Janelle Brown: Smarter Than Your Average Brown (Maybe)

[zenme]

I agree with your posting, SometimesBites.  I really think that Janelle's being low maintenance and self-sufficient makes her a perfect plig wife.  Also, she doesn't require all the romantic gestures that the others do, so when Kody does something small,  like plan a hike and picnic, or purchase the bedroom set of Janelle's dreams for her, she's perfectly content and happy with that.  It also appeals to the practicality in her.  A picnic and hike is an inexpensive way to spend a day with a loved one, and she needed a bedroom set anyway, and it seems Kody really appreciates that in her. 

[okerry]

I agree with your posting, SometimesBites.  I really think that Janelle's being low maintenance and self-sufficient makes her a perfect plig wife.  Also, she doesn't require all the romantic gestures that the others do, so when Kody does something small,  like plan a hike and picnic, or purchase the bedroom set of Janelle's dreams for her, she's perfectly content and happy with that.  It also appeals to the practicality in her.  A picnic and hike is an inexpensive way to spend a day with a loved one, and she needed a bedroom set anyway, and it seems Kody really appreciates that in her. 

You can do that when you don't love the man. You can learn to be content on your own, maintain your detachment, not care about who else he's seeing, or what he does or does not do for you. When you expect nothing, you're never disappointed. Hell of a way to live, but apparently Jenelle was able to do it.

 

The other wives, unfortunately, did fall in love with KDouche and became emotionally dependent on him. That's why they suffer endlessly. But KDouche thinks that the way Jenelle behaves is "normal" and the way women should be, and can't understand why the other ones - or at least Meri and Christine - can't be the same way. No wonder this stuff never ends.

[RazzleberryPie]

I think Janelle does love Kody. I think she expresses it by laying low and not causing any drama. He thrives on drama, though, so her laying low just gets her walked all over.

[RedheadZombie]

I think something that's always missed when comparing Janelle to the other wives, is that Janelle is the only wife not raised in polygamy.  Janelle did not learn to manipulate the way the other women have been taught since the cradle.  While Robyn's manipulations seem conscious, I think much of Meri and Christine's manipulating is from being raised with it.  It's all they know.  Conversely, I think the reason Kody is such a poor polygamist husband (assuming there is a good type) is he flies by the seat of his pants.  He's not a natural born leader, he picked wives with strong personalities, he's not particularly organized, and he's not a good planner.  In absence of a strong leader, the women take over and it descends into chaos.  In the classic polygamy model, the first wife leads the other wives.  We know that Kody has stated he doesn't support this model, and again this leads to confusion because no one is really in charge.  I'm not implying in any way that I support a patriarchal family system, but when you have five adults and seventeen children, somebody needs to have some leadership abilities. 

 

Now that's not to say that Janelle is not manipulative at times.  From what little we know, she moved in on Kody without including Meri in the process.  She very well may have dumped her first husband when she got a look at Kody.  She left once - and for about a year? - and got what she needed from Kody to return to the fold.  And to be honest, Janelle really doesn't need to manipulate Kody.  When we first met them, Janelle was the workaholic who largely contributed to the family's earnings.  It's Janelle's "inheritance" that helped them to purchase the Lehi home.  Janelle has older boys so she doesn't need to "bother" Kody with the handyman type of things the other wives do.  And since Kody admits he's more drawn to and comfortable with his boys, Janelle had a built in ability to get more attention for her children.

[SometimesBites]

Now that's not to say that Janelle is not manipulative at times.  From what little we know, she moved in on Kody without including Meri in the process.  She very well may have dumped her first husband when she got a look at Kody.  She left once - and for about a year? - and got what she needed from Kody to return to the fold.  And to be honest, Janelle really doesn't need to manipulate Kody.  When we first met them, Janelle was the workaholic who largely contributed to the family's earnings.  It's Janelle's "inheritance" that helped them to purchase the Lehi home.  Janelle has older boys so she doesn't need to "bother" Kody with the handyman type of things the other wives do.  And since Kody admits he's more drawn to and comfortable with his boys, Janelle had a built in ability to get more attention for her children.

I definitely agree with your assessment of the degrees of manipulation with the other wives, and where the roots of that manipulation lie. I want to respond to a couple of your points about Janelle:

From what little we know, she moved in on Kody without including Meri in the process. I can't even fathom her buddying up to Meri to confess an attraction (in fact that scenario makes me want to laugh maniacally), so that's probably true. And here's why I don't necessarily think of that as manipulation. The Browns themselves have stated that one of the fabulous ways that polygamy is awesome for women is that a female can get the hots for any guy she wants to, whether married or not, and make a move. So if that's what Janelle did, they ought to all fully support that tactic.

She very well may have dumped her first husband when she got a look at Kody. This idea gets tossed around quite a bit, but really we don't know what the exact timeline was and can never know whether this is true or not. I have kind of an aversion to this level of speculation when it comes to these people because there is so much to dun them for that CAN be verified, things that they've said and written. To speculate on something like this that has virtually NO evidence to base it on seems like a waste of good snark. :)

She left once - and for about a year? - and got what she needed from Kody to return to the fold. Her threshold for bullshit seems so high that my take here is not that this was a form of manipulation, but an indication that she finally got pushed to her limit with the emotional difficulty of sharing living space with Meri and Christine (probably mostly Meri...that's MY speculation) and just put her foot down and took circumstances into her own hands. It must have been fairly successful, because she's never had to "share a kitchen" with Meri since then. (Share a dick, yes, but a kitchen? Perish the thought!)

And to be honest, Janelle really doesn't need to manipulate Kody.  When we first met them, Janelle was the workaholic who largely contributed to the family's earnings.  It's Janelle's "inheritance" that helped them to purchase the Lehi home.  Janelle has older boys so she doesn't need to "bother" Kody with the handyman type of things the other wives do.  And since Kody admits he's more drawn to and comfortable with his boys, Janelle had a built in ability to get more attention for her children. Agreed, point for point.

[BlackWidow]

 haha  omg  that's great   gotta love Janelle

 

[camom]

 

Janelle has older boys so she doesn't need to "bother" Kody with the handyman type of things the other wives do.

 

This made me giggle.  I've never gotten the impression that Kody is Mr. Handyman for any of his wives.  I think either the older boys do things or they hire people.

[RazzleberryPie]

Kody doesn't look like he could operate a can opener, let alone a power tool.

[SometimesBites]

This made me giggle.  I've never gotten the impression that Kody is Mr. Handyman for any of his wives.  I think either the older boys do things or they hire people.

So true. The episode when Janelle needed his help hanging the bigscreen TV when they first moved to Vegas was the usual clown show.

[algebra]

I just had a thought, all this talk about how Janelle seems quite content to be ignored by Kody,she's low maintenance,etc.

Has it ever occurred to anybody she might be gettin' a little sumpin' on the side? Wouldn't that be a hoot? She's got her career, she gets out, she meets people. She might even be getting it on with one of the show's producers.

We can dream, can't we?

[Oosala]

Regarding Janelle's needs w/r/t Kody, here's how I rate all the wives, in marriage order.

Meri gets nothing from Kody, Meri wants nothing from Kody (now), and Meri is miserable.

Janelle gets nothing from Kody, Janelle wants nothing from Kody, and Janelle is happy.

Christine gets nothing from Kody, Christine wants everything from Kody, and Christine is miserable.

Robyn gets everything from Kody, Robyn wants everything from Kody, and Robyn is happy.

[RazzleberryPie]

Regarding Janelle's needs w/r/t Kody, here's how I rate all the wives, in marriage order.

Meri gets nothing from Kody, Meri wants nothing from Kody (now), and Meri is miserable.

Janelle gets nothing from Kody, Janelle wants nothing from Kody, and Janelle is happy.

Christine gets nothing from Kody, Christine wants everything from Kody, and Christine is miserable.

Robyn gets everything from Kody, Robyn wants everything from Kody, and Robyn is happy.

Very accurate observation, except I don't think Robyn is truly 100% happy. She may be happy that she isn't living in poverty and that she's 'winning' the wife game, at the moment, but to me, she acts like she's annoyed with all of them most of the time. When she isn't humble bragging, flaunting something over the others, playing martyr or off on some trip, she acts like she's annoyed and unhappy.

[Jusagirlintheworld]

Very accurate observation, except I don't think Robyn is truly 100% happy. She may be happy that she isn't living in poverty and that she's 'winning' the wife game, at the moment, but to me, she acts like she's annoyed with all of them most of the time. When she isn't humble bragging, flaunting something over the others, playing martyr or off on some trip, she acts like she's annoyed and unhappy.

I wonder if Robyn is still in love with her ex.

First, she took on all of the debt of the marriage. I never could figure that one out. It's not consistent with the Robyn we've come to know . . . the self-interested Robyn who has wedged herself between Kody and Janelle's sons, inserted herself as favorite wife, alienated Kody from Christine, and ousted Meri as legal wife. Robyn seems to have a talent for looking out for Robyn. Why wouldn't Robyn manipulate Preston into assuming the debt? I think she actually loved the guy . . . and still does.

Second, Robyn gets very emotional when she talks about Preston. Maybe she is emotional because her marriage was abusive. But she doesn't seem to worry about abuse during her children's visitations, which makes me wonder if Preston really was abusive. Maybe she is still hung up in him and her implications of abuse are her reassuring Kody and "protesting too much."

Third, she expressed more concern with Preston's feelings and rights than Kody's goals. Kody was ready to "go to war." Robyn, who usually defers to Kody, was willing to go head-to-head with Kody to ensure the process protected Preston from being labeled a bad parent and to protect Preston's visitation.

Fourth, she had a panic attack at the thought of the adoption, which would sever her last connection to Preston. In fact, she didn't want to sever ties with Preston. She wants to continue visitation, despite the adoption.

Yes, Robyn did steal those kids from Preston when she encouraged Kody to adopt them. That doesn't mean she doesn't still love Preston. She just loves herself more. She wants her kids to have a father with assets that can be seized for child support in the event of divorce. Having Kody as a legal father is more profitable than a broke guy living off the grid.

Edited October 22, 2015 by Jusagirlintheworld

[BlackWidow]

In fact, she didn't want to sever ties with Preston. She wants to continue visitation, despite the adoption....

 

this may be because she doesn't want to be accused of what is called in family law 'parental alienation' which is setting the kids against the other parent, trying to make them look bad or crazy etc.,which can be overt like 'your mom or dad just doesn't love you anymore, that's why they don't visit, or pay child support or (whatever)' (regardless of other parent's health or ability to pay or visit, or outright lying to the kids about whether the other parent did pay the child support, or  is wanting or trying to see them, while doing things like canceling visits at the last minute, or otherwise making it hard for the other parent to visit  ) or more subtle like "mommy never gets things right, she always screws things up' or 'you know how dad is flaky about (whatever)' 'she won't let you go hang-gliding? mom's just no fun, is she?' basically putting them down or undermining their role or authority, or trying to get the kids to 'gang up' with the alienating parent against the other parent. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_alienation

http://www.womansdivorce.com/parental-alienation-syndrome.html

[algebra]

Being seen on TV talking about what a shit your ex is qualifies as parental alienation.

I really will be interested to see what a judge thinks of all this. Their credit history, Kody's lack of a job, too many other children to support, should make it look to a judge like he's transferring responsibility from a parent who could pay child support over to the state welfare rolls.

Of course if the adoptions are denied they'll blame it on polygamy and claim they are persecuted.

[camom]

I'm really surprised that we don't know whether the adoptions were approved or denied.  It seems easy enough to find out what is going on in other areas of their lives.  This one is still a mystery.  I would think that if the adoptions went through, there would have been tweets galore.

Edited October 22, 2015 by camom

[RealityCowgirl]

I'm really surprised that we don't know whether the adoptions were approved or denied.  It seems easy enough to find out what is going on in other areas of their lives.  This one is still a mystery.  I would think that if the adoptions went through, there would have been tweets galore.

I'm assuming (without a bit of tangible proof, of course) that a couple "so glad to tell this story" tweets (Janelle for sure. Someone else?) around the time of the adoption episode hints at whatever legal process they sought being approved. But that's only a guess. Keeping mum seems to serve their best interests, to the extent that anyone is waiting with baited breath for an (televised) answer.

Who knows with this crowd.

[MarysWetBar]

I think Sobbyn changed her tune once she realized how awful everyone saw her denigrating the birth father was. She spies on these boards and other sites. That was damage control. .plain and simple. Robyn cares about no-one but Robyn.

[SometimesBites]

I think Sobbyn changed her tune once she realized how awful everyone saw her denigrating the birth father was. She spies on these boards and other sites. That was damage control. .plain and simple. Robyn cares about no-one but Robyn.

Put me in the same camp--it occurred to Robyn that the public would not be tremendously sympathetic to their joy over steamrolling a guy out of his parenthood, so she started back-peddling with her phony anxiety attack and Death Valley "tears." I don't think Robyn gives a quarter-shit about David Preston Jessop. Once she put that dude in her rear view mirror, he became nothing but a cautionary tale--he's the guy that tricked her out of her purity and was such a terrible husband and father that he deserves to have zero legal and practical connection with his own children. She's got her revised life moving on track: new man, legal wife, her own "business," and even her first three children are now Kody's children (like they were all together from the beginning...even though they weren't). She don't love David Jessop--not IMO.

[RazzleberryPie]

I think that if she hadn't been able to use her first three kids as pawns for the legal marriage/adoption scheme, she would have shipped them back off to their dad in a heartbeat. She's stuck with them if the adoption actually goes through. Wouldn't shock me one bit, if either the adoption DOESN'T go through, or if Robyn can fanagle some other lame excuse (persecution! We have to flee the night and our car only holds Kody, me and the two babies!) to send them back to their dad's - ESPECIALLY if the dramatic girl starts going wild in her teen years.

Edited October 25, 2015 by RazzleberryPie

[SunnyBeBe]

So, I can't figure it out.  Is there still any physical intimacy between Kody and Janelle?  They skate around the issue, but then last season Kody made some comment about how well they were doing, leading me to wonder if they had rekindled something.  

[CofCinci]

Is there still any physical intimacy between Kody and Janelle?  

How old is Janelle's youngest (Savannah?)?  That's the last time Kody was over to lay some pipe.

[tabloidlover]

OMG!  I needed that laugh, CofCinci !!  I was about to break out the calculator to figure it out.

[laurakaye]

Regarding Janelle's needs w/r/t Kody, here's how I rate all the wives, in marriage order.

Meri gets nothing from Kody, Meri wants nothing from Kody (now), and Meri is miserable.

Janelle gets nothing from Kody, Janelle wants nothing from Kody, and Janelle is happy.

Christine gets nothing from Kody, Christine wants everything from Kody, and Christine is miserable.

Robyn gets everything from Kody, Robyn wants everything from Kody, and Robyn is happy.

This is perfect, except I think that Meri still wants everything from Kody and now realizes that bringing Robyn into the fold was the worst mistake of her entire life, and is miserable.

[JocelynCavanaugh]

Janelle is tweeting about trash pickup -- a nod to the discovery of her little garbage lien?

http://twitter.com/JanelleBrown117/status/684067594161143808

[kassa]

Is that a recent photo of her?  She looks so much like her daughter(s)!  And either has continued to lose weight or it's an old/lucky shot.  She looks happy and healthy, so who knows.

[DakotaJustice]

Is that a recent photo of her?  She looks so much like her daughter(s)!  And either has continued to lose weight or it's an old/lucky shot.  She looks happy and healthy, so who knows.

If you're referring to her Twitter profile avatar, she's been using that one for years, it's obviously filtered to the max.

[SometimesBites]

Oh, how I wish some brave soul would reply to her tweet. "Don't forget to pay the bill!" ;)

[CofCinci]

Upcoming story about Janelle's alleged real estate career.

https://twitter.com/AnnFriedmanRJ/status/700798598804451328

[SometimesBites]

That's a good picture of Janelle.

[Celia Rubenstein]

Upcoming story about Janelle's alleged real estate career.

https://twitter.com/AnnFriedmanRJ/status/700798598804451328

 

Does she even have an alleged real estate career any more? I don't recall her working even being mentioned last season.

Edited February 20, 2016 by Celia Rubenstein

[CofCinci]

Does she even have an alleged real estate career any more? I don't recall her working even being mentioned last season.

Good question.  It doesn't look like she has any listing with her broker TMI Realty.

http://www.tmirealty.net/agents_details.php?agent_ID=16196

[Celia Rubenstein]

Maybe the story is about how she has retired /kanye shrug/

[CofCinci]

Maybe the story is about how she has retired /kanye shrug/

She renewed her sales license.  (Christine did not renew.)

[SometimesBites]

She renewed her sales license.  (Christine did not renew.)

Well, that's good news. Christine was killing herself in the real estate biz. I mean COME ON, how much back-breaking flag-hanging can a gal DO???

[DakotaJustice]

Zillow's not showing any listings or recent sales for Janelle.

 

http://www.zillow.com/profile/zuser20150219152232640/

 

or 

 

http://www.trulia.com/directory/Las_Vegas-agent-Janelle+Brown-21435/

[CofCinci]

Does anyone have Vegas MLS access to see what sales Janelle actually had in 2015? She's under the TMI Reality brokerage but she doesn't have a single listing on their page. Also; with the "Team Brown" FB page, it's just steady stream of "do you like this kitchen/closet/deck?" stock photos and not actually real estate postings.

[BlackWidow]

Ok maybe I'm being evil here ( but I could be being evil and also right), that whatever non-happening hype-but-no-action business ventures, like this gig, the gawd-awful-broken-link-website-thrift-stores-are-way-better-than 'closet', the energy drink thing...that all this stuff is some kind of tax write-off made-up stuff? Like oh, well, I had to buy a shirt to go to a meeting so that gets written off, maybe also cars, or who knows what else- supplies supposedly for the business or some other way to have these businesses be a 'front' for shifting money and stuff etc around Not accusing, I don't know anything for a fact,  but some people roll that way.

[CofCinci]

Ok maybe I'm being evil here ( but I could be being evil and also right), that whatever non-happening hype-but-no-action business ventures, like this gig, the gawd-awful-broken-link-website-thrift-stores-are-way-better-than 'closet', the energy drink thing...that all this stuff is some kind of tax write-off made-up stuff? Like oh, well, I had to buy a shirt to go to a meeting so that gets written off, maybe also cars, or who knows what else- supplies supposedly for the business or some other way to have these businesses be a 'front' for shifting money and stuff etc around Not accusing, I don't know anything for a fact, but some people roll that way.

Good point. Their religious leaders encourage them to practice a "bleed the beast" relationship with the government.

[Jel]

Good point. Their religious leaders encourage them to practice a "bleed the beast" relationship with the government.

 

Ew really? What happened to "Render unto Caesar.."?

[Celia Rubenstein]

Maybe that's what Janelle was doing with all that garbage, trying to render it unto Caesar.  No?  ok.

[Jel]

Maybe that's what Janelle was doing with all that garbage, trying to render it unto Caesar.  No?  ok.

 

My Google foo is failing me -- can you please provide some deets about the garbage lien? Even a nutshell version?

---

I see Janelle as the family spin doctor. She could be unhappy with their entire situation or pissed at Kody, but you're never going to hear that from her. 

[Celia Rubenstein]

"Sam" mentioned (in one of his comments on his blog, I believe) liens that were placed on the houses of Robyn and Christine for unpaid medical bills, and someone started poking around and found out that Janelle had a lien placed on her house by the garbage people, lol.  It starts on page 7 of the thread called "Meri Catfished"  (which is an episode thread, not the "Meri's Wetbar of Tears" personal thread). 

Edited February 24, 2016 by Celia Rubenstein

[Jel]

Thank you, Celia Rubenstein. 

[SometimesBites]

"Sam" mentioned (in one of his comments on his blog, I believe) liens that were placed on the houses of Robyn and Christine for unpaid medical bills, and someone started poking around and found out that Janelle had a lien placed on her house by the garbage people, lol.  It starts on page 7 of the thread called "Meri Catfished"  (which is an episode thread, not the "Meri's Wetbar of Tears" personal thread). 

Because I'm a shameless attention monger, I have to lay claim to breaking the news of "Trashgate." While trying to verify an unrelated claim about their homes, I stumbled across the lien and hurried over here to tattle. If JO mentioned it anywhere, it was news she found while creeping us here on PTV. Now please excuse me while I try to go find myself a little bit of a life. *slinks away

[Jel]

Madam, I am in awe of your google powers. 

[CofCinci]

'Sister Wives' Janelle Brown on Las Vegas real estate

Brown said "Sister Wives" has propelled her real estate business.

"It's been a huge asset to have some exposure," she said. "I like being that person that people call and say, 'we didn't know who to call but we trust you.' That's the best compliment you can ever give me."

If you trust Janelle to get you a great real estate deal, then you deserve to overpay.

[SometimesBites]

'Sister Wives' Janelle Brown on Las Vegas real estate

 

 

If you trust Janelle to get you a great real estate deal, then you deserve to overpay.

She can't get her garbage bill paid in a timely manner, but she'll be glad to sell you a home.

[riverblue22]

Good for her.  I'm glad one of them actually works at something, and I'm not surprised at all that it is Janelle.  Meri should take note.

[Kohola3]

She starts her day at 4 am and makes calls?  Her clients must love that.  

 

Christine is still listed as an agent on that TMI website so doesn't instill a lot of confidence in their accuracy..  I wonder if Janelle has actually ever sold anything.  She makes it sound like she may have worked with buyers but that could just be smoke and mirrors.