No one can smell a rat like a Gypsy. After centuries living on waste ground I thought we knew all about vermin and how to avoid them, but it would seem moving into houses has blunted our senses. If the first programme in the My Big Fat Gypsy Weddings is anything to go by, unmarried Gypsy and Traveller youth of today had better wise up.
Marry who you like, but never ever let a television film crew come to the wedding. I was on a train at the time My Big Fat Gypsy Weddings was aired, but by the time it was over my phone was in meltdown at the rage and the fury. Oh and apparently we often allow toddlers to go to church alone in a limo pretending to be drunk. For most Gypsies, the Channel Four series has simply given the old myths about Gypsies being immoral, flashy thieves a glitzy TV make-over. Another user 'bob up and down' wrote: 'Where's the chaperone in the car park?
Hurting people until they agree for you to kiss them is disgusting. Love at first sight: Josie, 17, and Swanley on their wedding day in July. They found each other on the internet and only met for the first time in February last year. Princess moment: Josie, who left school at 11, has been planning her wedding day since she was a little girl. Grabbing aside, the main focus of the first episode was the wedding of Josie, 17, and Swanley, 19, who she married in July, just five months after they first met.
Despite stereotypes, Josie is one of many gypsy families who live in a house rather than a caravan, but moves into a mobile home following her nuptials. In the run up to the wedding, the couple aren't allowed to be together without a chaperone, with Josie explaining gypsy girls can never be alone with a gypsy boy because it would ruin their reputation.
She said: 'You got to be clean and decent in everyone's eyes. Here come the girls: Josie, her friends and relatives go all out for her sober hen night in Lanzarote. Juxtaposition: Despite the gypsy girls' revealing outfits, they remain chaste until their weddings and aren't allowed to socialise with the opposite sex alone. Dressmaker Thelma Madine admits the juxtaposition of the gypsy girls' revealing clothing and their morals takes some getting used to.
But when you get to know them, their morals are so high, you would say they are definitely stuck in a time warp. Josie , who speaks with a heavy Irish accent, despite having only visited Ireland once, dropped out of school aged 11, claiming that high school is 'not the place for a gypsy girl'.
Like most gypsy women, she expects her husband to work and provide for them, while she fulfills the traditional role of housewife. Teenage bride: Josie struggles to walk in her huge wedding dress, which weighs five stone. As a wife, they are expected to cook, clean and raise children, and leave the careers up to the men. And although she dresses in another skimpy outfit in Lanzarote for her hen night, as a young unmarried woman, Josie isn't allowed to drink, but manages to have a fun night out while sober.
When asked why he thinks Josie will make a good wife, Swanley replies: 'She's a good cook, she cleans up And it appears Josie and her friends are content to live in what they repeatedly describe as 'a man's world', adding, 'We wouldn't have it any other way'. I better carry you down the aisle: After seeing his bride struggling up to the altar, Swanley wisely decides to carry her after they tie the knot. When the couple finally do make it up the aisle, Josie wears a huge five stone dress, with a thigh-length split at the front, giving the congregation a view of her tanned legs and garter.
Describing her dress ahead of her big day, Josie enthused: 'Every girl wants their dress to be the best because you're only going to wear it that one day. Helping hand: Josie finds her dress so large, she can't sit down at the top table at the reception. The women are three times more likely to miscarry or have a still-born child compared to the rest of the population, mainly, it is thought, as a result of reluctance to undergo routine gynaecological care, and infections linked to poor sanitation and lack of clean water.
The rate of suicides among Traveller women is significantly higher than in the general population, and life expectancy is low for women and men, with one third of Travellers dying before the age of And as many Traveller girls are taken out of education prior to secondary school to prevent them mixing with boys from other cultures, illiteracy rates are high.
O'Roarke is a familiar face on the sites around London, offering women and their children help with health care, education and finance. The men leave the women alone to deal with these issues, so if the women do want to talk about violence and abuse, they can do so without fear of the men overhearing.
I visit some trailers with O'Roarke at a site in London and am struck by how the women seem to manage, usually with large families, to keep everything so clean and tidy. There are colourful displays of Royal Crown Derby crockery, handed down from mother to daughter on her wedding day. There is certainly no sign of wealth or excessive spending.
Many tell me they struggle to feed their children, and have no savings or bank account. Things seem set to get worse for Traveller women. O'Roarke is expecting to be the only Traveller liaison worker in the capital before long — her funding comes from the Irish government.
Who is supposed to help them if they get rid of the bit of support they have now? If they get a letter saying they are in danger of eviction but they can't read it, what are they supposed to do? Conditions on the site are as grim as the homes are spotless. The trailers are not connected to water pipes, and the toilets, bathrooms and cooking facilities are in a small, unheated shed across the yard. But living on a site is about being part of the community. For more information on cookies please refer to our cookies policy.
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