I'm just an average gypsy AMA

[GypsyAMA]

I've noticed a lot of hatred towards gypsies on here so I thought I'd answer any questions anyone may have that could help you to understand my culture more. You might still disagree with many aspects, but at least you'll be coming from facts and not stereotypes.

In your opinion what are the biggest misconceptions about the gypsy community?

How do you feel towards the Irish traveller community?

"siameselife
If they wanted higher education I'd be very supportive but I wouldn't allow it in a school setting.

If someone wanted to be a doctor for example how would that work? You would homeschool them through a-levels?

Do any dc In your community get an education that allows them to be doctors, lawyers etc, particularly girls?

I've known of a couple to go on to jobs like that but it's extremely rare. I would prefer mine to live a traditional life but I would allow them to make their own decisions"

Do you recognise there's a contradiction in what you're saying when you claim you would allow your children to "make their own decisions" but deny them the education which would allow them to make informed decisions?

For example, you say you "wouldn't allow" your child to pursue higher education in a school setting, but what if they wanted to?

If your child wished to be a doctor or a solicitor or a surgeon or a politician; can you home-school them in those careers?

Does your desire to home-school override their choice for the education they would want?

Thankyou for this very interesting ama , is your marriage equal or does your husband get the final say in decisions etc and what would be the 'norm' in a gypsy marriage ?
I find your culture fascinating but i always get the impression that women aren't treated as equals which seems oppressive to me.
Is there much poverty ?

With respect, I'm getting a lot of responses so can't answer everything.

The best way I can explain it is that there is bad and good in all walks of life but because we look just like you, you don't notice the good.

Do gypsies have to marry other gypsies?

Don't you think gender stereotypes can be limiting?

If you don’t allow anyone to stay past 12 in school boys/girls, how do you feel about using services where people need an education? Like healthcare/doctors/nurses or teachers or anything really. Or do you not use any services that need an education past 12?

The only experience I have with Travellers/Gypsies (sorry I do not know which is the correct term) is the GPs hubcaps being stolen when he was seeing a traveller patient in his static caravan, to the point that the GP practice had a shitty old shared car just to do home visits.
And the horses, they have them tied along the main road, on a rope that looks about 5m long and no shelter or freedom and traffic inches away. If anyone did this that wasn’t a traveller, the RSPCA and police would be straight out. Why do they do that with horses?

come on, plenty of not gypsies cause havoc too

Yet several things you e said suggest otherwise. ‘Normal people’ (using your words) don’t take their children out of school aged 12 because they don’t want them to be exposed to sex education, or, apparently, to allow them to have ambitions towards a better life than their parents. I’ve worked with Travellers in Ireland, and there’s a huge community interest in better education for girls, better healthcare (Travellers have much shorter life expectancy than the rest of the population), lowering the male Traveller suicide rate etc.

This woman is an inspiration.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/sindy-joyce-is-first-traveller-to-graduate-with-a-phd-in-ireland-1.3759198

Why would you want t9 be part of the problem, rather than the solution? Why would you actively seek to keep your daughters ignorant?

I would have to think about that when the time came. I know their dad would be very much against it though

Why? What are the negatives of finishing school?

I don't really understand. I thought that gypsies were people who travelled around. So if I encounter people in my daily life - eg thinking of today, that would be a cashier in the petrol station, they are presumably not gypsies/people who are travelling as they'll need to stay in that particular place to go to work.

If a gypsy is living in one place and working in that place, I don't really understand what is distinguishing them from any other person in the local area. Locals are people who live nearby, regardless of whether they were born there/elsewhere/abroad or what ethnicity they are. I would not categorise people by their skin colour or accent or anything - they are all just people.

What makes me think someone is a gypsy, is if they drive into the park in a caravan. And that is why I asked the question that I did.

I do appreciate you offering this chance for people to ask and I am sorry to be negative but I simply don't understand how in 2024 you can defend denying girls a formal education. Saying your community doesn't value boys education either is not an excuse.

I would say the same about any religion or way of life that removed choice or opportunity from young women.

When do girls go from being ' princesses ' to house maid ?

I think this was about immunisations not finishing school

Why don't you value education? Most cultures do.

What would happen if a child in your community identified as a "trans child"?

I have just watched an old Call the Midwife episode with gypsies so my questions come from that.

Do caravans of those who have died and all their belongings still get burnt?

Does the community still deliver it's own babies or do you use 'normal' midwives now?

And what do you mean when you say you don't value education? Which education?

What does your husband do for work?

does he pay tax?

I expect he must have to earn a huge amount if you don’t bring in an income. How does he do this without any formal education?

Could you not just ask for them to be excused from the sex ed class and stay for the rest? What is the motivation in keeping girls uneducated?

Also the sex ed class could be useful for them, but if that's really the issue with school, couldn't there be a work around? Children statistically do better in life when the mother is better educated. Don't you want good things for your children?

How did you meet your husband? How old were you when you got married?

Why don’t you want your children to learn about sex and consent and their sexual health and how to recognise abusive relationships and healthy relationships?

if they don’t learn this, how will they learn? Will you teach them or do you not want them to know?

what happens when you first have to have sex with your husband if you don’t know what’s happening to you?

The gypsy girls I know who have left school at 12 are all still pursuing education or training. One has private tutors in the home environment, and the other have been encouraged to take on roles within the family businesses. They're all thriving.

How large is the gypsy gay community and what does your husband do for employment?

OP, you have stated that you find my post offensive - but in your opening post, you say you have noted hatred towards gypsies. I believe that the contents of my post give an example of why a random member of joe public would feel negatively towards gypsies. Because "gypsy" is taken to mean someone who travels around and there are thousands and thousands of instances where the awful stuff that happened in my park is replicated up and down the country by gypsies.