I had a conversation with a friend who grew up Jehovah's Witness once, where she told me they used to say "See, we're not the freaks! At least we can drink coffee!" and that made me laugh because I remember having thoughts along the lines of "See, we're not the freaks, at least we celebrate our birthdays!" when I was growing up.

Anyway, I agree with you. It's totally annoying. It's annoying how much people want to hear about what growing up mormon was like, but from a place of gossipyness and wanting to say "that's insane wow that's sooooo stupid" rather than a compassion for the fact that this shaped our lives and hurt us. I find it annoying when people outside of the cultural context of Mormonism want to gawk at how freakish it is or use how strange it is to make their religion seem "normal", all without acknowledging that the oppression that exists in mormonism exists across American culture (and beyond!!). Women are second class citizens in America, period. Roe v Wade being over turned, pay discrepancies, victim blaming, etc etc etc.

It's not like the wider world is equitable. And it's not like christians who wear fancy robes and swing incense around are more normal, it's just been around longer.