Big Fat Gypsy Wedding

Grabbing,from what i could gather was just a playful way of a young male gypsy or was it traveler to show the young girls that he liked her.
There was no harm in it,does anyone think that families would allow their daughters to be hurt? i dont think so.

As for the poster who called them tinkers.......shame on you.It showed one of the grooms had a job last night,but you didnt see that did you? i cant recall what the other one worked at.

MargeS.......where were the catholics last night? from what i could see,it was a vicar that married swanley and whatever her name was.
Those girls shown last night have more morals than most other settled girls their age.

P Liz V1 Some of the brides looked about 12 years old...... you mean some of the wedding goers.... one of the brides was 21.

Luckily for me i have it recorded,so i watched the explanation again.

If anyone has any doubts what grabbing is.......... go to Chanel 4 and listen to the explanation given by the 15yr old girl about 6 mins in,the narrator asks her what grabbing is.

The understanding of religious is an assumptive argument – Travellers are individuals and are therefore open to the possibilities of a unique and personal relationship with Deity. Shows such as this does little to aid the understanding that the community is far more diverse then the media image portrays.

“Grabbing” is thankfully rare in Ireland and now mostly exists in England, though I have heard of isolated cases here in the north and in Dublin. In many cases (but not all) it can be unwanted physical contact and regardless of the tradition those incidents can easily be seen as an attack. In most cases it is the moderedly strict families that it happens to, otherwise a young female would not be allowed to socialise unaccopanied by a male family member.


The show seems to negate the understanding that such practices are not uni formal within the community, depending largely on the lineages and circumstances of the families involved. It is certainly not an aspect of tradition that I or my family have inherited.

Nuvari wrote: »

The understanding of religious is an assumptive argument – Travellers are individuals and are therefore open to the possibilities of a unique and personal relationship with Deity. Shows such as this does little to aid the understanding that the community is far more diverse then the media image portrays.

“Grabbing” is thankfully rare in Ireland and now mostly exists in England, though I have heard of isolated cases here in the north and in Dublin. In many cases (but not all) it can be unwanted physical contact and regardless of the tradition those incidents can easily be seen as an attack. In most cases it is the moderedly strict families that it happens to, otherwise a young female would not be allowed to socialise unaccopanied by a male family member.


The show seems to negate the understanding that such practices are not uni formal within the community, depending largely on the lineages and circumstances of the families involved. It is certainly not an aspect of tradition that I or my family have inherited.

Slightly off topic, but something I've always wanted to know. As portrayed by many of these shows, travelling women must not have sex before marriage. But is it the same for men?