Forging their own paths! Jinger Duggar and several of her siblings have seemingly strayed from their conservative parents’ rules through the years — and have shocked some fans in the process.
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar raised their 19 kids in a devout Baptist home, which came with some strict guidelines. Daughters were taught to dress modestly, meaning they wore skirts and dresses each day, and were not allowed to read romance novels. When the Duggar children are ready to date — or “court” — they must be accompanied by a chaperone on their romantic outings.
Most of the family’s rules are enforced on relationships, including staying abstinent until marriage and keeping physical touch to a minimum (side hugs are fair game, but front-facing ones are not). For many of the young TLC stars, their first kiss occurred on their wedding day.
“Jeremy and I had talked about it quite a bit leading up to our wedding day. You sort of have to when your first kiss is going to be in front of a thousand people,” Jinger wrote in her 2021 memoir, The Hope We Hold, coauthored by husband Jeremy Vuolo. “‘Tilt your head to the right,’ he’d told me. ‘Just follow my lead.’”
That wasn’t the only big change that followed her November 2016 nuptials. After tying the knot, Jinger made her first foray into a new fashion realm: pants.
“Growing up, I had a set of standards that I took as givens. … [But] my convictions were changing,” she wrote in her and Vuolo’s book, noting that she discovered wearing pants “wasn’t disobeying a biblical command.”
Still, she “struggled” to reconcile with what she’d been taught her whole life. “I knew [my family] deeply cared about their convictions, and I didn’t want to hurt them now that I didn’t share those convictions,” she continued. “I felt emotional as I worried that my parents would think I didn’t appreciate how I was raised.”
Jinger’s small rebellion is one that many of her sisters joined in on as they became adults. Other siblings — including Jana and Jill Duggar — have taken things one step further. While Jana has yet to settle down like many of her younger sisters, she’s traveled without chaperones by her side. For her part, Jill has taken a step back from her family’s world, choosing to speak openly about her Sex life, drink alcohol and even put her kids in public school.
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Keep scrolling to see how some of the Duggar siblings defied their parents’ house rules:
