Women of FLDS: Making a Life and a Living in the Secular World
http://blogs.wsj.com/frontlines/2008/10/10/women-of-flds-making-a-life-a...
Last April, women from a religious compound in Eldorado, Texas, burst into the public eye after the state raided their polygamous community and took custody of their children and babies.
In their pastel-colored prairie dresses, their hair swept up in braided pompadours, the women broke their religious and cultural taboo against interactions with the outside world. They went to court. They went on TV. Sometimes in tears, sometimes in anger, they pleaded for their children.
Six months later, the state has dropped the vast majority of its custody claims as reported in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal. The child-welfare agency, which has spent more than $12 million on the case, determined that most of the children were safe at home, though in many cases the mothers were required to take an eight-hour parenting course. Just one child remains in foster care.
But other changes continue to ripple through the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), which broke away from the mainstream Mormon church decades ago to continue practicing plural marriage.
A church elder, Willie Jessop, has announced that the church will no longer sanction marriages of underage girls to older men.
Meanwhile, some mothers continue to live away from the ranch in apartments they rented while fighting for custody of their children.
Lawyers for some of these women say they have not broken with their church, which holds that polygamy is essential for ascending to the highest kingdoms of the afterlife.
Still, as they forge lives away from the communal ranch, some of the women are searching for jobs in the secular world. Others have turned entrepreneur. A dozen FLDS families now run an online store, in which they sell ankle-length dresses, chaste nightgowns, wooden toys and the fuzzy chenille wraps they use to keep their braids in place. Coming soon: Quilts, cookbooks and a DVD explaining how to create the trademark hairstyle.
The families behind FLDS Crafts say they’re not sure how customers find them, as they have not advertised. But they’re encouraged by the interest, especially in the dresses, priced between $60 and $100. They plan to begin pitching the dresses to “the professional business woman” by promising to tailor each detail — the collar, the bodice, the cuffs, even the length. Adjustments, they say, can vary from “half an inch to many inches, either direction.”
For a group that has always insisted women be covered from ankle to wrist to neck, that’s a striking pledge.
Readers: What do you think of the women’s new willingness to interact with the outside world – and to take advantage of their moment in the spotlight with their online store? Is it a positive step? Would you buy a FLDS dress? — Stephanie Simon
The Ranch is the Problem
I don't know why they have the ordinance against outside contact, but it's that very attitude that allows FUD to grow into full blown animosity and hatred against them. Instead of being cloistered away letting the community around them start all kinds of wild rumors and speculation fly unchecked, they need to be a part of the community. When the subject comes up, someone needs to say, "I have these people as my neighbors. I like them. They're friends of mine. Why would you want to take their kids away? They're doing nothing wrong. The kids are safe and sound, happier than my kids maybe."
I admire their courage to dress counter culturally, even if its not actually necessary to do so. It's easy to slip into the flow of "just like everyone else", but it's harder to stand out and be different. I think the media attention on their clothes and hair showed just how LITTLE they had to actually accuse them of. Out of fashion? Yes. Does it really matter? No. Was that entire raid a product of the "Queer Eye Fashion Police"?! No wonder they have such hatred for them. A man who has multiple wives, doesn't sleep with another man, and all the women are dressed "out of fashion".
As to the FLDS dresses, one of my sisters has 2; she encourages her 3 daughters to wear them or similar fashion. Clothing, in my book, needs to be modest, becoming, practical, and cost-effective.
1)MODEST carries the idea of both concealing what needs to be concealed for personal shamefacedness' sake, as well as not extreme so as to call attention to yourself. Thus the FLDS dresses may NOT be modest since they are so different as to call attention to themselves in many circles. They cover everything, but they could be updated to more modern fabrics and designs without sacrifice any modesty so as to blend in better with 21st century life.
2)BECOMING carried the idea of accentuating the positives and eliminating or reducing the negatives. Most of the advice on "What Not to Wear" is good for this element of style. However, the clothes must not be so "attractive" or "accentuating" that it "sends the wrong message" since that would violate Modesty. There's also a difference between public clothing and private clothing. What my wife wears for just me is different than what she'll wear to the store. FLDS dresses can indeed be VERY attractive on some people if cut properly and made from the right material. They don't have to all look "frumpy".
3)PRACTICAL involves both APPROPRIATENESS to activity and personal COMFORT. Clothes need to be selected for the job that's being performed. If the woman is mostly indoors or with minimum of physical activity, a dress is practical. If the material is right and the dress is designed properly, it could be cool in summer in the desert as well as warm in the winter in the northern latitudes. FLDS dresses could be practical.
4)COST-EFFECTIVE is the final analysis for clothes. Most retail stores fail this miserably in my book. Why should I pay $15 for a pair of jeans that will be ripped or worn out in 6 months? I'd rather spend $1-5 at Goodwill for 2nd hand clothes that I can work in and not worry about the cost. I have a VERY physically demanding profession that give my clothes and me a good workout. It's not at all uncommon to go through 5 pairs of jeans in a single summer.
* Personally, I only go with natural fibers (cotton, linen, wool, silk, etc.) esp against the skin. FLDS dresses are made from too much polyester. I wouldn't buy them for that reason only.
* I don't worry about fashion changes and try to buy things that are more "timeless". Blue jeans have been around for over 100 years; they're not going out of fashion next month. FLDS dresses seem to be a fad right now, but dresses themselves are a more long-lived fashion (~6,000 years by my estimate). We've been trying to find dresses like this for a while, but I'm not sure if their fashion sense is appropriate for my wife's figure. They seem to try to make every woman look like an A cup with no hips.
*$80 seems a bit steep for a dress. A similar dress through Vermont Country Store is 100% cotton, more modern in fashion and nearly half the price.
But, as Lincoln said, "For people who like that sort of thing, that's just the sort of thing they'd like."
Wow now you are saying since
Wow now you are saying since they choose to dress how they feel God would have them dress then the state can take their kids. 2nd of all who but their husband has the right to tell them how to dress? 3rdly the government will harrass them and arrest them because they do not think anyone has the right to live any way than the way the government allows. The whole problem is the government wants to take away their freedom of self control and dictate how to live their lives.
I like your Christ
I do not like your Christians
They are so unlike your Christ
Ghandi
They look Good!
I looked at them and actually, for up here in the northern midwest US, these make sense to the ladies. Why? Well every lady said they look WARM.
Add some styling and viola!