The BookFetish Blog

“How on earth am I going to write a fair review of this book?” is what I kept thinking as I read Kathryn Joyce’s look inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement.  Rarely does a book evoke a visceral reaction in me as I’m reading it. But I found myself incredulous, angry and frustrated as I read.

First, some background. How did I even come across this book? After seeing a few episodes of TLC’s show about the Duggar family, with their 19 kids so far, and reading this piece at Salon, I decided to learn more. I wanted to see if the movement is being portrayed accurately and fairly.

For those that don’t know, the Quiverfull movement is based on Psalm 127, “Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They shall not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.”

Followers of the Quiverfull movement are also patently anti-feminist, believing in wifely submission to the husband; practicing no birth control, taking any and all children as a blessing and a gift from God; reliance on the church and family community; homeschooling; and no real need, for men and women, in post secondary education. They believe that the bible is the literal and infallible word of God, and this interpretation of the bible forms the platform on which the movement is built. It has been hard to separate my feelings about the patriarchal philosophy from critical thinking about the book.

I found the book fascinating.  Families embracing the Quiverfull movement exist at least in the tens of thousands, if not more.  Joyce profiles the leaders and teachings of the patriarch philosophy. She presents excerpts of meetings and presentations and blog posts from the movement.  I went to several of the sites and blogs mentioned in the book to see them in the context that they present to the public, to see if Joyce had chosen soundbites or taken any of the teachings out of context. Joyce portrayed the edicts of the Vision Forum and the Proverbs 31 ministry quite accurately and fairly.  She recounts the stories of some Quiverfull women, some who have left that world and others who are perfectly happy in it.

Joyce’s language is not evocative or inciting, but I still found myself reacting viscerally to the book because what I believe is almost completely opposite to the tenets of the patriarchal platform.  It was hard to read that nearly everything about the way I live my life is seen as sinful and damnable and anti-feminine and wrong by people in this movement. And that’s why it was hard for me to write this post. I wanted to be fair to the book and not make this a criticism of the movement.

Based on the additional research I’ve done, I think Joyce presents fairly the beliefs, motivations, and goals of the Patriarchy movement.  I think she presents fairly the stories of the women who feel victimized by the movement, as well as the women who are fulfilled by it. After reading the book, I feel like I have a better understanding of why some people find such comfort in this way of life.

Thanks for checking out the new TheBookFetishBlog.  I’m excited to launch the new site and Facebook page.

The only thing I can take credit for on this site, though, is the content of each post. Marian Schembari critiqued the original site and offered me invaluable feedback on ways to transform the site.  If you have any questions about how to better utilize anything in social media, I highly recommend Marian. You can see her site and examples of her work here

After working with Marian, I chose Lucid Dream Designs to design the site, choosing the layout, creating the communications links, etc. They are great folks and I highly recommend them, too. Find them here and you won’t be disappointed.

This new site has been a few months of work- not because it couldn’t have been done a lot more quickly, but because it was so new to me and I had a lot to learn. Thanks to Marian and Jeffrey and Desirai for their incredible patience working with me, and thank you so much for the new site. I love it.

Tonight is the girls night dinner.  Part of our eat the world adventure, we’re going for Persian. And I’m looking forward to it.

I’ve been indulging quite a bit these last few days. The Holidays are only to blame in part.  You see, I’ve also just been diagnosed as Insulin Resistant and pre-diabetic.  Thankfully, it appears to be a mild case of insulin resistance, and my doctor is of the mindset that we treat without medicine if possible. So once the holidays, and all their associated obligations, are over I’m starting a carefully regimented diet and exercise program for three months.  Our hope is that this gets the insulin resistance under control and is something that I can adopt going forward, that we avoid drugs to treat.

I’m in favor of this.  Most of the eating will not be difficult. I already follow many of the guidelines when I’m in my normal routine.

But. There’s always a but.  I HATE to exercise. Well, that’s not completely accurate.  I like the actual exercise, and I like how I feel when I’m done. But when I’m faced with a choice of doing nearly anything else and exercising, well, nearly anything else nearly always wins. For a number of reasons. Some of them are even GOOD reasons.   Come next week, that is going to have to change.

When I write “Gym” on my calendar (yes, I’m old school like that. I like paper calendars. I track everything on paper and electronically. That’s another post) I’m going to have to treat it like it is a client meeting. Something I actually must show up for and deliver.  And although I’ll be dragged into it kicking and screaming, I know I’ll be very grateful, if in the end, it keeps me from being dependent on medicine for the rest of my life.

So, here’s to hoping I find some exercise I adore doing.  And that I can balance eating my healthy meals with lunches out with the guys in the office.  Everything in balance, yes?