The Duggars and Their World: Fashion, Food, Finance, Schoolin’ and Child Rearin'

[Portia]

The hair. Don't these people know how to use a scissors? Glad not to be their plumber because .. Just eew.

Ew indeed. I had only 2 daughters, and even with regular trims, their long hair used to wreak havoc on our plumbing. They were terrible about not cleaning the shower drain after each shower. Once, after yet another expensive visit from the plumber, my husband left a lovely "gift" on each girl's pillow: a paper plate holding a huge, smelly hairball extracted from the pipes. Their daddy was really big on object lessons!

[Churchhoney]

Homeschoolers Anonymous is planning a new series on escapes from controlling homes. I'd say that, when these pieces are published, someone should send them to Jana's mailsorting operation, but I expect what they'll mainly demonstrate is how difficult it is to get out. And while only too true, that's probably a message that would only further deflate the Duggar kids. They're well and truly trapped.

https://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/2015/11/01/escapes-and-rescues-a-call-for-stories/

 

They've previously run a little series on the group of people in Colorado including Cynthia Jeub who helped Cynthia and her sister Lydia and a bunch of other people leave. The amount of emotional manipulation practiced on these kids is pretty harrowing.

https://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/unboxing-project-being-an-angel-with-a-shotgun/

https://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/unboxing-project-the-trouble-with-freeing-people/

https://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/why-the-name-unboxing-project/

https://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/unboxing-project-racquels-story/

https://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/2015/04/09/the-underground-railroad-defecting-from-a-cult/

[GeeGolly]

Homeschoolers Anonymous is planning a new series on escapes from controlling homes. I'd say that, when these pieces are published, someone should send them to Jana's mailsorting operation, but I expect what they'll mainly demonstrate is how difficult it is to get out. And while only too true, that's probably a message that would only further deflate the Duggar kids. They're well and truly trapped.

https://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/2015/11/01/escapes-and-rescues-a-call-for-stories/

 

They've previously run a little series on the group of people in Colorado including Cynthia Jeub who helped Cynthia and her sister Lydia and a bunch of other people leave. The amount of emotional manipulation practiced on these kids is pretty harrowing.

https://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/unboxing-project-being-an-angel-with-a-shotgun/

https://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/unboxing-project-the-trouble-with-freeing-people/

https://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/why-the-name-unboxing-project/

https://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/unboxing-project-racquels-story/

https://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/2015/04/09/the-underground-railroad-defecting-from-a-cult/

That fact that this is needed is scary. 

 

A family in Texas is being investigated for for Homeschooling without any schooling. It doesn't look like it will go any where due to Texas' relaxed regulations on Homeschooling though.

[Wellfleet]

Jinger's mustard cardigan is a different style to Jessa's. They must really just like the color. Maybe the color doesn't run in the wash or something and they appreciate that. I bought a pair of green shorts recently, they practically need to be hand-washed. Get them wet, the green rubs off. I've got several white t shirts turned pink by red socks, and I bought a blue Boss Orange hoodie

that gets noticeably paler with each wash.

 

Somewhat off-topic - a tip I learned while working a PT job in a dept store bridal registry...

Anytime you have a bright color - or even THINK a color might run - soak the item BEFORE WASHING in a bucket with cold water and ¼ cup white vinegar. Be sure the item is fully-submerged and it's best to leave it soaking overnight. The vinegar will set the color. Then wash as you normally would - although I would never wash anything colorful in hot water, and especially not the first few times. It's just too harsh. Only whites and other colors you don't mind/wouldn't notice fading should have hot water.

[NewDigs]

That fact that this is needed is scary.

A family in Texas is being investigated for for Homeschooling without any schooling. It doesn't look like it will go any where due to Texas' relaxed regulations on Homeschooling though.

Unschooling. Eh.

In other words, Let the kids decide.

Edited November 3, 2015 by NewDigs

[Jynnan tonnix]

I was just reading that story...Evidently they don't see education as necessary as they await  the Rapture. I wonder whether the Duggars have similar ideas. They don't mention the Rapture all that much, do they? I don't know where Gothard falls on the question, but it certainly seems in keeping with some of their attitudes.

 

Edited November 3, 2015 by Jynnan tonnix

[cmr2014]

From pickles,

 

I know this has been discussed on the boards before, but this picture made me think that the show really only had -- maybe -- one season left even without the scandals.

 

It's one thing to see a bus full of young kids off to DisneyLand, or to goggle at the prairie dresses, or whatever, but things are just overtly unpleasant now. The older kids are really floundering as they reach adulthood, the younger kids appear feral, and none of them appears to be happy. Only a truly devoted humper could look at these pictures of the girls with smiling "countenances" and dead eyes and see anything other than sadness.

 

And this little girl who is too young to be one of the "big girls" and too old to be one of the "little kids" and who doesn't go to school, or church, or Girl Scouts, or have any other outlet to make friends makes me very sad. It's not even really fun to snark -- this is an innocent kid who deserves better.

[BitterApple]

I agree Hannie looks really uncomfortable. The poor girl should be playing with kids her own age, not taking over Sister-Mom duties for Jessa and Jill. I remember watching that one scene where Marcus tripped and fell and Hannie was the one who scraped him off the floor while Michelle and Boob just sat there. That pretty much sums up the dynamics in their household.

[Barb23]

Hannie looks very sad. I noticed that too.I have a mustard sweater just like that. Don't hate me. I call it my Duggar sweater. I had it before we started snarking on it but now it makes me laugh. I wear it with a white tee shirt and jeans...if you want the visual.Just for the record, I do NOT have Green Shirt.

Sure you dont...... (just kidding)

Regarding the long hair drain thing - don't forget long hair clogging up the vacuum cleaner too. Many times I had to clean the rollers of ours with tweezers& scissors. (From my own longer hair). A few months ago I got a short hair style & no more clogged vacuums or drains. The Duggar's vacuum probably doesn't get clogged since it's rarely used.

[louannems]

Sure you dont...... (just kidding)

Regarding the long hair drain thing - don't forget long hair clogging up the vacuum cleaner too. Many times I had to clean the rollers of ours with tweezers& scissors. (From my own longer hair). A few months ago I got a short hair style & no more clogged vacuums or drains. The Duggar's vacuum probably doesn't get clogged since it's rarely used.

They have one of those industrial vacuum systems where each room/area has a hole in the wall where you screw in the hose. Edited November 3, 2015 by louannems

[Micks Picks]

On some other topic here I mentioned seeing a commercial for a think you stick in the shower drain and pull it out some time later and it's filled with hair.  Saves plumbing visits.  Since the Duggars must be showering in 6 inches of water all the time, I suggested we get together and market this gizmo to fundys.  We'd make bank on it.

[momofsquid]

What I don't understand about fundie fashion -- well, this is one of so many things -- is the rule against pants on women. To me pants are more modest than skirts. They cover the entire lower half of the body, where skirts usually expose some leg. Pants offer solid protection against gusts of wind, peeping toms who may have conveniently dropped a pencil, and the obvious perils of sitting while wearing a skirt. Furthermore, and I will try not to get too graphic, a skirt provides much easier access for the unfortunate defrauded male. Really, I think it's men who need to wear skirts because they have more defrauding equipment on display in their pants than women do. I think I shall write a strongly worded message to Gothard about this. Let's get those loose women into pants and hide those manly bulges under voluminous skirts. 

 

Sorry, that got more graphic than I anticipated.

[Almost 3000]

What I don't understand about fundie fashion -- well, this is one of so many things -- is the rule against pants on women. To me pants are more modest than skirts. They cover the entire lower half of the body, where skirts usually expose some leg. Pants offer solid protection against gusts of wind, peeping toms who may have conveniently dropped a pencil, and the obvious perils of sitting while wearing a skirt. Furthermore, and I will try not to get too graphic, a skirt provides much easier access for the unfortunate defrauded male. Really, I think it's men who need to wear skirts because they have more defrauding equipment on display in their pants than women do. I think I shall write a strongly worded message to Gothard about this. Let's get those loose women into pants and hide those manly bulges under voluminous skirts. 

 

Sorry, that got more graphic than I anticipated.

Loose culottes for women and gauchos for men. Same thing but of course we can't call them the same thing. Gender distinction and all that. Problem solved.

[Jynnan tonnix]

Really, I think it's men who need to wear skirts because they have more defrauding equipment on display in their pants than women do

 

 

Oh, I don't know...I personally find guys in kilts QUITE defrauding :)

[Aja]

Yes but in pants you can see a woman's ass, or her "devil's pillow."

[Tabbygirl521]

I think it's because pants reminds us that women have legs - and a defrauding area between them.

Actually I think it is due to some cherry-picked Bible verse about men wearing men's garments and women wearing women's. So I dunno, I think everyone should be wearing robes of some type. But the patriarchal authority figures get to define "appropriate" garb however they wish, and the sheep follow blindly.

[Churchhoney]

What I don't understand about fundie fashion -- well, this is one of so many things -- is the rule against pants on women. To me pants are more modest than skirts. They cover the entire lower half of the body, where skirts usually expose some leg. Pants offer solid protection against gusts of wind, peeping toms who may have conveniently dropped a pencil, and the obvious perils of sitting while wearing a skirt. Furthermore, and I will try not to get too graphic, a skirt provides much easier access for the unfortunate defrauded male. Really, I think it's men who need to wear skirts because they have more defrauding equipment on display in their pants than women do. I think I shall write a strongly worded message to Gothard about this. Let's get those loose women into pants and hide those manly bulges under voluminous skirts. 

 

Sorry, that got more graphic than I anticipated.

 

Yeah, but pants are clothing "belonging to men" in our culture and skirts are clothing "belonging to women." You can't go around encouraging people to take on attributes of the other gender. From what I understand, that's as big an issue for them as modesty. A woman in pants might think she could be the boss the way a man is. A man in a skirt or something might take on some of those feminine characteristics. Can't have that. Gotta make sure that the women stay in their rightful place and that men don't go wimpy on us.

[Aja]

Question that just occurred to me--may have been discussed before, but I do not remember:

What is the Duggars' line on military service? I'm assuming that, as political conservatives, they're obligated to "support our troops" in the offensively meaningless way most of them do, i.e. bumper stickers (whole separate tangent for me, Daddy was USAF.)  But what about actually serving their country? Would Boob allow it? Enlisting is a good way for an uneducated, disadvantaged young man to get specialized education in a field of interest and maybe even see the world, or at least the States. At the same time, though, I'm sure their hearts are burdened by the fact that the military "supports" gays. I don't know. I mean, I know it's totally rhetorical since none of the Duggar boys would last more than 24 hours in Basic Training anyway, but I was just curious.

Edited November 17, 2015 by Aja

[kokapetl]

They have their own ALERT militia thing that the government should probably keep an eye on.

[NewDigs]

Bolding mine

I think it's because pants reminds us that women have legs - and a defrauding area between them.

Actually I think it is due to some cherry-picked Bible verse about men wearing men's garments and women wearing women's. So I dunno, I think everyone should be wearing robes of some type. But the patriarchal authority figures get to define "appropriate" garb however they wish, and the sheep follow blindly.

I bet it's that darned Leviticus. Or something close.

Is there such a thing as a Leviticusite? Should be. They would be much more easily identifiable.

[GeeGolly]

Life would be easier if we just all wore jammies and were bald. Save a lot of time, money, thinking and, of course, defrauding.

 

I'm talking old fashion fuzzy cotton pajamas pants and button up shirt - suitable for all sexes.

[SomePity1066]

Life would be easier if we just all wore jammies and were bald. Save a lot of time, money, thinking and, of course, defrauding.

 

I'm talking old fashion fuzzy cotton pajamas pants and button up shirt - suitable for all sexes.

I liked your comment very much because I agree wholeheartedly with your thoughts AND that's what I'm currently wearing !!! Leopard print with hot pink satin trim - verrrrry classy, doncha know !

 

I wonder what the Duggarlings wear to bed now ? In Days of Yore, circa 14 Kids and Counting, the girls had on the buttoned up to the chin, Little House on the Prairie nightgowns, complete with the nightcaps (!), but later in the series it seemed like they, especially the boys, were just wearing their clothes. Like their street clothes...

 

Unfortunately so typical of how the house is run, or NOT run, rather. At the end of the day the SisterMoms were too exhausted to do anything but put the littles to bed as is, without the benefit of a bath. And, of course, Michelle was too busy to have anything to do with the process. I wonder how many times, if at all, she ever went into the boys' and girls' cells, errr...dorms ?

Edited November 18, 2015 by SomePity1066

[cmr2014]

What I don't understand about fundie fashion -- well, this is one of so many things -- is the rule against pants on women. To me pants are more modest than skirts. They cover the entire lower half of the body, where skirts usually expose some leg. Pants offer solid protection against gusts of wind, peeping toms who may have conveniently dropped a pencil, and the obvious perils of sitting while wearing a skirt. Furthermore, and I will try not to get too graphic, a skirt provides much easier access for the unfortunate defrauded male. Really, I think it's men who need to wear skirts because they have more defrauding equipment on display in their pants than women do. I think I shall write a strongly worded message to Gothard about this. Let's get those loose women into pants and hide those manly bulges under voluminous skirts. 

 

Sorry, that got more graphic than I anticipated.

 

I think that Gothard's rules are some sort of mish-mash between the Bible and the Victorian age. It was the Victorians who swooned over an exposed ankle -- that doesn't appear in the Bible. It was the Victorians who went a'courtin -- that doesn't appear in the Bible, either. And, I may be wrong, but I don't recall Jesus speaking, even once, about modest clothing.

 

If Gothard was born @1930, it's likely that the Victorian era was the "good old days" to his grandparents. Maybe he heard a lot about how much better things were in those days when he was growing up, and it stuck.

[MunichNark]

I think it's because pants reminds us that women have legs - and a defrauding area between them.

Actually I think it is due to some cherry-picked Bible verse about men wearing men's garments and women wearing women's. So I dunno, I think everyone should be wearing robes of some type. But the patriarchal authority figures get to define "appropriate" garb however they wish, and the sheep follow blindly.

And yet their "Men" always seem to feminine and wimpy to me. Granted, the Duggar boys aren't exactly hitting the jackpot in the looks department and seem to go flabby and bald as soon as they hit 16, but nothing about them says "I'm a MAN, huaaaaaaaaar".

 

Dito the Wallers, not excepting TFDW, or even Chad Paine, who always seems somewhat soft. I think the Bates Boys are the nearest to "real men" that would fit my description

[Churchhoney]

On the Duggars' facing ruination if Josh's antics get them extinguished from the TeeVee (which I don't think they will, but it's been argued that that's the risk...) ...

 

I may be miscounting here, but it seems to me that there are 15 Duggars-and-Duggar-in-laws currently age 18 and over, who at least theoretically could be working for pay. And as far as I know, only one -- Jim Bob -- is certified to be doing so. (Grandma, Jim Bob, Michelle, Josh, Anna, John David, Jana, Derick, Jill, Ben, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Josiah, Joy Anna) And while some may be not so eligible for work, I can say that I personally know people who are working for pay (part- or full-time) who are over 70 (heck, even over 80) , mothers of newborns, single mothers of four (and more), and students.

 

Meanwhile, there remain 10 minor Duggars and six minor Duggars-the-next-generation.  So I would think that the 15 potentially eligible workers could cobble together some way to support themselves plus the 16 non-eligibles. If they're actually hard up for money, I'd think that the very nearly half of the clan who are theoretically eligible workers-for-pay would be figuring out how to bring some in. They don't seem to be doing so, however. So I'm not convinced they're really in any financial danger at all -- except the danger of having to work instead of being able to grift, scam, exploit their fame, hand out unsolicited advice and preach, freeload and hang around the house all day.

 

And I am way too damn obsessed with these sickening people.

Edited November 20, 2015 by Churchhoney

[BuddyMom]

Churchhoney, you are right at always. The Duggars are no longer 2 adults with 19 children. Over half of the children could be working either full or part time (Jed and Jeb are teens old enough to work part time). The family would be fine if everyone who could work was, in fact, working! Maybe the planes would have to be sold and no more McMansions, but seriously, this family is not destitute.

[JenCarroll]

***

I wonder how many times, if at all, she ever went into the boys' and girls' cells, errr...dorms ?

I always think of it as "the barracks."

[kokapetl]

On the Duggars' facing ruination if Josh's antics get them extinguished from the TeeVee (which I don't think they will, but it's been argued that that's the risk...) ...

I may be miscounting here, but it seems to me that there are 15 Duggars-and-Duggar-in-laws currently age 18 and over, who at least theoretically could be working for pay. And as far as I know, only one -- Jim Bob -- is certified to be doing so. (Grandma, Jim Bob, Michelle, Josh, Anna, John David, Jana, Derick, Jill, Ben, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Josiah, Joy Anna) And while some may be not so eligible for work, I can say that I personally know people who are working for pay (part- or full-time) who are over 70 (heck, even over 80) , mothers of newborns, single mothers of four (and more), and students.

Meanwhile, there remain 10 minor Duggars and six minor Duggars-the-next-generation. So I would think that the 15 potentially eligible workers could cobble together some way to support themselves plus the 16 non-eligibles. If they're actually hard up for money, I'd think that the very nearly half of the clan who are theoretically eligible workers-for-pay would be figuring out how to bring some in. They don't seem to be doing so, however. So I'm not convinced they're really in any financial danger at all -- except the danger of having to work instead of being able to grift, scam, exploit their fame, hand out unsolicited advice and preach, freeload and hang around the house all day.

And I am way too damn obsessed with these sickening people.

Jimbob's parents both worked in real estate, and both JimBob and Michelle were both licensed real estate agents, and in a way they still work in real estate. Of the next generation, only Derick was tertiary educated and white collar, unfortunately he threw that all away on the advice of the voices in his head. Everyone else is essentially unskilled, with educations that probably disqualify them from even the lowest reliable government jobs, i.e. the TSA agent who screams at the queue. The best they could probably do is become underemployed at McDonald's.

If Jimchelle had half a brain, they'd scheme up a "Duggars in the big city" show for the oldest single children, and get TLC to pay for some vocational training.

[Churchhoney]

Jimbob's parents both worked in real estate, and both JimBob and Michelle were both licensed real estate agents, and in a way they still work in real estate. Of the next generation, only Derick was tertiary educated and white collar, unfortunately he threw that all away on the advice of the voices in his head. Everyone else is essentially unskilled, with educations that probably disqualify them from even the lowest reliable government jobs, i.e. the TSA agent who screams at the queue. The best they could probably do is become underemployed at McDonald's.

 

 

See, here's where this argument completely loses me. Bear with me. Why the hell do the Duggars have to be better employed than the rest of the population?

 

Crap jobs -- or hard jobs requiring education and training but with increasingly crappy pay or "contractor" status -- are the norm in today's America. I see no reason why anybody should worry that the Duggars -- who have never made the slightest move to get trained or educated, build a resume or accommodate another person or try to figure out what wanted goods and services they might provide -- would have to take these jobs. The rest of the damned country is supporting its families with these jobs, and that includes many tens of millions of people who are far more deserving of better work than the Duggars because they've made efforts. People are raising their families on fast food jobs. They're raising their families and trying to pay for education on retail jobs. THey're struggling to move up in those crap jobs as high as they possibly can. They're trying to start and sustain home-based businesses using whatever skills they have or can develop -- be they lawn mowing, clothing alterations, chocolate-covered fruit making or whatever.

 

In my opinion, the Duggars should take whatever work they can get -- and they do have that four-generation-old real-estate business that they could work at reviving -- just like anyone else and not be handed a fucking tv show just because .... because what? Because they're the Duggars? Who the hell are the Duggars?

 

I haven't heard a single argument that tells me why the Duggars should be in a different category from everybody else! Because they've come to expect it to be otherwise? Well, so have a lot of people in their 50s who get laid off and find themselves frighteningly hard-to-place-in-a-new-position just at the time they arrived at their supposed peak earning years. After years of, you know, actually learning and working 60-hour weeks with no vacations, not being bankrolled to vacations abroad, getting Apple products for free and living off unearned fame. Those newly unemployed-through-no-fault-of-their-own 50-something folks have to struggle on, despite their expectations. And woe to those who haven't saved some money so they can tide themselves over till they manage a new start. They've got to manage. The fast-food-worker heads of families have got to manage. The Duggars should have to manage, too.

 

Seriously,

[kokapetl]

I'm not saying they deserve to be better employed, but blacklisting them from tv isn't constructive, everyone in that family will be worse off. There's a marked difference between the Duggar kids who reached adolescence before the regular TLC series and the relatively good life with the nice house and normal clothes and little luxuries came along, and those who did or we're on track to do so. I think TLC's money and the presence of the crew reined in the worst of JimChelle. The most fucked up is the oldest, the one who lived his entire childhood during the lean years. Taking the cameras and money away probably takes away Jimchelle's incentive and ability to bite their tongue and be indulgent. That there are people supporting families on 20 hours a week at McDonald's is a fucking travesty, and I don't want more of that, and I don't thinks it's egalitarian to have people needlessly in poverty because we've needlessly allowed others to live in poverty. That we permit the creation/existence of an underclass at all is the most unfair thing to the people in it.

I'm a bleeding heart socialist.

Edited November 20, 2015 by Kokapetl

[Churchhoney]

I'm not saying they deserve to be better employed, but blacklisting them from tv isn't constructive, everyone in that family will be worse off. There's a marked difference between the Duggar kids who reached adolescence before the regular TLC series and the relatively good life with the nice house and normal clothes and little luxuries came along, and those who did or we're on track to do so. I think TLC's money and the presence of the crew reined in the worst of JimChelle. The most fucked up is the oldest, the one who lived his entire childhood during the lean years. Taking the cameras and money away probably takes away Jimchelle's incentive and ability to bite their tongue and be indulgent. That there are people supporting families on 20 hours a week at McDonald's is a fucking travesty, and I don't want more of that, and I don't thinks it's egalitarian to have people needlessly in poverty because we've needlessly allowed others to live in poverty. That we permit the creation/existence of an underclass at all is the most unfair thing to the people in it.

I'm a bleeding heart socialist.

 

I think the difference between you and me is that you see somebody having their tv show taken off the air as blacklisting. Whereas I see it as just another media decision based on what could be a multitude of reasons – policy, monetary, artistic, philosophical, etc – of which virtually none constitute “blacklisting” since they’re made by private enterprise, not imposed by a government entity that would control your life. In private enterprise, nobody deserves a tv show. And I think a show that pretties up and disguises misogyny and spiritual and psychological violence against young people is as good a candidate for pulling as any.

 

And I guess the other difference is that you think things will be worse for the Duggar kids if they’re off tv. Whereas I think that’s the only way things can possibly get better for them. No older kid will ever dream of leaving while the TLC teat remains to be sucked on. And leaving is the only thing that can save them. And in my opinion, the tv show encourages one of the worst and most damaging behaviors of JB and M – continually pushing their kids to lie about and totally falsify their lives so the TeeVee can depict the Duggar life as the world’s ideal. Much less motivation for these two creeps to do that if the show is gone. JB and M are getting too old to whip with rods very much these days. And the kids are no longer babies. Now most of the young’uns remaining have probably not been whipped much to date, and if the ‘rents start it now, many are big enough to fight back. And since it would be a relatively new thing, they probably would. It’s the fighting back that often stops parents, in these situations.

I'm not saying they deserve to be better employed, but blacklisting them from tv isn't constructive, everyone in that family will be worse off. There's a marked difference between the Duggar kids who reached adolescence before the regular TLC series and the relatively good life with the nice house and normal clothes and little luxuries came along, and those who did or we're on track to do so. I think TLC's money and the presence of the crew reined in the worst of JimChelle. The most fucked up is the oldest, the one who lived his entire childhood during the lean years. Taking the cameras and money away probably takes away Jimchelle's incentive and ability to bite their tongue and be indulgent. That there are people supporting families on 20 hours a week at McDonald's is a fucking travesty, and I don't want more of that, and I don't thinks it's egalitarian to have people needlessly in poverty because we've needlessly allowed others to live in poverty. That we permit the creation/existence of an underclass at all is the most unfair thing to the people in it.

I'm a bleeding heart socialist.

 

I think the difference between you and me is that you see somebody having their tv show taken off the air as blacklisting. Whereas I see it as just another media decision based on what could be a multitude of reasons – policy, monetary, artistic, philosophical, etc – of which virtually none constitute “blacklisting” since they’re made by private enterprise, not imposed by a government entity that would control your life. In private enterprise, nobody deserves a tv show. And I think a show that pretties up and disguises misogyny and spiritual and psychological violence against young people is as good a candidate for pulling as any.

 

And I guess the other difference is that you think things will be worse for the Duggar kids if they’re off tv. Whereas I think that’s the only way things can possibly get better for them. No older kid will ever dream of leaving while the TLC teat remains to be sucked on. And leaving is the only thing that can save them. And in my opinion, the tv show encourages one of the worst and most damaging behaviors of JB and M – continually pushing their kids to lie about and totally falsify their lives so the TeeVee can depict the Duggar life as the world’s ideal. Much less motivation for these two creeps to do that if the show is gone. JB and M are getting too old to whip with rods very much these days. And the kids are no longer babies. Now most of the young’uns remaining have probably not been whipped much to date, and if the ‘rents start it now, many are big enough to fight back. And since it would be a relatively new thing, they probably would. It’s the fighting back that often stops parents, in these situations.

[BitterApple]

At this point, it's absolutely ridiculous for the adult Duggar children not to at least have part time jobs. Jana and Jinger could work at Starbucks or waitress a few days a week, and the boys could do landscaping or other labor type jobs. This way they'd at least make a little cash and have some work experience to put down on a resume.

Boob isn't doing his kids any favors by keeping them shackled to the Dog and Pony show.

Edited November 20, 2015 by BitterApple

[kokapetl]

I've watched nearly all of the episodes, the Duggar parents gladly whitewashed themselves and bit their tongues. They may say it was a television ministry, but there was next to no religion in the show aside from the occasional mention of Jebus. I didn't like later focus on courtships, it was a glossy picture of a stupid religious thing, and also because I thought they were really boring.

As for the lies, the older, already fucked up kids would sort of sieze up and be vague when it was apparent they thought they had to lie, the younger "TLC" kids freely spoke their minds.

When I read about a campaigns to have Jill and Jessa's new show boycotted because of who they are related to, I consider that an attempt to have them blacklisted.

Jimchelle have an incentive to ensure their kids don't fail or suffer from deprivation if it's gonna be on tv. What I've read about quiverfull families (who usually don't have tv shows) is that they don't care particularly care about kids they've failed or are harmed from their deprived lifestyle. If a tv show makes a difference, I'd watch to ensure that that difference occurs.

At this point, it's absolutely ridiculous for the adult Duggar children not to at least have part time jobs. Jana and Jinger could work at Starbucks or waitress a few days a week, and the boys could do landscaping or other labor type jobs. This way they'd at least make a little cash and have some work experience to put down on a resume.

Boob isn't doing his kids any favors by keeping them shackled to the Dog and Pony show.

the "J-iah" twin boys and all the boys older than them (excluding Smuggar) have lawn care/property maintenance/handyman listed as their occupations on the family website.

[Treehugger]

Everyone else is essentially unskilled, with educations that probably disqualify them from even the lowest reliable government jobs, i.e. the TSA agent who screams at the queue. The best they could probably do is become underemployed at McDonalds.

Okay, who else wants to watch Michelle use her sweet baby girl voice while working as a TSA agent?

[Vaysh]

the "J-iah" twin boys and all the boys older than them (excluding Smuggar) have lawn care/property maintenance/handyman listed as their occupations on the family website.

 

I'm not sure that doing chores for daddy counts as actual emplyment... I used to mow the lawn, paint the house and change lightbulbs too as a kid but I wouldn't put it on my resume today.

[GeeGolly]

The problem the Duggar 19 will have with employment is that they will be up against people who have a mainstream education and most likely some work history, even for for the most entry level job.  Jana is 20 something, with some Doula training and babysitting, with no paid work history. I would say she wouldn't be first on many employers lists.  A high school kid, applying for a part-time job at a grocery store, would probably be hired over a 25 year old with no work history. Another example of how the Duggar parents are messing up their kids.

[Churchhoney]

The problem the Duggar 19 will have with employment is that they will be up against people who have a mainstream education and most likely some work history, even for for the most entry level job.  Jana is 20 something, with some Doula training and babysitting, with no paid work history. I would say she wouldn't be first on many employers lists.  A high school kid, applying for a part-time job at a grocery store, would probably be hired over a 25 year old with no work history. Another example of how the Duggar parents are messing up their kids.

 

Yep, they've messed them up in every conceivable way. And that'll only become more and more apparent as their fame and its attendant comforts slowly (too damned slowly) recede. And then some of the kids will hear a wake-up call and realize that they need to try to make new and different lives for themselves. And others'll fall into chaos and blame and other kinds of interpersonal messes.

 

There's lots that's going to unravel in years to come. But for any ones that have guts and half a brain, I think the unraveling is the only thing that'll save them, and the sooner it happens the better. Yeah, they lack the backgrounds that help some people make a go of things, but plenty of people without the right backgrounds, including people who don't speak the language or represent cultures that scare many Americans half to death, still manage to claw their way to a decent life. It's not impossible, although it takes a lot of work and determination. And hopefully some will realize that, in their case, it was their selfish nutburger parents who made it so hard for them, and they'll vow never to do this crap to any new generations.

 

With luck, that'll happen before Jim Bob dies so he has to watch his rotten philosophy get abandoned and spat upon by at least some of its victims.

[lookeyloo]

Maybe JB has enough real estate holdings that all the howlers can be responsible for lawn care and maintenance and they can stay in their bubble.  I guess the lost girls could serve the howlers lunch on paper plates, etc.  And it seems they will always need an accountability partner.  that is the thing, how could any of them ever work in the real world with all those NIKE moments for the boys and the random male person who might gaze upon one of the girls in a threatening manner.  Even if it is to say "thanks" for the order.  Picture the girls working in Starbucks with the mandatory shirt. In the Starbucks I go to, the women wear pants.  How would that fly?  would they need several pairs of pants to convert into a skirt?  And men want Starbucks.  they don't trust themselves or anyone else.  What if Jana were a nanny and it seemed all on the up and up and Mr. Daddy took a liking to her.  She would be horrified and blame herself and who knows where that would go.Their take on things makes it even worse.

[kokapetl]

Their property empire consists of about 45 pieces of real estate, and most of those aren't developed. JimBob's strategy seems to be based on speculation, not rent. There's no way they need or have work for their half dozen laborers.

Edited November 21, 2015 by Kokapetl

[Churchhoney]

Their property empire consists of about 45 pieces of real estate, and most of those aren't developed. JimBob's strategy seems to be based on speculation, not rent. There's no way they need or have work for their half dozen laborers.

 

So I guess we can't add any more unemployed sons-in-law to the "staff" then.

[Guest]

So I guess we can't add any more unemployed sons-in-law to the "staff" then.

 

In the next five or so years, JB has six boys who will be joining the Duggar workforce. It's just not sustainable. If JB has any smarts at all, he needs to look for sons-in-law who run small businesses (landscaping company, construction company, moving company, etc.) who can hire Ben and some of the older boys to get them off the Duggar payroll. 

Edited November 21, 2015 by Guest

[lookeyloo]

In the next five or so years, JB has six boys who will be joining the Duggar workforce. It's just not sustainable. If JB has any smarts at all, he needs to look for sons-in-law who run small businesses (landscaping company, construction company, moving company, etc.) who can hire Ben and some of the older boys to get them off the Duggar payroll. 

Sounds like a great idea.  How do they get around the NIKE and accountability issues.  Although John David doesn't seem to take a howler with him everywhere.  At least not that we can tell.

[Guest]

Sounds like a great idea.  How do they get around the NIKE and accountability issues.  Although John David doesn't seem to take a howler with him everywhere.  At least not that we can tell.

 

Well, if they're working in a family business with brothers and brothers-in-law as coworkers, they'll have plenty of accountability buddies to call out "NIKE!" if an immodestly dressed woman walks past their construction site. LOL!

[kokapetl]

So I guess we can't add any more unemployed sons-in-law to the "staff" then.

Well "rational actors" wouldn't. JimBob would say "yeah, y'all can have jobs!", he'd also call them son-in-laws.

[MarysWetBar]

Yep, they've messed them up in every conceivable way. And that'll only become more and more apparent as their fame and its attendant comforts slowly (too damned slowly) recede. And then some of the kids will hear a wake-up call and realize that they need to try to make new and different lives for themselves. And others'll fall into chaos and blame and other kinds of interpersonal messes.

There's lots that's going to unravel in years to come. But for any ones that have guts and half a brain, I think the unraveling is the only thing that'll save them, and the sooner it happens the better. Yeah, they lack the backgrounds that help some people make a go of things, but plenty of people without the right backgrounds, including people who don't speak the language or represent cultures that scare many Americans half to death, still manage to claw their way to a decent life. It's not impossible, although it takes a lot of work and determination. And hopefully some will realize that, in their case, it was their selfish nutburger parents who made it so hard for them, and they'll vow never to do this crap to any new generations.

With luck, that'll happen before Jim Bob dies so he has to watch his rotten philosophy get abandoned and spat upon by at least some of its victims.

I love your posts Churchie and i totally agree that these kids have a very unrealistic view of the way things are. They have effectively been hobbled..from ever leading normal lives unless the show is cancelled once and for all. The longer this goes on the more "disabled" they are all becoming and they are bringing MORE children into this reality.

Anyone who thinks the television show is bettering their lives needs to think it through further to the endc game. (Sorry Koka!)

Edited to add this gem. All the other boys must have been cleaning toilets this day!

Edited November 21, 2015 by MarysWetBar

[Churchhoney]

In the next five or so years, JB has six boys who will be joining the Duggar workforce. It's just not sustainable. If JB has any smarts at all, he needs to look for sons-in-law who run small businesses (landscaping company, construction company, moving company, etc.) who can hire Ben and some of the older boys to get them off the Duggar payroll. 

 

Unfortunately for the Duggar young women (although, I think, fortunately for the whole enterprise, although in a painful way), I expect that the clear necessity of this will strike would-be suitors who have this characteristic. And send 'em running for the exits. Nobody wants to envision providing an income for the whole, ever-expanding Duggar clan. 

[lookeyloo]

I love your posts Churchie and i totally agree that these kids have a very unrealistic view of the way things are. They have effectively been hobbled..from ever leading normal lives unless the show is cancelled once and for all. The longer this goes on the more "disabled" they are all becoming and they are bringing MORE children into this reality.

Anyone who thinks the television show is bettering their lives needs to think it through further to the endc game. (Sorry Koka!)

Edited to add this gem. All the other boys must have been cleaning toilets this day!

Wowzer. She is "semi-nude" and leaning into him and he seems like a willing participant. And he's holding a cell phone. Did JB put some parental controls on it??? He seems less to have drunk the kool aid lately.

[kokapetl]

I like that the phone isn't in some weird belt holster like it normally is.

His double pleated pants however...

It must suck to be John-David. He would've been subject to a ton of scrutiny he didn't deserve after what Josh did. He was probably more sequestered from the opposite sex, both family and non family, and it really shows in his lack of social skills.

[MarysWetBar]

Wowzer. She is "semi-nude" and leaning into him and he seems like a willing participant. And he's holding a cell phone. Did JB put some parental controls on it??? He seems less to have drunk the kool aid lately.

That ain't no flip phone. Lol

He could get the "YouTube's" on that puppy..haha

Edited November 21, 2015 by MarysWetBar

[mimionthebeach]

Oh, I don't know...I personally find guys in kilts QUITE defrauding :)

Ooooo, I love a man in a kilt.

Clearly men should be wearing loose, floor-length skirts of a heavy fabric (denim, maybe) to hide those defrauding bulges, and the effect their being defrauded has on them.