When Jinger Duggar married Jeremy Vuolo in 2016, she was instantly granted the sort of freedom that she’d dreamed of her entire life.
Duggar critics compared the situation to scenes in the Harry Potter franchise where house elves are liberated from slavery upon being given an article of human clothing.
The analogy is not perfect, as Jinger is still subservient to Jeremy, but it worked on several levels:
After a lifetime under the thumb of her subservient father, Jinger was granted her independence in a simple ceremony — and clothes played a big role in her newfound freedom.
With Jeremy’s permission, Jinger was finally able to disregard some of the more restrictive aspects of the infamous Duggar dress code.
This meant that Jinger could wear pants instead of rocking long skirts all her life, as she did throughout her childhood and adolescence.
And according to newly-released court documents, Jinger’s parents are not happy with her decision to disregard the rules that she was raised with.
The Duggar court case that’s made the most headlines in recent months is undoubtedly Josh Duggar’s trial on child pornography charges.
(Thankfully, Josh was convicted. He’s set to be sentenced tomorrow, and he faces 20 years behind bars.)
But several family members were in court for a different reason in December of 2021.
While still in his teens, Josh molested five young girls, four of whom were his sisters.
After news of the assaults went public in 2015, Jill, Jessa, Jinger and Joy-Anna Duggar sued the police department that released Josh’s criminal records.
The women alleged that their privacy had been violated, but the judge ruled against them and threw their case out of court.
And according to transcripts obtained this week by UK tabloid The Sun, some surprising Duggar secrets were laid bare in the courtroom.
During his deposition, Jeremy revealed that Jinger’s parents were not happy with her decision to start wearing pants.
“Have they ever expressed any opinions about any different convictions that you and your wife have versus their own?” an attorney asked Vuolo.
“Yes,” Jeremy responded, adding:
“They’ve spoken to us about – what was it – I guess modesty is one. We’ve had a couple of conversations.”
“Jinger chooses to wear pants on occasion, doesn’t she?” the lawyer asked.
Jeremy again replied in the affirmative and confirmed Michelle does not wear pants.
“Is that the question of modesty that they talk to you about; pants versus skirts?” the attorney inquired.
“In a way, yes. I mean, not that exact word,” Vuolo responded.
“They just shared their – their thoughts on women wearing dresses, I guess. I remember Mrs. Duggar just sharing her own personal journey of modesty.”
Jeremy also revealed that he does not share his in-laws’ views that couples should “have as many children as the Lord allows.”
“Has there been more distance? And obviously, there’s more physical distance since you moved to California. Is there more emotional distance between Jinger and her parents than there was before you moved to California?” the attorney asked at one point.
“There – perhaps. I think, though, diagnosing that would be difficult,” Jeremy responded.
“I think as you grow and have your own family, kids, and life – you know, you go from, like, seeing everyone every day to talking to everyone every day to, you know,” he continued.
It’s a long-established fact that Jinger’s relationship with her parents has been a rocky one.
In fact, there have been rumors that Jim Bob and Michelle disowned Jinger after she and Jeremy moved to California.
But the Duggars have recently created the impression that all of that bad blood is in the past.
Now, it seems safe to say that that’s not the case.