tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061021280954732937.post7813451122180441931..comments2011-07-11T00:04:59.500-07:00Comments on The Magdalene Laundressess: In The Beginningw.suttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819274052150869034noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061021280954732937.post-73575522149666314902011-07-11T00:04:59.500-07:002011-07-11T00:04:59.500-07:00Talk about Irony....... John Martin's Xmas Pag...Talk about Irony....... John Martin's Xmas Pageant for the kiddies....... I wonder if Mr. Martin knew what was going on on his sprawling property - which he sold to the Catholic Church? Which the Catholic Church built one of the infamous laundries, we are talking 20th Century here too... now that is chilling. Poor old Johny would probably roll over in his grave to know that his calm, serene, opulent and prosperous property turned into a house of ill repute pre-adolescent and adolescent girls... No Xrissy Pageant for us immoral creatures! Anyone know the wages for laundresses - underage laundresses in the 60;s. I know equal pay came into pay during that era........ the Irony of it all, The Convent, outwardly appearing as a gentle home for us terrible wayward girls; professed; pretended: an ostensible cheerfulness concealing a traumatic sadness.w.suttonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15819274052150869034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061021280954732937.post-72099669814833841422011-07-10T23:51:14.784-07:002011-07-10T23:51:14.784-07:00Dear Noleen, here is something I found which may g...Dear Noleen, here is something I found which may give you some starting point in S. Africa? Let me know how you are getting on? <br />Love<br /><br /> The Story of CGS in South Africa 2006<br />by Sr. Annette St.-Amour<br />Durban Diocesan Catechetical Coordinator<br /><br />South Africa<br /><br />Mailing Address:<br /><br /> Sr Annette St-Amour<br /> Archdiocese of Durban <br /> PO Box 47489<br /> Greyville 4023<br /> South Africa<br /><br /> Archdiocese of Durban <br /> PO Box 47489<br /> Greyville 4023<br /> South Africaw.suttonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15819274052150869034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061021280954732937.post-35453844715884558302011-04-20T20:48:49.967-07:002011-04-20T20:48:49.967-07:00Yes i do have a storey to tell My storey has real ...Yes i do have a storey to tell My storey has real facts and what i endured before and during and after i left the convent. II have been writing for a while now but on the South African laundries and Good shepherd Convent no one seems to exist only ireland canada uk and australia and really we suffered just as much my real name is not Anne it is Noleen --- Noleen Moore Bardwell. Anne was my convent nameAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05222464220066417379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061021280954732937.post-91710164637679951052011-04-20T18:28:48.156-07:002011-04-20T18:28:48.156-07:00WELCOME Ann, 6 years, I would love to hear more of...WELCOME Ann, 6 years, I would love to hear more of your stories. Much lovew.suttonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15819274052150869034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061021280954732937.post-86004796537291912682011-04-19T01:57:58.870-07:002011-04-19T01:57:58.870-07:00i too am a victim of the good shepherd copnvent i ...i too am a victim of the good shepherd copnvent i worked in those laundries from the age of 11 years until i was 17 in durban and also orchards johannesburg i find nothing on the south africa laundries which were just as horrific ann mooreAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05222464220066417379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061021280954732937.post-49408989805801031112011-04-03T11:48:14.024-07:002011-04-03T11:48:14.024-07:00http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPfU5lpMfhA
Today ...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPfU5lpMfhA<br /><br />Today I saw a movie. Today I saw a brave woman being authentic. Something I have never been when it comes to my past life. It has always been a dark horrid secret....... not anymore.....thank you Rachaelw.suttonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15819274052150869034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061021280954732937.post-58795022037461604682010-09-28T17:58:50.567-07:002010-09-28T17:58:50.567-07:00For me, the blog revolves around the sexual carnag...For me, the blog revolves around the sexual carnage that Catholicism has left in the psyche of many of us Laundresses. <br /><br />Sex was socially/culturally stifled during my formative years, but this was very much the norm of the Victorian Era. For us Convent Girls we were served a double whammy! many of us had been sexually abused in some way or another already and, any normal development into young women with desire was castrated psychologically by the Nun's and their insistence of us being sinful little horrors! Catholicism and all it's grandeur BS about purity and virginity was the icing on the cake for me........... it distorted my sexuality and femininity even more <br />@ a crucial hormonal age. In fact I had one or two periods before I entered the Convent at 13 and never menstruated again for many years. Biology is an amazing thing and can be cut off by psychological trauma. <br />............................................<br />Anyway, one of the Nuns, Mother Damian, ended up leaving the convent for a man! I remember she was always a bit of a rebel, young, pretty and she would have her hair poking out from her Vail to Mother Superiors obvious disdain. I got a giggle out of that and, so did Mother Damian. It was all hushed up but it was the local goss -one minute she was there and next poooof she was gone!- I used to fantasize that she was off with her boyfriend having wild sex! even tho I had no idea what that really was.... wild sex that is.... I was just happy for her breaking out of the system. <br /><br />Sex or anything close to it was NEVER mentioned. Our bodies were sacred working, praying machines.w.suttonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15819274052150869034noreply@blogger.com