Brazen: My unorthodox journey from long sleeves to lingerie - As seen on Netflix's My Unorthodox Life

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I honestly don't know how someone who has had no exposure to the Orthodox world would follow a lot of this book. There are so many things that are half explained, or described very poorly. And there are other points that she makes ad nauseum (like how tiny she is). Now she is CEO of Elite World Group, which bills itself as the world’s first Talent Media company, representing a powerful roster of personalities across fashion, entertainment and culture.Haart recently launched a made-to-measure fashion brand, e1972.

It's unclear if a second season will be produced. But Haart's story is far from over. Her memoir,"Brazen: My Unorthodox Journey from Long Sleeves to Lingerie," is due to be published . This is not Netflix’s only show capitalizing on Jewish shows’ popularity in the press. Take Nice Jewish Girls, a new show Netflix is developing. Does it matter that it’s about, according to Deadline, “a darkly comedic one-hour family crime drama about four sisters in the aftermath of a death in the family?”My husband grew up in Hasidic Boro Park. He is one of seven. His mother is one of twelve. No one he knows would leave a sixteen-year-old alone with five kids for two weeks while they traveled to Israel on a vacation. This has nothing to do with religion, and everything to do with family dysfunction.

It repeats so many unimportant facts. I was so anxious to read this book because I wanted know how she made it from a very closed life to running a huge company. There was so much about an ex lover Lucas and nothing about her meeting and marrying the man she chose. How did that change her life and how it ended in separation/divorce. That was what was presented in her show and that’s how most of us know her. It’s a shame that as a woman who keeps talking about her freedom she buried the lead. A very long 20 hours of her telling a story to her kids because I didn’t care.

Julia has lived an extraordinary life and this shines through in this book. Her intelligence is a huge beakon that has driven her to where she is today and she should never be underestimated. Julia’s parents also expected her to wake up at 6am on Shabbat morning and take the kids downstairs and play with them so that they could sleep late. Julia served everyone breakfast, put the dishes in the sink, would clean up lunch, play with the kids, and put them down for a nap. She would have some time to read a book, change the kids when they woke up, pray, feed them dinner, clean that up, set the table for the third meal of Shabbat, serve that, clean that up, and put the kids to sleep. Once Shabbat was over, she washed every single dish. She also cleaned the kitchen floor (which had to be done by getting down on her hands and knees and washing it with a cloth.) I was devastated. I just wanted one word of praise, one thank you. She stood watching me, waiting for a reaction, for me to say something wrong or inappropriate, so she could censure me further. I felt the tears gathering behind my eyes, yet when I looked in her face, I realized that that would give her the power. That was the moment I made a decision that would stand me in good stead my whole life. Never let them see you cry.

This is messed up. Unfortunately, this kind of misinformation about sex still occurs (although I hope less frequently), although nowadays, because there is access to the Internet, it is easier for struggling brides and grooms to get access to accurate information. Unfortunately for Julia and Yosef, that option would not have existed. But, she added, "I just want to get rid of the fundamentalist part." That goes for fundamentalism in any religion that restricts women's choices and roles and freedom. Eventually, when her youngest daughter, Miriam, started to question why she wasn't allowed to sing, run or ride a bike, Julia reached her breaking point. She knew that if she didn't find a way to leave, her daughters would be forced into the same unending servitude. But, Fleksher added, many Orthodoxwomen pursue their goals, including higher education and powerful careers. "Please don't speak for all of us and paint those broad brushstrokes. This isn't orthodoxy." Julia later gets into a relationship with a much younger man named Lucas and lies to him about her age.Things get worse as Julia comes of marriageable age. Julia turned down several matches. Then along came a man her parents felt was suitable. Julia did not want to go out with him again due to a situation where she had felt abandoned by him after they had gone out on a date. Her parents badgered her into continuing, making her feel “so guilty and childish and cruel” (97). So she gave in. So Haart created a double life. In the ultra-Orthodox world, clothing has one purpose—to cover the body, head to toe—and giving any thought to one’s appearance beyond that is considered sinful, an affront to God. But when no one was looking, Haart would pore over fashion magazines and sketch designs for the clothes she dreamed about wearing in the world beyond her Orthodox suburb. She started preparing for her escape by educating herself and creating a “freedom” fund. At the age of 42, she finally mustered the courage to flee the fundamentalist life that was strangling her soul. What I look for in people is kindness, honesty and a willingness to give. People who are willing to admit their flaws, work on themselves, and grow. People who respect others, which means respecting their boundaries and their agency/ ability to make their own decisions. This is not who Julia is.

For the record, there are men who love their wives’ pregnant bodies and find them very sexy. It’s unfortunate Julia doesn’t seem to have met any of them.) Ever since she was a child, every aspect of Julia Haart's life--what she wore, what she ate, what she thought--was controlled by the dictates of ultra-orthodox Judaism. At nineteen, after a lifetime spent caring for her seven younger siblings, she was married off to a man she barely knew. For the next twenty-three years, he would rule her life. Eventually, when Julia's youngest daughter Miriam started to question why she wasn't allowed to sing, run, or ride a bike, Julia reached a breaking point. She knew that if she didn't find a way to leave, her daughters would be forced into the same unending servitude that had imprisoned her. When we see stereotypes and misinformation that is concerning to us as a community. we feel misrepresented," Fleksher said. "We want to stand up for our stories."

Julia has had a complicated life. It has been filled with trauma and dysfunction (I haven’t covered all of it in this review). Some of that trauma was due to religion, but not all of it. Perhaps due to the hole in her life of not having been loved or desired by her parents or her spouse, Julia seems to be a person who requires validation, adulation and attention. It is very important to her that we as the reader see her as successful, desirable, sexy and wish to be her. Haart said those who question whether she was really as observant and restricted as her past life is portrayed in a reality seriesmiss the point.