Put on your best ’60s dress and grab a book, because you’re probably not going to get to watch much television tonight in the world of the disarming Jenny Wade’s childhood. If you’re a young woman without many resources on how the body works, get ready to get REALLY informed! Everyone else… saddle up!
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This was a fabulous episode – I thought Jenny was wonderful in Reaper, where she got an opportunity to be a real comedienne, and it was fascinating to hear about her upbringing. I couldn’t have had a more different childhood, as a boy raised Unitarian who found even that open-minded religious experience to be too nonsensical, and so I stopped going to church once I was given the choice between continuing to go to Sunday school or sleeping in. But hearing about Jenny’s experiences makes my world a larger, more interesting place. Both Jenny and Janet might be interested in a beautiful article Walter Kirn, the author of Up In The Air, wrote that talks about his experience of leaving the Church of Mormon and what he still misses of that community: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/politics/magazine/104901/ex-mormon-romney-religion-kirn
This is such a beautiful episode. My mom works at a Baptist church and I was homeschooled, so I spent almost every day just hanging out at the church, doing school work in the Sunday school classrooms and taking naps on the pews in the sanctuary. Dark, empty churches still feel like home to me. I did have slightly more sex education than Jenny- I very clearly remember my mom feeling like she needed to teach me sex ed when I was in 7th grade, so she asked me if I knew how sex worked, and I guess somehow I had picked up on that men have “weiners” and women have “holes” and that men put their weiners in a woman’s hole and that’s sex. My mom’s only addendum to that was “and it gets hard.” It was the single most awkward conversation I have ever had with anyone, ever, to this day. I also took a health class though an online Christian homeschooling program where we listened to sermons about how watching porn is bowing down to the devil and if you masterbate before marriage you are stealing the right to give you pleasure from your future husband. Also I had a box of letters written to my future husband, promising him that I would remain pure for him. Which is going to be very useful considering I’m a lesbian. ANYWAYS- episodes like this are what makes the JV Club so special to me. Growing up in very conservative religions and then realizing that you no longer subscribe to them is a very painful and confusing experience, and it’s not talked about often enough. It’s a regular topic of conversation on this podcast and I hope everyone realizes how important and special that is. Also, so many Amys commenting on this episode! Good, good, it can help keep this embarrassingly detailed and intimate comment more anonymous.
I feel so sad. Omg so much relate on her school life.
I LOVE this podcast. I love it when Janet starts asking the religious questions cause I’m really curious about that stuff. This ep is soo interesting.
This has been my favorite JV Club episode! I love Jenny Wade on Twitter. She has such a bizarre sense of humor that hits just right. It was heartbreaking to hear about her lonely childhood, but it was inspiring as well. Thanks.
I just discovered this podcast and love it already.
This podcast with Jenny broke my heart, I had a very similar experience growing up.
I remember getting my period and freaking out that it meant I was pregnant because my parents clearly couldn’t have that conversation with me about my body and sex education (& the only conversation I had overheard years before about periods was a topic about pregnancy). It is a bit of a relief to listen to the podcast and realize I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know anything about that. I can’t remember what I thought the discharge was, most likely I probably worked myself up by thinking it meant I was dying – but yeah, I did the same with washing my underwear and drying it so no one would see. If it weren’t for the internet, I would most likely still be clueless lol. Oh how I would love it if I could mail a letter to my 12-year-old self to tell that poor little girl to stop worrying.
Wow, Jenny seems amazing and I felt so sad for her younger self. It’s hard enough to be a teenager, let alone not being listened to/informed about what is happening to you. Thank you for this episode 🙂
This is the saddest interview ever. I’m happy that Ms. Wade was able to break free from the religious oppression she grew up in, but I feel sad for her. What a huge disservice is done to children who are never taught anything about their bodies, their development, the outside world! Terrible.