Maxwells are starving but they definitely control portion sizes. I don't think they normally eat a normal size meal and they might not feel hungry because their bodies are not used to enough food.

If the Maxwells were allowed to interact with other people they would know that seeing a picture of a character does not dictate how a reader envisions them. I know enough people who cosplay to know that people can easily still have their own images of a character from a book despite other representations. Same with children playing dress up.

[emmiedahl]

Maybe he called them "chicken chests" so he wouldn't have to say the b-word. :D

I bet calls them "white meat" instead of breast. A relative of mine used to refer to white and dark meat because breast and thigh are improper. No kidding.

[celestial]

I bet calls them "white meat" instead of breast. A relative of mine used to refer to white and dark meat because breast and thigh are improper. No kidding.

Wow. :shock:

[MamaJunebug]

I bet calls them "white meat" instead of breast. A relative of mine used to refer to white and dark meat because breast and thigh are improper. No kidding.

I know you're not kidding. It's a carryover from Victorian times, when legs and arms were properly called "limbs" and the legs of pianos and tables were covered by floor-length tablecloths/piano scarves lest they excite stimulation in young persons.

Props to whoever said the Maxwells' practice of Christianity may drive people away from the religion. As a Christian I believe in moderation in all things, but I do certainly partake of all things! (well, the legal things ;) ) I don't have nightly Bible time but I study at will and I consult any number of learned, respected teachers when I find something that confuses me or doesn't "add up" in my puny brain.

And yet some people respect the Maxwells and I suppose seek to emulate them. Makes you wonder, but there it is.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

I'm not sure which was the weirdest--that a 30-something and her folks were playing hide and go seek? That they HAD to do the dishes before they could "get all wild" and be Moody family members or if poor little Abby has only a lifetime of such yawn-inducing literature to look forward to? Sad, just so sad.