There was a time when Jill Duggar seemed to be more committed to her parents’ ultra-conservative belief system than any of her siblings.
Needless to say, those days are long gone.
These days Jill wears pants, rocks a nose piercing, and generally disregards the ultra-strict dress code she was raised with.
And that’s not all.
As we recently learned, Jill drinks alcohol, which is strictly forbidden in her parents’ household.
She’s able to do all this because she made the wise, wise decision to distance herself from Jim Bob and Michelle once she got old enough to realize that the way she’d been raised was more than just abnormal … it was damaging.
One of the things that led her to this realization was the fact that Derick feuded with Jim Bob so severely that the two families essentially cut ties.
Jill was taught from a young age that a woman should be loyal to her husband no matter what, and so, she sided with Derick and finally gained some perspective on her parents’ bizarre belief system,
Jill discussed her newfound freedom in detail in a recent YouTube video in which she and Derick answered questions from fans.
“I kind of always thought they were cute,” Jill said in response to a query about her nose ring.
“But I think that some of the decisions that we’ve made, even if I liked something before, I wouldn’t have done it because maybe of the backlash that I would get or something, from people close to me or something,” she added.
“I just hate confrontation so maybe I would’ve avoided it.”
We probably don’t need to tell whom Jill is referring to when she mentions people close to her who caused her to question her decisions.
“I think because of the journey we had already been on as a couple that I was more comfortable with decisions that we make as a family,” Jill added.
“Being OK sometimes with other people not being OK is a hard thing, but as long as we knew the decisions were not wrong, they could just be ones that other people might not make for themselves and that’s like, good for us.”
Jill went on to reveal that the first public place she ever wore pants was an amusement park, and she did so only after receiving Derick’s approval.
So she’s not exactly living the life of a modern, liberated woman, but she’s taking steps in the right direction.
Jill stated that’s it’s not always easy going against her family’s belief system, and not all of her siblings are supportive of the path she’s embarked on.
“Are they supportive? Not always,” she said.
“Everyone’s gonna have their opinion about different things. Some of my siblings are probably more likely to have something to say about it than others. Some are more like, ‘Hey, I’m happy for whatever y’all are deciding.'”
It sounds as though Jill has come to accept that living life on her own terms will never be easy, and we suppose that’s true for everyone.
Another sign that she’s no longer interested in accepting every bit of advice and criticism the world has to offer?
Jill turned the comments off on her Q&A video.
Hey, she said she’s not good with confrontation!