My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding

[NoNameArtist]

Ah. Thanks Glo. Sorry to be so dim (I don't get out much)

Ta again ...

[flyajet]

why would you dress like that for a fair?

[hj325]

It was clear to me that the programme-makers painted a falsely rosy picture of Travellers in general. Pretty much anyone with direct experience of them knows the theft, destruction, rubbish, violence, intimidation and general misery that they bring to the areas they visit.

Overall, it was extremely depressing and I feel very sorry for a girl born into a Traveller family; no education, no freedom, not even the chance to start a career and have an independent adult life. All she has to look forward to is a life of childrearing and domestic servitude, all the while shackled to some ignorant, lumpen Irish navvy whom she has barely met, never mind loves.

The only compensations for this life of misery appear to be the chance to dress up as a whore a few times a year and to spend a day packed into a wedding dress so tacky that it makes Jordan look classy.

The last girl in the programme clearly had a degree of intelligence and self-awareness and was obviously dreading married life. On what should have been the happiest day of her life, she was talking about having to "lie on the bed she had made" and having to "make things work" - it was heartbreaking.

The whole wedding thing smacked of arranged marriages, quite frankly and in this day and age, that is disgrace. As a father, I would never allow this to happen to my daughter, no matter what so-called "cultural" factors exist. The men in that wretched so-called "community" need to strap on some balls and start treating women with some respect instead of using them as domestic chattels.

[Samo]

yes they still do bare knuckle fighting. It resulted in the death of one of them last year in York. Everyone knew what had happened but no one was ever charged.

[oreochan]

Thanks for that, I thought I'd seen a fourth wedding on there!!

Is Joan's mum a traveller or did she marry into the culture? She seemed ALOT more reserved than the other brides' mothers. Was that where the 2nd Generation Traveller part came in?

[TriiZxx]

Joan is gorgeous, she should leave her husband and run off with me

[amazon dot com buyer...]

What a waste, spending your life cleaning ornaments

[Peace Out Girl Scout ☮]

me too.

i don't get how they can wear those clothes but have high morals?

[texas2sweetie]

Unfortunately (like a lot of people here also) my experiences of gypsies are of the negative variety.

Long gone are the days when I read books about the romanticism of it all, and how some fragrant sun-kissed gypsy lady with her long dark, thick shining hair, wearing pretty colourful layered flouncing off-the-shoulder gypsy dresses, met up with an equally beautiful gypsy man (usually called Jake, for some reason ...) and lived happily ever after in travelling bliss. (sorry - maybe I've been reading too many Mills and Boon ...)

No. I'm afraid these days my perceptions have changed. Now, it's more like watching some scruffy people (who incidentally look rather all alike) hanging/lurking around market/shopping areas hoping to steal the eye out of your head, followed by filthy pitiful, limping dogs. Do these people actually know what vets ARE? Poor animals.

They may have ideals and principles, but as far as I'm concerned, those ideals and principles apply only to the inner circle of fellow-gypsyhood.

Bare knuckle fighting. How very 18th century. How civilised is that for a start?

[Ramilyn M]

I found it difficult to get my head around someone, in the year 2010, giving their job as 'Bareknuckle Fighter" - and the girls not being allowed to have boyfrienRAB, but being allowed to dress like prostitutes. And they go on about how religious they all are - but then it showed the kiRAB at the back of the church sat with their feet on the pews like a bunch of yobs at the back of the bus.


One thing that was emphasised by a number of the Travellers was how Traveller girls were "good girls" who just wanted to get married at 16 and have kiRAB. An obvious question here is: what happens if the girl doesn't want to do this. What if she wants to go to college? to get a decent job? or to marry (or date) an outsider?