Would it be cynical to wonder about the timing of this announcement being just before the fall ratings sweep? Also, after Octomom and “Jon and Kate plus Eight” stealing the limelight all year, maybe the Duggars were worried that their herd of 18 would become old news — old, worn-out, irreparably-stretched-beyond-recognition news — which could be bad news for their reality TV show. And now that they’ve got these umpteen kids to look after, they must be freaking out at the prospect of having to do it the way the rest of us do… although I suppose ol’ JimBob could start selling his extremely potent Formula 40. He could market it as “the Rocket Fuel of Sperm”.
Somewhat Related UPDATE: The National Post ran an article about this, which I would have linked to if it had been coherent. 
And remember, these are the guys who like to arf about people who can’t speak English. Hmm?
(h/t Great Aunty Bertha in the comments)
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unrepentant old hippie 
For those who want to hear about brave women who escaped from patriarchy, I can’t over-recommend No Longer Qivering.
Rob F – Thanks for the link, interesting stuff. The Quiverfull movement is one of the creepiest fundie movements around — I’m glad some women are getting away from the culture that regards them as nothing but baby-making machines.
I can only hope that the women born into these families get out. I sadly don’t seem to hold a whole lot of hope, though. Huzzah indoctrination.
I also have been seeing a lot of “Josh and Anna Duggar only want a couple of children”. I can’t help but wonder if this means the adoption of condoms or just no sex for a large portion of their married life.
I perhaps shouldn’t read news after several shots of whiskey.
Let me add to Rob’s link this one:
http://www.womensspace.org/phpBB2/
She, too, is an ex-Quiverfull mom. She became a radical feminist as a result of the misogyny she experienced in the “movement”, and now her daughters are turning against it as well.
If there’s one good thing to come of all this crazy sexist godbaggery, they will have bred the seeds of their nemesis in all the women and girls they’ve treated like cattle for all this time.
@Bina: The fortunate ones may become the nemesis of patriarchy, but not those who are forever trapped there because they forced to be completely dependent on their husband/father because they aren’t taught to read.
Even illiterates can question things in their hearts and minds (they still have ’em, however hard the patriarchs try to stunt them.) I found this passage particularly revealing:
Susan Wise Bauer, a homeschooling author and reluctant patriarchy critic, sees such strategies as ultimately unsustainable. “By forgoing college education and any meaningful interaction with culture, they become increasingly isolated communities from the mainstream. And isolated communities are ultimately doomed to fade.”
For a good example of this, albeit extreme, just look at the fundie-Mormons. They, too, have a premium on patriarchy and unrestricted childbearing. They, too, have their isolated system of schooling. And they, too, are bleeding membership. In addition to the “lost” boys (who were kicked out at the orders of the “prophet” to make sure there were lots of extra girls for plural “marriages”), they’re also losing girls and women who simply couldn’t take it anymore. As hard as they work to keep them corralled, there will always be escapees. And without fresh membership (and lots and lots of plural wives bearing unlimited numbers of children), they become inbred to the point where they are no longer viable. Such is the case with the infamous polygamous Kingston clan, where “marriages” between half-siblings and other blood relatives led to deformities and maternal deaths, along with all the other sordid abuse so common in those “wholesome” environments.
It may not happen overnight, but I think these isolated patriarchal communities will all, eventually, implode. One way or another, they have a way of petering out. Any way you slice it, they are not sustainable.
Just wait till the kids figure out who Cain and Abel had to marry to jump-start the human race. They’ll run screaming from the family.
I’m looking forward to reading the memoirs in 30 years or so.
I feel sooooo bad for these kids forced to go on a reality just show because their parents are morons. Imagine your life as a kid — with a camera following you everywhere. sad…
Michelle – It’s probably more likely that the kids of these families will be the ones to escape the insanity. Women like Michelle Duggar are so indoctrinated and acquiescent to their role as ambulatory wombs from such an early age that it’s hard to imagine them being able to function out in the wider world. The ones who do throw off the chains and become their own persons are certainly courageous.
Bina – Interesting link, thanks. There is hope for these women yet!
Rob F – That is sick. But then, how else can they keep them enslaved (and they literally are enslaved) if they’re capable of learning about the rest of the world? Keeping them illiterate. Disgusting!
Bina
I agree — eventually they end up being like the Fred Phelps clan — inbred and too stupid to survive.
brebis – I wouldn’t be surprised to see the memoirs start in about 5 years, now that the older kids are leaving and (hopefully) some will be joining the real world.
SQ – No kidding! It’s bad enough that in a family that size you would NEVER get any privacy, but to have your every move documented on film for the rest of the world to gape at has to be a little traumatizing. Kids need privacy!
Ms “baby factory” Duggar must be going for a world record. I could say something really rude, but no.
Phatbiker – Go ahead, dude, don’t hold back! Let it all hang out! I said something about polyfilla at CC’s, so whatever you’re thinking, I’m probably just as bad 😉 😛
The world record of the most children to one mother is 69, A RUSSIAN! Come on Duggars get that baby mill humpin’, Do it for your country. USA! USA!
How about Octo-mom and Ms Duggar on celebrity death-match? Every time they hit each other, babys come spitting out, Mills Lane ducks for cover.
HAHAHAHAHA! Okay, that made me split a gut. Well done.