If you follow her family closely, then you’re probably aware that Jinger Duggar is currently living up to her reputation as the resident rebel.
It’s important to note that we mean “rebel” by the standards of the Duggar family, which means Jinger is wearing pants and living in a different state, not smoking cigarettes and listening to non-gospel music.
Subtle as they may be, however, Jinger’s actions are sending a loud and clear message to both her fans and her overbearing parents.
Photos of Jinger wearing shorts may not seem like a big deal to outsiders, but to Michelle and Jim Bob, those Instagram posts send a clear message that she’s no longer under their control.
The Duggars live a strictly patriarchal lifestyle, which means young women follow the rules set by their father until they marry … at which time, it’s their husbands who decide how they’re allowed to dress.
It’s a mind-blowingly archaic and oppressive system, but fortunately for Jinger, she married a man who doesn’t feel the need to dictate what his wife wears.
As such, the 25-year-old has been able to exchange the floor-length skirts and pre-approved “feminine” footwear she’s worn her whole life for pants, shorts, and sneakers.
And her chosen brand of athletic shoe is sending shockwaves through her family’s inner circle for one very strange reason.
Jinger’s husband, Jeremy Vuolo, posted the above photo of Jinger in a pair of Air Jordans and a Nike t-shirt.
For why that get-up has stirred so much controversy, we turn to the Duggar girls’ 2014 joint memoir, Growing Up Duggar.
In the book, Jinger and her sister revealed that the family uses “Nike” as a code word to let the men of the family know to avert their eyes (i.e. look at their Nikes) whenever a woman in a revealing outfit approaches.
“That’s a signal to the boys, and even to Dad, that they should nonchalantly drop their eyes and look down at their shoes as we walk past her,” the girls wrote.
“It’s meant to help keep the guys’ eyes from seeing things they shouldn’t be seeing. By using the single-word signal, the warning can be given quietly and discreetly.”
So it’s not hard to see why Jinger simultaneously flouting her family’s dress code while rocking head-to-toe Nikes would be taken as such an affront.
In case there’s any mistook their intentions, Jeremy also posted the above close-up of Jinger’s kicks, along with a caption reading:
“Her first pair of J’s Retro 7’s!”
Jeremy is not only encouraging Jinger to continue issuing middle fingers to her oppressive father, he’s also turning her into a sneaker head.
He officially has 1000% more swag than we initially thought.
We guess that’ll teach Jimbo to give his daughters’ potential suitors such a hard time.
Watch Counting On online for more from reality TV’s most controversial family.
