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An Irish traveller claims she sometimes gets strange looks when she interacts with people who don’t travel.
Zoey Pon, who dropped out of school at 14, took to TikTok to tell the truth about her community and other facts that people may not know.
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1. Travelers do not mix with non-travelers
According to the 19-year-old – who makes her guests take a ‘bleach bath’ before entering her caravan – the majority of the girls travelling will not come into contact with girls from outside their community.
Zoey, who insisted this was not out of “disrespect,” explained that it would not be acceptable to interact with anyone other than travelers.
“We’re actually getting a bad reputation, let’s put it that way,” the woman told her 24,000 followers in the videoand added that this would not be the case if a traveller did the same.
2. Traditional gender roles among travelers are changing
Zoey, who previously revealed that sleepovers were also banned, admitted that many old traditions have been abandoned over the years.
In the past, a traveling woman did not work or send her children to school. According to her, this has changed now.
Not only do many children of travelers attend primary and secondary school, many women have also started working.
Someone in the comments shared their experience about this: “I am an Irish traveller and I went to school, got my GCSEs and went on to university where I got my L2 and L3 certificates in beauty therapy.
“You can be anything you want to be if you just put your mind to it.”
But for Zoey, who admitted to not going to college, or having a job or “working,” she said it was her husband who “goes to work and comes back and takes care of everything for her.” [me].”
3. Strict rules around drinking, smoking, dating
Before the redhead got married, her parents had set strict rules for her, such as not going to parties or dancing to music in discos.
“Before you’re married, you’re also not allowed to drink, smoke, or have a boyfriend if you’re a certain age. And if you do have a boyfriend, you have to keep it a secret.”
4. Proposal and marriage
Zoey, who got married when she was 18, says there is only one condition for marriage: the man must be old enough to ask his parents’ permission.
There is no set time limit for how long the boy and girl must know each other or be dating before asking for a hand.
Zoey said, “Everyone is different, but a boy and a girl [can be dating] three, four weeks, and he just goes up to her and asks about her [hand in marriage]“Can I marry your daughter?” And within a week they could be married.
“Then there are more boys and girls who can wait a few years, just like the non-travelers. [They want to] getting to know each other.”
The TikTok clip has clearly caused quite a stir, as it has already been viewed more than 39,000 times in a short time.
But it is not the first time that the Irish traveller has told her story about her community and the strict rules in her caravan.
Zoey makes sure that guests wash their feet before entering her home. It is also forbidden to eat or drink in her home. She also does not cook inside.
The young woman said she does this because she doesn’t want her caravan to get ‘dirty’ and then have food smells lingering.
Facts about Gypsy and Traveller communities
Normally, the term Gypsies is used for the Roma people who migrated to Europe from India, while the term Traveller refers to a person of Irish, Scottish or English ancestry.
It is estimated that there are around 300,000 Gypsies, Roma and Irish Travellers living in the UK.
All three groups live nomadically, but as it becomes increasingly difficult to find land to live on, many are moving to permanent housing.
They value family life highly and often continue to live close to each other even after they grow up and get married.
Often it is the men who take care of the family, while the women stay at home.
While many English gypsy girls are allowed to drink alcohol and go on holiday with their girlfriends before they get married, this is not the case for their Irish gypsy girls.
“You are not allowed to eat in my caravan, you are not allowed to drink and even if it rains you have to stay under the umbrella and eat your food.”
Once you get her permission to enter, you can no longer relax on any of the benches, the woman said.
“You have to sit on the floor,” Zoey explained. She was afraid the guests would “dirty” the furniture.
