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Content warning: This video mentions mental health, sexual themes, and Christian fundamentalism. Subscribe to Re: bit.ly/subscrib.... Growing up, Rhesa Simmons was taught girls do not make decisions for themselves. Once they leave the care of their fathers, they would be under the care of their husbands.
“I’ve never been to school,” she says.
“I was told it would be a waste of everyone’s time if I did further education because the plan was for me to have as many children as possible and stay at home. Basically, you don’t need an education to breastfeed so why bother?”
Rhesa’s Christian fundamentalist upbringing might remind you of those documentaries about extreme religious groups in the United States. But Rhesa grew up in Auckland.
She says her extremely conservative childhood restricted her healthcare, education, and even what she could or couldn’t wear.
Reflecting on her childhood, she says cutting herself off from the religion and most of her family felt terrifying and vulnerable.
But it means she now has choices she never thought she could have as a young girl.
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