My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Has anyone seen this show? It’s mesmerizing! I saw an episode last night, but I believe there are more. Here’s a clip from the show:</p>

<p>[YouTube</a> - ‪My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding‬‏](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HAUmII_hcg]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HAUmII_hcg)</p>

2

<p>It has been a HUGE hit over here in the UK, where there is a small but noticeable traveller community in several areas. It has sparked commentary in the more liberal press on how comments against travellers and also the ‘underclass’, signified by the word chav, is the last acceptable form of prejudice. Interesting</p>

3

<p>I was up late last night, and saw an episode. Such a shock to see such an male dominated culture, with alcohol and physical abuse a part of the culture.
Kids not going to school, spending their days cleaning and cooking, putting on make-up.</p>

<p>I wonder what the 16 y o girl, the one that works in the bakery and plans to keep working once married, will adjust to the traditional ways. </p>

<p>Can you imagine the expense for the weddings? One fun day for the girl. It seems so dismal a future.</p>

4

<p>I was shocked by how provocatively the young girls are allowed to dress, while at the same time her family strictly controls the movements and freedoms in order to protect her virtue (never being away from parents unless in the company of family/approved friends). Seems like the guys are enculturated to treat girls like things and parents are actively advertising their wares.</p>

5

<p>And what about that poor little girl making her 1st communion encased in 500 yards of pink tulle!</p>

6

<p>Yes, MereMom, I couldn’t believe how these girls dressed for the wedding reception. Their attire at the daytime convention/gathering was appalling, as well, but if you noticed the dancing at the wedding receptions, you’d see it wasn’t ginding, like you’d see at some of our dances. </p>

<p>The show just left me with lots of questions, like who are these people? How do they earn their money? Are they still travelling? Why are they discriminated against? I just found this web site that answers some of my questions:</p>

<p>[Irish</a> Traveller - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Traveller]Irish”>Irish Travellers - Wikipedia)</p>

7

<p>I’m of Irish descent. I knew very little about the “tinkers”–now a politically incorrect term–until I visited Ireland. I was there when the pope visited in 1979. The tinkers were out in full force. </p>

<p>While, yes, there is discrimination against them, reality is that they really aren’t good neighbors. Back then, at least, the kids would beg money. They would physically cling to you and a group would block your way demanding that you give them something. If you were foolish enough to do it, thus revealing where you kept your wallet, the pickpockets would lift it. It really was straight out of Oliver Twist with the adults using the kids to do their thieving for them. The sad part was that you knew that if the kids didn’t get you to give something or succeed in pickpocketing you, they’d pay for it later. </p>

<p>There are mentions of the tinkers and their caravans in some of Maeve Binchy’s books, especially the early ones.</p>

8

<p>I was burglarized by them couple of years back. No fun.</p>

9

<p>My daddy had a drugstore when I was growing up, and had gypsies rent the upstairs of the building for years. These were “real” gypsies, like the ones you see in the old Bela Lugosi movies. They did readings and such from their apartment upstairs. They thrived in the superstitious south.</p>

<p>As a child, I was not too concerned about whether they were going to rob me. They knew not to come in the pharmacy department, and Daddy was never scared of them. They had a mutual respect for each other.</p>

<p>But I was really, really careful not to cross them, as I definitely did not want to become a vampire or a werewolf. And I am not kidding! (Told you we were superstitious in the South).</p>

10

<p>I had barely even heard of “travelers” before I happened on this show and have been fascinated by the 2 episodes I’ve seen. What I found puzzling is how they earn their living. No one is shown going to work, yet they put on those lavish weddings and other celebrations. How do they earn money? Is it all by pickpocketing? What do the men do to support their wives, since the wives aren’t allowed to have jobs?</p>

11

<p>Bayberry- they run various scams and are not adverse to stealing.</p>

12

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<p>Agreed. The clothing seems so out of line with the rest of the culture.</p>

<p>I am truly curious how much one of those wedding dresses cost and how in the world do they pay for them?</p>

13

<p>Usual traveler occupations: Car dealing, roofing, tarmacing, gardening, selling door to door, horse trading, scrap metal dealing, buying and selling generally… but many also work in ‘regular’ jobs: retail, cafes/restaurants, call centers etc etc</p>

<p>They may also not pay tax… cash in hand for some work</p>

<p>It’s can be a cash society. So lots of cash on pay days and in good times, and not in others. Apparently image is a big thing to many travelers, hence the spending on weddings and other ‘luxury’ items that signal wealth. On the other hand, money is often tied up in businesses and property and not necessarily the banks</p>

<p>Also, weddings and funerals have always been things that the British and Irish working classes have spent money on.</p>

14

<p>A decade or so ago there was a show about a traveler colony somewhere like South Carolina. They all had large homes and went across the US doing odd construction work and such–often shoddy at high prices. Very similar culture.</p>

15

<p>its mesmerizing and appalling at the same time! Don’t you wish the lady from the dress shop would just tell us how much those creations cost?</p>

16

<p>There is a community of travelers that live near my property in Arkansas. They live in trailers and mobile homes and drive large pickups covered by so much chrome that they hurt your eyes! The men literally travel across the US doing home repairs, etc. which are mostly scams. They just take the cash and run - you can never track them down again. If anyone comes to your door unsolicited and offers to do roof repairs, driveway sealing, etc. DO NOT ACCEPT. Too many people have been scammed by them. They also seem to sell a lot of goods that “fall off trucks.” (Aso, the TV series, The Riches, was about travelers. My kids loved it.)</p>

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<p>barrons- Murphy SC</p>

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<p>Intermarrying within such a small community must result in medical problems and health conditions rarely seem in the general population.</p>

19

<p>It does. And in general travelers’ health is not as good as nontravelers, even forgetting the genetic issues. They have an extremely high birth rate, yet one of the highest infant mortality rates, and mortality rates before the age of 2. A study in 2007 in Ireland revealed that 50% of the population DOES NOT LIVE PAST THE AGE OF 39. Sad. They have a very high death rate from traffic accidents as well. Less than 20% live to the age of 65.</p>

20

<p>I saw the light up dress episode last night. Amazing!!!</p>

<p>Thoughts:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I’ve never seen dresses like this. However, how many “money is no object” weddings have you been to for a 16 or 17 year old? Who knows? If our 16 and 17 year old brides got to design their own extremely expensive wedding dresses, I wonder what they’d look like?</p></li>
<li><p>What happens to those dresses after the wedding? They’d take up half a travel trailer.</p></li>
<li><p>That seamstress really ought to be able to figure out how to create over the top dresses without them weighing 200 lbs.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>The MOB of the non-Traveller girl was amazing. I assume they would have told us if the mom was actually a cross dressing dad…she sure loooked like a guy. What an outfit!!!</p>

<p>Interesting that they don’t use the bathoom inside their trailers. Makes sense in such tight surroundings, but still…</p>

<p>While they were showing us the destruction of the Traveller camps, the narrators never said why people didn’t want the Travellers around. I assume that the British audience didn’t need to be told why.</p>