Pioneer Woman is anti-dating?

[keeks21]

^^^ have you read pioneerwomansucks.com and marlboro woman?

[Gizmola]

^^^ have you read pioneerwomansucks.com and marlboro woman?

Love it!!!!

PW can kiss my ass. My maternal family have had land in OK since the Land Rush. We have a total of 500 acres. Which is, in the scheme of farming/ranching absolutely nothing. My great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather and grandfather all farmed that land. We usually spent a month there every summer and I never remembered my grandfather doing anything but working from sunup until sundown. My grandmother was a real, old-fashioned farmer's wife: really cooking three squares a day for him and whoever was helping, which was not usually hired hands (that was before my time - and we didn't have a guest house like Ree - we had a bunkhouse. Real ranchers have bunkhouses, not renovated guest homes. Sigh) but other farmers in the area as they worked with one another in trade. My grandmother canned food, had an orchard, a garden, chickens and all the rest that SHE took care of.

Since my grandparents' death we rent out the land (to a high school classmate of my mother & uncle) and he runs cattle on it. When I go out there each year (yes, we've kept the house as sort of a vacation home - someone is there about every other month) I often work cattle. But my version of working cattle is more than Ree taking pictures and less than real cowboys - I am usually just in charge of herding them here and there and cutting cattle as they're worked. She can't ride? Seriously? I only ride once a year and I can handle myself in the saddle; it's not difficult. All that proves is that she's a big faker.

My point is that even I, a true city girl who grew up in the suburbs of Louisville, KY, have more farm cred than this poser and I truly have none at all.

[emmiedahl]

Maybe I am romanticizing adolescence, but young teen and preteen girls can be so sweet and idealistic. There is this freshness about them that, unfortunately, can attract exactly the wrong person. It makes you want to protect them and guard them from people who would not respect their innocent and unworldly nature. My stepdaughter had it, my preteen daughter has it. It's exactly what the older SAHD's are trying to hold on to, unsuccessfully I might add.

As a parent, I would love to keep them innocent (I'm not talking about sex so much as the whole cultural shebang) as long as possible. I also want my daughters to develop normally and to have experiences that will help them be good adults. It's a narrow, narrow path between the two extremes of parenthood and I am still trying to figure out what our policies will be. My stepdaughter was a dream as a teen but I doubt my other two girls will be, just from their personalities.

[treemom]

Our boys had to be 13 to get a cell phone or have MySpace (Facebook was not big then). It was my rule and completely arbitrary on my part. They've called me on it since and I've owned it. But I tell them that some of those things I did just because I was the mom (tongue planted firmly in cheek).

Well 13 makes sense...they had to be 13 to sign up for it officially.

I think arbitrary is fine. I just am usually surprised to find people think that phones and facebooks lead to teh sex. Now I am sure some of it comes from the fact that hiding stuff from us would be hard. (My husband's whole job is to find the hidden stuff). But I also think it can be used responsibly.

Kids were having sex at 15 before facebook and cell phones.

[bananacat]

I've seen this a lot among my Asian-American friends whose parents are the 1st generation in this country or who are simply old-fashioned. But these families do not practice courtship; they simply do not want their children of either sex dating until they have finished high school. For some, the senior prom is the first date they're allowed to have.

A friend of mine who is Korean-American told me that once she turned 18, she was free to date and eventually marry whomever she chose without any parental interference. Her brother, OTOH, had to marry a Korean woman or else.

From all the Asian American friends I was friends with in college, there is a huge double standard. So many women were forbidden from dating, some even until they finished a Ph.D., while their brothers were allowed to do whatever they wanted. And if you think this isn't about female "purity", then you are sadly mistaken. It's the same old thing with a different culture. Women need to be pure and men don't.

[hoipolloi]

I didn't get "courtship" from PW's commentary so much as "protecting," an instinct all of us parents have, no matter how young or old the children are.

Re: PW's & MM's marriage. I actually read most if not all of the fifty bajillion installments of her Black Heels story, and recall a lot in there about her boyfriend(s) and so on during her time in college, at USC in LA. So, unless she's totally lying about every last thing, it seems unlikely that PW & MM had an arranged marriage.

In some ways, their meeting & marriage is not that unusual - think of all the stories about people who go to their 25th HS reunions & end up with their first loves, or the octogenarians who, after one or more marriages and lifetimes of living all over the world, marry their HS sweethearts as a culmination of heart's desire. Propinquity can be a powerful factor in relationships.

[lovefromgirl]

I think arbitrary is fine. I just am usually surprised to find people think that phones and facebooks lead to teh sex. Now I am sure some of it comes from the fact that hiding stuff from us would be hard. (My husband's whole job is to find the hidden stuff). But I also think it can be used responsibly.

Kids were having sex at 15 before facebook and cell phones.

It's not that I think phones and Facebook lead to sex; if I'd had a hand in the raising of said adolescent, I'd be better able to gauge what level of responsibility she can handle with respect to going online. I did have an online presence of some sort or another, outside of the usual kiddie websites, from twelve onward--and I knew that my parents would be checking my history, so either I had to erase it *whistle* or cope. :) We did a lot of talking about what was out there vs what I could handle, and hell, I'd read Outlander aged ten or eleven. They were pretty sure I'd stay out of trouble.

For a kid's safety (ability to reach parents, call 911) and amusement (texting/calling friends), a simple cell phone is appropriate. I think I'd hesitate giving a kid a Droid or an iPhone, though--those suckers are expensive, and I shudder to contemplate one bouncing around in a backpack, say. Kid gets a laptop first, and if that's still in good shape by high school, okay, we'll think about a fancy phone.

I would be educating any child of mine on safer sex practices early. The schools in my area wait too long, though at least they haven't gone abstinence-only. Again, if I thought the kid was equipped to handle exploration with other people, sure. Just don't get anyone thrown in jail, and understand you can come to me if you run into trouble.

I guess what I'm least comfortable with is anything that tries to tell a child hir parents can't be resources. I'd like to see more positive portrayals of parent-child relationships; I hate that so many dramas pit adults against adolescents, with dire consequences for the adolescent. "Parents Just Don't Understand" is a song, not a universal truth.

[Gizmola]

Caveat: I don't have children.

That being said I think the weariness that many have about cell phones and FB and lots of the ebil interwebs is because children (and I consider someone of 13-16 to still be a child) doesn't have the ability to filter out the garbage on their own. That is, I imagine it's a lot easier for a predatory to find a young girl online through FB or some Twilight fanfiction site than it was pre-interwebs. And without parental oversight these kids could get in a lot of trouble. I guess I'm not really that worried about cell phones though every time one of those annoying little twits at the mall is barely looking up from texting the person walking right next to them I want to trip them.

Then again, I grew up prior to the internet in the dark ages where we had to read books instead of Wikipedia, I wrote real, snail mail love letters to my first boyfriend and call waiting was a huge novelty. So I'm just an old curmudgeon who, if I weren't too curmudgeonly to have children, would send mine out at daybreak with bicycles and a sandwich and tell 'em to come back when the street lights come on. I'd rather they were climbing trees and playing hide and seek rather than being online.

[Olivia]

But regardless, her daughters are fug, no-one's going to be beating down their door to get to them.

I haven't seen pics of the PW's daughters or have an opinion on their looks.

But, crazy thought, but there's actually more to girls than just being conventionally attractive AND there are boys bright enough to be interested in girls for more than the pretty.

[treemom]

It's not that I think phones and Facebook lead to sex; if I'd had a hand in the raising of said adolescent, I'd be better able to gauge what level of responsibility she can handle with respect to going online. I did have an online presence of some sort or another, outside of the usual kiddie websites, from twelve onward--and I knew that my parents would be checking my history, so either I had to erase it *whistle* or cope. :) We did a lot of talking about what was out there vs what I could handle, and hell, I'd read Outlander aged ten or eleven. They were pretty sure I'd stay out of trouble.

For a kid's safety (ability to reach parents, call 911) and amusement (texting/calling friends), a simple cell phone is appropriate. I think I'd hesitate giving a kid a Droid or an iPhone, though--those suckers are expensive, and I shudder to contemplate one bouncing around in a backpack, say. Kid gets a laptop first, and if that's still in good shape by high school, okay, we'll think about a fancy phone.

I would be educating any child of mine on safer sex practices early. The schools in my area wait too long, though at least they haven't gone abstinence-only. Again, if I thought the kid was equipped to handle exploration with other people, sure. Just don't get anyone thrown in jail, and understand you can come to me if you run into trouble.

I guess what I'm least comfortable with is anything that tries to tell a child hir parents can't be resources. I'd like to see more positive portrayals of parent-child relationships; I hate that so many dramas pit adults against adolescents, with dire consequences for the adolescent. "Parents Just Don't Understand" is a song, not a universal truth.

My 11 year old bought his droid and pays his cell phone bill. He can't take it to school. But he is also very responsible. (Because of his motor skill delays he had a laptop in KK)

BTW, we aren't checking history. We capture everything. Plus my dear, drear husband really does spend his days finding the stuff people thought they would get away with, delete or hide. He has bested hackers and terrorists. I feel like he can handle the boy.

Also, capturing everything takes care of Gizmola's complaint which is that it makes it easier for predators. I think the statistics are your child is still more likely to be abused by someone in your family or neighborhood or church or circle of RL friends. So he knows, we know. It is a pretty open communication and much like Mother Maxwell, I have all the passwords. And I do test them regularly and I have made him set them back.

[keeperrox]

I haven't seen pics of the PW's daughters or have an opinion on their looks.

But, crazy thought, but there's actually more to girls than just being conventionally attractive AND there are boys bright enough to be interested in girls for more than the pretty.

Co-signed. Plus, her daughters are 13 and 11, according to the article. They're cute girls; no one is asking them to be models.

[lovefromgirl]

My 11 year old bought his droid and pays his cell phone bill. He can't take it to school. But he is also very responsible. (Because of his motor skill delays he had a laptop in KK)

I'm happy for you. :) I mean the part where you have raised an eleven-year-old boy who can be trusted with things and pays his own cell phone bill. I'm also glad technology was able to help him in school. Good ideas all 'round.

You're doing things the way I think I would, were I to acquire a child somehow.

And I had to laugh about setting the passwords back. Way back in the days of DOS, when I was five and Dad let me loose on his computer, I used to hide folders. He kept having to un-hide things. :)

[treemom]

I'm happy for you. :) I mean the part where you have raised an eleven-year-old boy who can be trusted with things and pays his own cell phone bill. I'm also glad technology was able to help him in school. Good ideas all 'round.

You're doing things the way I think I would, were I to acquire a child somehow.

And I had to laugh about setting the passwords back. Way back in the days of DOS, when I was five and Dad let me loose on his computer, I used to hide folders. He kept having to un-hide things. :)

And just to clarify, I think you have to base things on your kids and your family. I don't think saying no to a cell phone is wrong...I just hear this a lot about the internet and the phones and teh sex and it often surprises me.

My son is responsible in this way, but there are other things he needs more guidance/less responsibility in...so I don't want to sound like OH! My kids is so great and wonderful! Because really, just an 11 year old.

[emmiedahl]

My teen has gotten into small amounts of trouble over cell phone use, but honestly I am so glad he has it. All of my children will have them once they are middle school aged or thereabouts. Sometimes trouble is a learning opportunity, and all of my teen's issues thus far have fallen into that category.

I am admittedly a kinda lenient parent to teens. They are thisclose to adulthood so I just want to help them make the right decisions. Sometimes that will mean making the wrong decision and facing the consequences. I'm not so much into making those decisions *for* them. Of course fundie kids don't leave for college after hs, so I guess they don't need the same style of parenting. And, I thus far have had great teens who handle the freedom wisely.

[O Latin]

I got a cell phone when I was 14. This was at the very beginning of teenagers having cell phones and I'm pretty sure the only reason I got one was because I was about to get my driver's license and my parents didn't want me driving around by myself without a phone. The understanding was that it was to be used for calling home if I needed to and not much else. I don't even know if that phone was capable of sending text messages. I didn't send a text until I was 17. I don't really see why kids having phones is a big deal, other than the fact that kids are perhaps more likely to lose or break them. But at the same time, yes, a kid can get through life without one.

I always thought MySpace was the bigger online worry than Facebook. I never had MySpace because I thought it was stupid and by the time I changed my mind about that, Facebook had become "the thing" but it seemed like on MySpace there was a lot more of being "friends" with strangers just to get your friend count up, whereas I don't know anyone who friends people on Facebook that they don't at least sort of know in real life. MySpace also seemed like more of an exclusively teenage thing, while on Facebook people are friends with their grandparents. So I get the worry about MySpace and being online in general, but not so much about Facebook. I know parents who won't let their 10 and 11 year olds sign up for Facebook, but most of them say that is because Facebook policy says you have to be 13, which makes sense to me.

[Red Molly]

Pie Near Woman weighs in. I don't like or dislike The Pioneer Woman. I do think she is a big fat phoney. Pie Near Woman is a satire blog using dolls as ingenious photo props. Not breaking the link.... they won't care.

http://www.pienearwoman.com/2011/06/flo ... the-attic/

[emmiedahl]

The funny... it burns. I have never read this blog. Check out the Marlboro Man sandwich! Warning: gay Ken dolls in compromising positions.

[teddybear]

That is so funny!

[Librul]

:dance: Funniest damn satire I've seen in a long time, but then I HATE the Pioneer Woman and her tingly hiney. A lot of her very unhealthy recipes are simply high class TTC. The Marlboro Man Sandwich was hilarious.

[deelaem]

I love, love, LOVE it! I'm not worthy! :lol: :lol:

[emeraldskull]

BAAAAAHAAAHAA!

I read this post: http://www.pienearwoman.com/2011/04/pie ... the-bread/

And then I read the original on the PW website: thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/09/the-bread/

PERFECT with picking up the sexual subtleties in the original! LOLOLOL! Hilarious... :-D

[browngrl]

I read her article - I think she was making a light hearted attempt to discuss the challenges of teenagers. I actually like her blog - I like the photos and the stories of her pets and family. Of course it is not deep but after a day working where I work (where every day I see trauma and tragedy that can break your heart) I just want light fun things (I also hang out at cute overload). Additionally the "headship" loves most of her recipes. Are the recipes simple? Are the step by step instructions achingly simple? Yes - but for day to day cooking that is what I prefer. AND if I could write a blog that would bring me a 7 figure income (like PW does) so that I could stay at home (not to clean but to play with the DH and the pets and to read and to lounge and to study interesting things) I would do it in a heartbeat.

[keeperrox]

Not to turn this into a PW love fest, but several of her recipes (or my own variations of them) have become staples here. Her Spicy Shredded Pork and Italian Drip Beef Sandwiches (made in the crock pot as opposed to the Le Creuset, since I do, ahem, work) are in constant rotation. I always have a batch of her Restaurant Style Salsa in the fridge. Pastor Ryan's Chicken Tikka Masala and Herb Bread, both originally posted on her site, are delicious. Just because she posts a lot of crap (OMG, cream in your risotto, excuse me what?), doesn't mean that some of her recipes aren't really, really good.

[contrary]

i like her blog, for what it is. those dogs make me smile every time.

i do like some of her recipes, but the recipe posts make me nuts. i know how to measure an effin' tablespoon. i don't need 800 photos of it!

[debrand]

I admit, I like a few of her recipes. Her brownie recipe is really very good.