Jen Hatmaker

[Anonymous]

"I saved the best for last in the video with my new favorite boots ever. When I saw these, I died, went to heaven, and came back to life to wear these."

So tired of this ridiculous kind of language.

[Anonymous]

Brandon did a two part podcast about his addiction and recovery, and it drops next Tuesday and Wednesday! Maybe we will get some answers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had to google her. Never heard of her. She sounds unremarkable at best.

It’d be easy to think so but her “for the love” podcast has had 42.8 million downloads/listens in the past five years. That’s a lot of marketing power. I struggle to get my own family and friends to listen to me for any length of time in the midst of our full lives. Yet somehow she gotten people to put in millions of minutes listening to her pontificate on many varying subjects of her choosing.

Our concern is with the misuse of her voice to shill products to line her pockets instead of doing something of real value like she used to espouse. She will pretend her legacy collective is this mighty philanthropic mission when in reality it’s a bloated handler that takes a 26% cut before the donations get to their actual ministry. Which will take more for their overhead. This is not noble, it’s exploitation. She could simply direct people to quality non profits to support directly but that wouldn’t allow her ego to take credit for the 5 million dollars her non profit has given away. Minus that pesky 26% for administrative fees.😲

Thanks for the informative response. I think I’m good not knowing who she is. LOL

[Anonymous]

As regards the language about the boots, we probably all misuse words when enthusiastic about things that really aren't very important. However, the dying and going to Heaven bit is silly and supercilious at best, irreverent and disrespectful to some. I mean, where do you go from there? It used to be that she was occasionally marketing products. Now, it's constant. It's scary that so many followers seem to eat it up.
Another point, if her dad was that relaxed about sex ( based on supposed conversation in the car), how would Jen have had so much conflict about the subject? That is a strange anecdote to say the least?

[Anonymous]

That is to say, if her parents spoke so openly with Jen about intimacy, where did she get the idea that sex was a taboo subject? And btw, waiting till marriage for sex doesn't necessarily make one a " prude", nor does it mean you are oppressed, etc.

[Anonymous]

Can't wait to hear Brandon's podcast next week. I feel sure it will help explain things and fill in some gaps in Jen's vague, victimized rendition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is to say, if her parents spoke so openly with Jen about intimacy, where did she get the idea that sex was a taboo subject? And btw, waiting till marriage for sex doesn't necessarily make one a " prude", nor does it mean you are oppressed, etc.

Waiting for marriage to have sex is a choice that deserves respect and lack of name calling and labels, the same as not waiting until marriage deserves respect and lack of name calling and labels. Young girls should not be taught that their worth is tied to what they can give a man. In most Christian communities, there is too much shame and judgement around the topic of what young women choose to do with their bodies, and those conversations are one way. The double standard with how young men and women are taught about sex, their bodies, and their worth is what is oppressive. A young woman is worth just as much the day after she loses her virginity as she was the day before (I hate that phrase, but for the sake of staying on topic). Even when sex is not openly discussed, there is so much policing of women’s bodies and what they wear, all because young men are not ever burdened with the responsibility of self control.

I wish Jen would knock it off with the constant sales. I find her almost unbearable to follow most of the time, but when she finally decides to be involved with something of substance, I almost always appreciate her using her platform to bring awareness to the topic. Purity Culture is so incredibly toxic and has nothing to do with people simply choosing to wait for marriage to have sex. Purity Culture is fear based and forced, not focused on body autonomy or choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't wait to hear Brandon's podcast next week. I feel sure it will help explain things and fill in some gaps in Jen's vague, victimized rendition.

Some of his posts seem to be responses to topics discussed in this thread. I’m hoping he’s going to use this opportunity to clear the air, but I feel like it may just be a way for him to stay relevant and he’ll be just as vague as Jen has been in her various podcasts.

[Anonymous]

I agree totally that purity culture is super toxic ! My point was that some- not all- people who expose and denounce purity culture can come off as devaluing the decision some people make to wait till marriage for sex as oppressed or prudish.
The idea that someone is tarnished or less worthy of respect due to their sexual history is completely opposite of my concept of Christian thinking. 100 pct yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree totally that purity culture is super toxic ! My point was that some- not all- people who expose and denounce purity culture can come off as devaluing the decision some people make to wait till marriage for sex as oppressed or prudish.
The idea that someone is tarnished or less worthy of respect due to their sexual history is completely opposite of my concept of Christian thinking. 100 pct yes

Agree. I’ve noticed that some people are changing beliefs, but not approach. Folks who were self righteous and feverishly proselytized their evangelical beliefs are now self righteous in their deconstructed beliefs. Everything extreme and polarizing and they are always right and there’s always a spirit of viciousness under whichever veil they’re currently wearing.

[Anonymous]

No one cares, Jen, that you’re birthday brunch is 3 weeks after your birthday.

That whole exhausted-by-choices post was a pretty classic unaware of her privilege post. So many of her readers don’t have time for brunches or girlfriends who can afford to take them to one. Plus, oh poor you—you have multiple whole teams who do all the research and lay all the groundwork and then present you with good choices, plus a business coach, a CPA etc, etc. How many of us would love to be supported by professionals like this who do all introductory work and then only bring us final choices to make!

[Anonymous]

Today’s precious princess post was the limit for me. How stupid.

[Anonymous]

It’s like post divorce she really needs us to know how important and successful she is in every area. Glennon called it the jenaissance and boy that was serious narc food for her ego. Even her last podcast guest used the term. She’s here to prove no one does it better. The privilege is endless and she’s blind to how unlike her story is to the vast majority of divorced women. So exhausting the prattling on about her teams, tours, friends….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one cares, Jen, that you’re birthday brunch is 3 weeks after your birthday.

That whole exhausted-by-choices post was a pretty classic unaware of her privilege post. So many of her readers don’t have time for brunches or girlfriends who can afford to take them to one. Plus, oh poor you—you have multiple whole teams who do all the research and lay all the groundwork and then present you with good choices, plus a business coach, a CPA etc, etc. How many of us would love to be supported by professionals like this who do all introductory work and then only bring us final choices to make!

All I could do is picture her lounging on her porch swing as people lay various choices out in front of her. I am sure there is more to what she does, but seriously...welcome to being an adult, lady! And while, as a middle child, I am very bad at choosing a restaurant when my husband and I go out (we're both middle children so it's fun when neither of us has a clearly defined preference), choosing a place to go with a friend for my birthday would be so easy! It feels like drama generated just for the sake of likes, including the 'LET US LIVE, AMERICA!' part. Does she not realize that working around schedules and doing something 3 weeks later is a perfectly normal part of life? Absolutely zero of us are going to clutch our pearls about that.

[Anonymous]

(Also I want to know how many choices her CPA is giving her, because we are not a people known for giving choices.)