No, Tuesday, I don't have to stop with this you don't relate. You don't. Did you get told your entire life that your opinion does not matter, that your purpose in life is to respect and submit to your husband? No, you did not. Boys and men in that religion are taught that they are above women. You don't relate. You don't relate. You don't have any clue what it was like to be a Jehovah's Witness girl, and nothing you can say will convice me otherwise.
I guess I can turn that around to you and say you have no idea what it's like to be a JW witness male and never will. You don't know the pressure that entails in needing to find the right mate, needing to complete all the priviledges, needing to show how you can take the lead, etc. I feel that I can relate better than you think I can because my father was not at home living with me, I was raised by my mother and had an older sister living in my house. I didn't have the male role model teaching me what you're supposed to be as a JW male. I got taught the JW woman way then expected to reach the JW male goals. I was also taught that as a child of a single mother I was weak without a shepherd and to be treated like a fatherless boy. Of course that's not the way those children are treated they're cast aside like second-class citizens compared to those with both parents that are JWs.
But yeah you can keep saying I can't relate to being treated like a second class citizen, submitting to everyone and so forth. It's just simply not the case.
Your main issue is that you hate things that exemplifiy stereotypes of those who leave and thats your big issue with the book but like I said way back when most of us do fit said stereotypes because said stereotypes are 'normal'.
I find that hard to believe, mathematically there are at least 5 million ex-JWs out there and there's no way the usual is to fall into those stereotypes. I also don't think that they're normal, why are people so offended by racial stereotypes but us ex-JWs are cool with being stereotyped by active JWs? I find it offensive purpotrating a stereotype. I'm irish as well, one of the stereotypes is that irish people drink too much. I don't drink at all and many irish people I know also don't drink. Everytime we see the stereotypical drunken irish-man we all get annoyed because it's not true. Or yourself being gay, do you think it's cool when people stereotype all gay people as S&M leather wearing people who will hook up with anyone they feel like?
It's the same thing here.
To me its not that we're trying to force you to like the book, but your reasons for disliking it seem hollow is all.
I don't see how my reasons are hollow, I have a problem with purpotrating stereotypes which I feel this book did and it's a comedy book I didn't find funny. To me it would be no different if I saw a movie all about drunken irish-men from around Boston which was supposed to be a comedy that I didn't think had any funny jokes. I wouldn't like the movie, I would say it was because it wasn't funny and it was offensive. That's kind of the beginning and the end of it at least for me.
