If you watched 19 Kids & Counting and Counting On, you already know that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar's family was famous for only wearing skirts and dresses as dictated by the Institute in Basic Life Principles — the strict religious guidelines that the family followed. But now, Jinger Duggar is opening up about the real fear behind her own dress-wearing, and why she had to break free from it.
Jinger thought she had to wear skirts and dresses to 'please God.'
While talking to People, Jinger explained that in mindset she grew up with, if she didn't dress the way she was taught God wanted her to, it could have terrible consequences.
"If I step outside of what I think is expected of me, I would think God's going to be so displeased with me and it could bring harm on myself," she said.
Jinger went on to say that this is something she's discussed with her parents.
"When I first started wearing pants, I had conversations with them about that and let them know, this is what I see in the Bible," she said.
One episode of Counting On dealt with this subject as Jinger got emotional opening up about the talk she had with mom Michelle when she first brought up wearing pants.
"It's OK that my kids may have different convictions than me," Michelle said on the show at the time. "I know that [God is] leading them, and that's the most important thing."
On some subjects, her family 'agrees to disagree.'
"People can say what they want about your changes and how you got there. But ultimately we've just sought to be really gracious and hopefully patient with my family and share those things," she told People. "I understand we can be in totally different places and come to different conclusions, and at the end of the day they will go on their journey and I'm on mine and each of us can arrive in different places at different times. We've just sought to talk about those things and at times just agree to disagree."
Jinger wants to encourage others in similar situations to be 'freed.'
"The teaching I grew up under was harmful, it was damaging, and there are lasting effects," she said. "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."
That could even include people in her family, who are still following the IBLP (looking at you, Jim Bob and Michelle).
Jinger has certainly come a long way.
And with her book, Becoming Free Indeed, coming out in just a matter of days — it hits bookstores on January 31 — it looks like we'll be finding out more of what she really thinks of her upbringing soon enough.
Good for her for speaking out about what she believes in. There's no doubt sharing her story will help others.
