Conversation

Aella
@Aella_Girl
I think I'm disappointed at Christian or traditionalist representation in media. Today, I watched a buzzfeed video where a Satanist and a Christian get handcuffed together for 24 hours. I got excited, anticipating nostalgia for the Christian values -
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
But the Christian they chose to represent had long hair, and at one point in the video they *slept together in the same bed, umarried*. Okay, so clearly liberal Christian. That's okay, wide variety of Christians, right? Yesterday: Watching Anne of Green Gables Netflix show -
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
Set in 1900ish, everyone is extremely traditional. I anticipate seeing women's behavior realistically depicted under the heavy gender norms - instead I see modern feminist characters shoved into period garb because it's obvious the writers can't imagine women accepting that shit
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
Every time I see 'Christians' or 'traditionalist stuff' depicted, I always get a little ping of hope to see "what I went through" - but it's never there. It's always a liberalized, religio-lite version of things created by people with no actual exposure to traditional culture.
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
I understand this to a point, but it's also damaging. It spreads the dangerous idea that progressive ideals shine through all times in history and culture to let you know who is the 'good guy', while at the same time completely erasing the hard, dark world so many live through.
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
I can't remember the last time I saw my childhood culture represented accurately in media - it's either presented as a subject of mockery or ignored altogether. Nobody can conceive of depicting with nuance a world where women pastors are forbidden and all the women support this.
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
I grew up with all the women in my life earnestly advocating submission of women and discussing their struggles in obeying their husbands, which they had to do cause God, who they loved, said so. Did I, with my smart brain n shit, go "No, I can do everything a boy can do!"
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
Fuck no. I was like, "Oh, I am a girl, I need to learn to submit to my future husband," and then I went around practicing obedience and reading the bible. Was I upset by this? Yes, a little, but fucking *privately*, and I was ashamed to admit that I was upset.
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
I strongly believed that God had made me fundamentally different from a man - that I was less rational, more emotional, and weaker. I believed that I could not be trusted with responsibility to make decisions for the family. I believed I had no business being in power over men.
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
I was allowed to teach child boys, but was not allowed to lead Bible studies if men were present. I would often sit in the car waiting for a male to open the car door for me. My parents always talked about my future as a wife and mother as the default.
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
Media filtering played a huge part in causing me to accept this. We mostly watched TV shows from the 1950s and 1960s (though my father was uncomfortable with I Love Lucy because Lucy was too disrespectful to Ricky), cartoons like Spongebob, and Christian media.
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
Replying to
@dpinsen
I believe there are biological differences between men and women. My issue is that in my prior culture, there were no real options for women to act otherwise even if they wanted to.
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David Cann
@drwhofan_194
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
As someone who grew up in a dramatically more liberal but still very much Christian home, it both fascinates and horrifies me that this sort of worldview is still much more widespread than I often realise (perhaps because I'm UK-based). Doesn't fit with my faith at all.