If you know anything about 19 Kids and Counting's Duggar family, it’s that they have a bunch of strict and unusual rules that their children, especially their daughters, are expected to follow. Their dress code is a big one: the girls aren’t allowed to wear pants, sleeveless tops, or anything that would reveal too much of their bodies. Duggar kids also aren’t allowed to watch most TV shows or movies or play with many regular toys. They are homeschooled by mom Michelle Duggar, and all of their social interaction happens with other kids who follow the Institute in Basic Life Principles fundamentalist teachings. Jinger Duggar recently opened up about some of her parents’ other strict rules, including the ones that governed her courtship with now-husband Jeremy Vuolo.
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A surprising member of the Duggar family was supposed to chaperone Jinger's dates.
During an appearance with Jeremy on the Unplanned podcast, Jinger spoke about the "absurd" chaperone rules they had to follow. Having a chaperone on a date isn’t unusual in strict religious families, but Jinger shared that her parents wanted her to bring her 10-year-old brother as her chaperone. She didn't say which brother it was.
Apparently, that was the best Michelle and Jim Bob could offer.
“I wasn't gonna have a 10-year-old kid with me — it was kind of absurd,” Jeremy shared. He explained that they would find other couples in the family to go on double dates with to get around having a kid tag along.
Jinger added that they tried to have solo dates while filming for TLC, but her parents claimed that the camera crew and producers “weren't enough” to chaperone.
Jim Bob and Michelle also had strict rules about clothing.
Jinger also shared her family’s bizarre rules around T-shirts, which were forbidden. She said the kids in her family were allowed to roll up the sleeves on a long-sleeved shirt.
“If you have a normal shirt you're allowed to roll up your sleeves, but you can't buy a T-shirt that has the sleeves already off,” she explained. “It's kind of interesting. So it's like, all these rules that don't make sense.”
Jinger wasn't allowed to play with a popular toy.
While talking about other things she wasn’t allowed to do or have, Jinger shared that she wasn’t allowed to listen to mainstream music, watch mainstream television or movies, or even play with popular toys like Cabbage Patch Kids. You would think a baby doll like that would be allowed, but Jinger explained that her parents were “very superstitious,” and believed the toy would “bring harm upon me.”
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Her family's religious beliefs gave her a lot of anxiety.
“The teaching I grew up under was harmful, it was damaging, and there are lasting effects,” Jinger told People in January 2023 while promoting her memoir Becoming Free Indeed. “But I know other people are struggling and people who are still stuck. I want to share my story, and maybe it will help even just one person to be freed.”
