Jinger Duggar is recalling the moment she revealed to her conservative Christian parents, Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar, that she wears pants. On the June 12, 2024, episode of the Unplanned podcast, she opened up about the experience. “It was maybe a couple years after I had started wearing pants,” the 31-year-old former television personality said. “The first few times I went back I was not wearing pants. I wore a skirt just to honor [them].”
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The act of wearing skirts is for modesty and gender roles.
In many conservative Christian households, women are supposed to wear skirts and dresses as a way of showing modesty, and because pants are seen as masculine. “That’s a big deal for my family, and my heart is not to rub anything in anyone’s face and be like, ‘I’m doing this. I’m doing my own thing,’” Jinger explained.
Telling her family was a risk.
The 19 Kids and Counting alum went on to add that her wearing pants was “massive” for her family. “I wanted to let them know, regardless of how things go, I just want to be able to share that,” she shared.
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Now Jinger doesn't feel she has to tell them everything.
Jinger now doesn’t believe she has to share all of her changes with her parents. She explained, however, that she chose to tell them about wearing pants because it's “one of the first things” she changed as she broke away from her conservative Christian upbringing.
Here's what made her decide to tell them.
“I think the big thing is just because we are in the public eye, I knew that there was gonna be so much that would blow up,” she explained. “If it’s a paparazzi photo while we are out that’s taken, ‘OK that happens all the time, so let’s just be ready for it.’ I’m just gonna tell them and then that way they know and they know it came from a heart of, ‘Hey, this is what I feel convicted of or don’t anymore.’ And they can just know from my heart and then we’ll move on.”
Watch here to listen to the entire conversation.
