I'm a traveller- AMA

[Pinkyyy]

I was actually asked on another post to start this thread, I've been debating the idea for a while but usually decide not to because I've seen threads like this turn sour before. Hopefully I can avoid that and actually provide information and educate people on a way of life they may well know very little about.

I invite you to ask any questions you may have, and I will do my best to answer them all honestly. I ask that you don't bother to comment if you're going to bombard me with racism and ignorance. If you'd like to question a common stereotype, by all means go ahead but I will not respond to those who are simply here to be hateful. I also hope you'll respect that I don't like to share too much of my personal details on here, so I'm aiming more to speak about travellers as a a whole and not so much about me personally.

So.... AMA

I'm a teacher and have taught quote a few children from the traveller community. Once at a parents evening a mum asked me if I had ever seen her son cry. When I said that I had (I think I said 'he's not really a crier but I have once or twice I think'), she said that it was no good for a boy to cry and his brothers would have that beaten out of him. She said it in a jokey way but reading this thread makes me wonder if, firstly, traveller boys are discouraged from crying as children and also whether young boys are encouraged to fight amongst themselves. If you have sons do you allow/encourage them to fight and hit each other?

I'm glad this thread has been resurrected, I found it so interesting earlier in the year.

Hi...I was born in Newark upon Trent and went to school with twins Rosie and Violet who came from the Travellers site called Tolney Lane.

They didn't attend school lessons very often, but were very protective of their heritage. One boy was offensive and they both set upon him fist fighting and he never did it again.
Are the new generation of female Travellers still able to defend themselves physically?
The Traveller females always look so glamorous with long hair, tons of makeup and skin tight clothes...I wonderd if they are taught to fight like the boys? The Travellers in the sixties were not so feminine.

Hi, everyone since this has been resurrected I just want to remind you all it's Roma week - Romany, gypsies, travellers, all included as are our European Roma families and others worldwide.
Oh, have found your family name Pinkyyy but not your side yet, will pm what I have.

Anyway, please have a look folks. www.globalresearch.ca/insidious-discrimination-against-roma-europes-shame/5680433

Sorry, It's Roma month, not week and you get a whole month to have a look.

Hi Pinkyyy, are you still about on Mumsnet? I know this is a really old thread but I've been reading it over the last few days and really enjoyed it.
Did you watch '60 days with the gypsies' a couple of weeks ago? If you did, what did you make of it?
Also, I have a question about living on a site in a caravan, I understand the lifestyle is very outdoorsy in summer, cooking outside and spending time outside, but what's it like in winter? I've found it tough enough keeping kids entertained in a house, cooped up with the storms and rain outside!
I'm really interested in general daily life, like typical daily routines etc. What does a typical day look like on a traveller site?
I hope you're still around on MN

One of the best AMAs @Pinkyyy I'm wondering what the implications were for travelers during Covid.

Do you think the traveller community is dying out?
It seems so many have permanent residences now. How do you feel about that?

What do you really think of gorjas?

Do you have horses?

Thank you so much for this AMA, I have found it really interesting. I’m a special school teacher and one of my previous students was from a Roma traveller family. His parents obviously adored him and were for the most part lovely but there were a few times where I felt quite intimidated by his father’s reaction to things in meetings etc which could come across as quite aggressive and he would make reference to fights etc but actually this thread has actually really helped me understand some of the cultural traditions and family values and the idea that men will do anything to protect their children and the pressure the farther probably felt under to make things okay for his severely disabled child.

The child who had delayed language would also often talk about fighting which was flagged up as a cause for concern/safeguarding issue at the time as in non-traveller culture I would say most adults would protect children from witnessing fist fights etc and that fighting tends to be a spontaneous and aggressive act so it’s been interesting to hear that physical fighting can be a premeditated/ planned out and normal way to sort out issues between men. I think should I ever teach another child from a traveller background this thread will have really helped me to understand their culture and parent’s perspectives a bit more and it’s been helpful to try and step outside of my own values and try and see the other side. As a teacher I’ve found the information about children leaving school young (or at least a non-travellers idea of ‘young’) really interesting. So many of our cultural values such as the value of secondary and further education are so deeply ingrained that it seems almost primitive, at first thought, for a culture to be turning against this but then when stepping back I think I can kind of see the other side and how/ why secondary education may not seem relevant. Don’t necessarily agree with the view but I can kind of understand it I think.

My son has been often asked by travellers which family he comes from . He does have a Southern Irish background but we don't know anything about it . I do wonder .

I just found this thread and it was a really interesting read. Thank you @Pinkyyy