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I think it's funny to look at the statistics for the 8 teen moms in TM and TM2. Leah is the only one to get pregnant while married. Maci is the first to have a third (complete) pregnancy, and I guess Jenelle is the first to have three full pregnancies with three different fathers, as well as the first to be confirmed to have been pregnant four times. Amber and Farrah are the only ones to not have had a second pregnancy. Sophia, and sort of Nova depending on how you define her sibling relationship with Carly, are the only kids without any half-siblings. Caitlyn is the only one to have had the same father for both her pregnancies. Leah's twins (I can never remember all the extraneous vowels in their names) and now Maci's younger two are the only kids who are growing up with full siblings. It just must get really confusing when you've got half siblings on both sides, and then those half siblings have half siblings!

A "deformity" is actually what it's called: tuberous breast deformity. It wasn't just the doctor calling it that. Here are a couple stories of women who had breasts like that and it seems like it really affected their self-esteem. With Jazz I thought at first that she just didn't have perfectly symmetrical breasts, which is totally normal, but I was a little more sympathetic when I found out what the actual issue is. From the pictures I've seen of tuberous breasts, I don't blame someone with it for wanting plastic surgery. Depending on the severity, some women with tuberous breasts can't even breast feed. (I was going to say that wouldn't be an issue with Jazz, but it is possible to induce lactation in AMAB people and I actually have heard of transwomen breastfeeding, so who knows.) All that said, I'm pretty uncomfortable with the fact that there's a storyline about a 15-year-old's breasts, especially since it's not even directly related to her being transgender. I'm glad she won't be able to get surgery until 18. I wonder too if her parents would be as willing to consider plastic surgery if their other kids wanted it, or if because surgery is expected if someone is trans they're more willing than they would have been otherwise to let Jazz get even non-transgender-related surgery. I do like both parents, and the family in general, but I also question any parents who let their kids be featured on a reality show. It rarely seems to go well for families. I understand that they feel like people need to hear Jazz's story, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have to do a reality show--they could have continued doing occasional interviews and appearances like they were doing before the show.

Yes, normal parts of life can sometimes be unpleasant.

Interesting. I've had an echo and had to lean on my side like that. It was pretty cool to be able to watch my heart beat on screen. I don't know if weight would matter, but I was underweight at the time.

Noelle strikes me as kind of an awkward kid, transgender or not. She reminds me of me at that age, actually, which might be why I find her hard to watch! At 14 (though I would have guessed several years older) she's still quite young to transition. It's too bad that she went through puberty already, but especially since she's still so young I bet she'll be quite pretty in a few years and pass well once she's learned to modify her voice a little bit. I hope for both Jazz's and Noelle's sake that it becomes a real friendship. Showing both Jazz and trans people like Noelle does show how much different for people like Jazz who transitioned before puberty. I can tell people react a lot differently to Jazz than to people who don't pass. I feel like if I were someone who transitioned as an adult I wouldn't want to even watch anything with Jazz just because it would be too painful thinking about what could have been if I had transitioned younger. The only thing is that sometimes when talking about these things it seems like people don't acknowledge that puberty can be really difficult for cis people too. It was honestly traumatic for me, a cisgender woman, because I didn't feel like I was ready to be a woman. Developing breasts, periods, hips, hair all felt like my body betraying me. I starved myself to try to delay puberty, but it happened anyway. It's only now, a decade later, that I'm just starting to become okay in my own body. They talk in the show about the "living hell" of a trans person going through puberty of their biological sex, and while I'm sure my experience isn't exactly the same, I can totally relate to how they talk about it. I didn't mean to make that so personal, but it just bothers me sometimes when people talk about trans issues and speak as if all cisgender are completely comfortable with their secondary sex characteristics. The other thing that bothers me about the talk of the horrors of puberty is that yes, ideally a trans person won't have to experience the puberty of their biological sex, but the reality is that a lot of trans people will not be able to transition as minors and will have completed or have nearly completed puberty by the time they can transition. However, the way people talk about the importance of avoiding puberty could really make young trans people who can't transition feel hopeless, and that scares me. Poor Leelah Alcorn spent a lot of time in her suicide note talking about how since she couldn't transition at 16 she could never look the way she wanted to. It's never hopeless! I know it's a lot easier to pass before puberty, but many trans women do transition after puberty and still pass well eventually and lead happy lives. (And that's not even getting into the idea of the importance of passing--that's a whole other discussion.)

I agree with the recapper, this show does a great job of handling these issues. I'm surprised by how much this show has grown on me.

What is going on with the 80's series? Do I have it right that there have been just three episodes aired thus far, or have I missed a few? I've actually been learning from the episodes I've watched thus far. I wasn't alive in the 80's and history in school barely if at all covers history that recent, so there's a lot I really just don't know about that decade. The AIDS crisis is the one thing I've studied quite a bit on my own and since it's a topic I'm very interested in I'm kind of disappointed that CNN is airing that episode last. I'm curious to see what else they'll cover, though.

I hate the whole "man of the house" stuff, but I've just got to say that Isaac is like the sweetest kid ever, and I'm not even much of a kid person. He's gotten pretty cute too. I know this terrible, but I thought he was a remarkably ugly baby. The good thing about ugly babies though is that they often don't stay that way. I've known several very ugly babies who turned into beautiful children. Anyway, Isaac just seems so sweet and sensitive and I wonder sometimes if the people around him fully appreciate that.

I buy April freaking out about feeling the baby, because her last baby died. I've heard other women who got pregnant after a loss talk about how terrifying that pregnancy was for them, so I believe that April's fear would override logic. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this kind of show, because I just want everyone to be happy and not keep leaving each other all the time. I want April and Jackson to get back together, Ben and Bailey to stay together, and Callie to dump Penny and get back with Arizona.

This is really pedantic of me, but it bothered me that Henry VIII talked about his six wives and then asked for a male heir. He got a male heir with wife #3! Along the same lines, some of what the German professor said was anatomically incorrect. I actually liked the episode overall, though, particularly Kate McKinnon and the standup comic.

I didn't see the preview for next week so I'm not sure if this is what you were talking about, but in the episode you could see that Adam when he was looking into the restaurant.

I really liked The Seventies so I was eager to start The Eighties. I realized while watching it that, since I was born in the 90's (is that series coming next year?), this is the last decade that is purely history to me. The tv episode was fine, but I didn't find it as interesting as I found the tv episode for The Seventies. From what I can tell, the next episode will be about the AIDS crisis, which I figured would be obligatory in a series about the 80's. That area is a big interest of mine so I'm looking forward to seeing it and hope they do it well. Does anyone know what the other episodes will be?

Has Maryum done anything other than eat popcorn and talk about being Muhammad Ali's daughter? I find it really hard to believe that someone would recognize her, and if it were such a risk then why was she selected for the program in the first place? To be fair to her, I think it's entirely possible that she didn't talk about her father as much as it seems and that's just the only drama the editors had of her. I didn't like Tami's "us and them" language when talking about the inmates vs. her and Barbra. Barbra actually seems to be doing a much better job of relating to the inmates. I do feel bad for Tami, though, as annoyed as I was at her this episode. It seems like she came in really wanting to get into the whole experience, and she quickly got in over her head. I do get the impression that she might have some mental health issues.

I'm one of those who are much better off because of the Obamacare regulations. I'm really, really grateful, because I have no idea what I'd be doing otherwise. It's not an ideal system and it's definitely very far from what I'd like to see. I know some people who have legitimate complaints about the system. Caitlyn Jenner is not someone whose complaints I take very seriously, though. She acknowledges what a struggle life is for many people when shes talking about issues like homeless trans youth, but then she complains about how she's unfairly targeted for being in the 1%. It can be hard to feel sorry for her.

It bothered me that with all the talk about the university being conservative and church-based, they didn't mention that the church the school is associated with, The Community of Christ (formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, does accept LGBT people and affirms same-sex marriages, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominational_positions_on_homosexuality#Community_of_Christ) so it's not like they're going to Bob Jones University or BYU. I don't know what the campus climate is like, but the students certainly seemed receptive. Even the LDS church itself, which genuinely is very conservative, will baptize transgender people and accepts them as members of the church. There are restrictions (someone who has undergone transgender surgery may not participate in certain temple rites, for example), but it is possible to be transgender and in good standing with the church, something which is not true of someone in a homosexual relationship. Interestingly, there has even been at least one approved temple marriage between a man and a transgender woman, though this occurred back in the 70's.

I think everyone on familysearch.org--a geneology site run by the LDS--has been baptized by proxy. I believe if you are an LDS member then you can log in with your membership records and see for sure.

Oh yes, virtually every famous dead person has been baptized multiple times, and that even includes people like Hitler. Ted Bundy joined the LDS church in his lifetime, so I'm not sure where that leaves him. It's not really done as a way to add dead people to their list of recruits, though. I think Marigold above had a good explanation for what an LDS person feels like they're doing when they are baptized in proxy for the dead.

Maddie tweeted which makes me think she and Caleb are going the traditional Christianity route. That might not be the case--Mormons do consider themselves Christians--but it seemed like odd wording if they were staying in Mormonism (LDS or not).

I actually didn't realize she was that young. I know of course it's a lot harder to conceive at that age and her fertility problems make that even more difficult, but it seems like these days it's not unusual at all for women in their mid 40's to be having babies.

Yes, but since she (in their eyes) rejected the true Gospel on earth she probably won't be able to go to the Celestial Kingdom. She'll be in one of the two lower levels of heaven, probably the Terrestrial Kingdom. (From highest to lowest the kingdoms are Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial. I always have to remember "Sea turtle"--Celestial, Terrestrial, Telestial--to get them in order.)

The baptism of the dead is done to give the dead a chance to accept or reject Mormonism. (I actually find it kind of nice that their theology allows for second chances, unlike mainstream Protestant Christianity where if you die a non-Christian you go straight to Hell, which also doesn't really exist in Mormonism--almost no one ends up in Outer Darkness, their Hell equivalent.) The baptism isn't forced conversion because the person can say no on the other side. Mormons think that it will be obvious they were right and so no one will reject the baptism, so effectively it isn't a lot different than just proclaiming every dead person a Mormon, but it is technically done to give the deceased a choice. (Disclaimer: I'm not Mormon and these are not my beliefs.) I don't know what non-LDS groups do regarding baptism of the dead. I would actually really like the Browns to discuss their theology more because I think that's a lot more interesting than most of what they do show.

I posted a link on the last page, but it seems like it's actually very common for the LDS church to be hesitant to baptize someone who was involved with polygamy, even if they were never polygamous themselves. A lot of people with polygamy backgrounds have trouble joining the LDS church, not just public figures. I don't doubt, though, that the tv show made the church especially cautious about letting Maddy be baptized. I keep saying "the church" but the decision is actually up to local LDS leaders and it's possible that if Maddy had been in a different mission area she would have been baptized right away.

I believe Maddy's story about what happened. The LDS church baptizes a lot of people, but there are some requirements. A past abortion or history of homosexuality requires special permission from the mission president, for example. If anyone has been involved in polygamy they have to denounce it to be baptized--the LDS church is very leery about being associated with polygamists. Bycommonconsent, an LDS blog, had a post about Maddy's situation: http://bycommonconsent.com/2015/10/11/polygamy-and-baptism-policy/ There are a lot of comments from people who also knew people trying to get baptized after being associated with polygamy in the past and having a really hard time with it. The commenters all seem to disagree with the church's decision in Maddy's case, too. (Bycommonconsent does tend to attract a lot of fairly liberal Mormons who disagree with the church on various issues.)

If Meri just left I think that would be great, but cheating is a problem. If she were to catch an STI and then sleep with Kody again, it could potentially be passed on to the other three wives as well. I find it hard to sympathize with Kody, but I think the other wives do have reason to be upset. I still feel terrible for Meri and I don't even like her. She must feel awful right now.

That way of eating is a terrible habit, but from what I understand it's not because your metabolism is any different than if you eat three times a day but because going for a long time without eating makes you prone to binges when you do eat. I'm not overweight but I have similar habits so I sympathize with Whitney. She's doing the right thing by starting to eat more regularly.