After years of feeling judged for her choices, Amy Duggar King kind of resents the fact that a lot of her relatives have eased up on some of their conservative traditions. Amy’s parents, Deanna Duggar and Terry Jordan, were not as strict as her aunt and uncle Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. And because her life looked a bit different from that of her 19 Kids and Counting cousins, she was thought of as the “crazy cousin” — for wearing jeans.
Amy recalled feeling ‘so misunderstood’ by her relatives.
The 38-year-old opened up about her experience on 19 Kids and Counting during a recent interview with E! News. Because of the judgment that came from her extended family, she “would leave crying after filming and feeling so bogged down and just felt so misunderstood.” Her mom, Deanna, is Jim Bob’s sister. They both grew up in the same home, but Deanna didn’t want to impose the same conservative rules she was subjected to onto her daughter.
“I was not allowed to wear jeans for a while. Being a cheerleader, I couldn’t be. I wasn’t allowed,” Deanna explained. “So, that’s why I gave my daughter Amy freedom of anything she wanted to do that I was not allowed to do.”
Later, many of Amy’s cousins changed.
Amy’s extended family judged her for wearing jeans and cutting her hair, then later did the same things. Jinger, Jill, Joy-Anna, and Jana Duggar started wearing jeans when they became adults, and even Michelle has been pictured wearing pants. For Amy, witnessing that shift felt pretty jarring. “Honestly, I was kind of taken aback,” Amy told the entertainment outlet. “I was like, ‘Oh, OK, so now you’re wearing jeans. Now you’re cutting her hair.'”
When Amy did those things, they were treated as “very evil and very rebellious.” And then, suddenly, they seemed fine to other members of the family.
She resented being ‘labeled this crazy girl.’
Obviously, her family’s judgment is still a sore spot for her. And the fact that the rules no longer seem to apply makes it even harder to cope with, in a way. “Let’s be real here,” Amy said. “It was just like a slap in the face in a way of just like, ‘Alright, so all of that for years was for no reason at all. Great.'”
