The Daughters Documentary - Emily Elizabeth Anderson of Thriving Forward

Emily Elizabeth Anderson was raised in Bill Gothard's Institute for Basic Life Principles which she describes as a cult. She recounts her story of living under the philosophy that all women should stay under male headship until marriage. She recalls what it was like to be told you could not get a career or be independent as a woman. Walk through Emily's journey as she gets a drivers license at the age of 24 and ultimately moves out on her own at 26 years old. Emily manages an online group as well as a blog. www.thrivingforwardblog.com
She describes her mission: "I am passionate about trauma recovery.
After growing up in a home with domestic violence and being raised in a fundamentalist, patriarchal cult for 23 years, I made the courageous (reckless?) decision to walk away from everything I knew and embark on what has become the most wild ride of my life.
What started as a personal journey soon transformed into a mission: to both spread awareness about the life-changing the effects of trauma, and to teach others how to find true healing.
Thriving Forward was founded on the belief that through the blood of Jesus Christ and by His Grace, anyone who has endured life-altering trauma can do more than just survive their trauma — they can learn how to thrive!"

To learn more about the Stay At Home Daughter Documentary or get involved visit: https://www.thedaughtersdocu.com/


What is the Stay at Home Daughter Movement?

This is one of the topics this project will be pursuing in more detail but the basic premise that women even well into adulthood should not leave their father’s house, but stay under his household and authority. This is often included with the idea that women do not need to, nor should they, pursue a career outside of the home since living and serving in the home is of the highest honor.



The goal of "The Daughters" documentary: To dig into the effects of the patriarchal movement based on the premise that a girls’ calling is to serve and stay with her father until she is of marital age and then transfer that loyalty to her husband. This calling is held above all others. Girls and women in the movement are discouraged from pursuing a career outside of the home or moving outside of the house. Instead of choosing a traditional path of moving out when you become an adult and developing a life on your own usually including a career or college path, these women choose to stay with their families, contribute to the success of their family often including helping with housework and mentoring or educating younger siblings. Some women have expressed that there are many benefits to staying with your parents and helping until marriage, including protection and accountability. Others who grew up in this movement have walked away and left and now do not have a positive view of it. These have expressed damaging effects to growing up in this environment. This documentary will gather the stories of those who grew up under this premise and how that affected their religious choices, emotional health, relationships with others, their career and education pursuits, and even smaller aspects such as recreational options. The simplified goal is to let people share their stories in hopes that others can benefit from these stories. It is to raise awareness of the struggles those growing up in this movement faced and their perspective on it moving forward.