The older Duggar daughters are pairing off with men hand selected for them by their father, Jim-Bob. Jill Duggar, 23, got married this summer and fell pregnant two seconds after. Jessa Duggar, 21, got engaged to a Catholic-hating gun lover and spends her time denouncing evolution and comparing abortion to the holocaust.
There’s another daughter Jana, 24, that rarely gets press. We’ve talked about Jana before as she allegedly feels like an “old maid” as she sees her younger sisters get engaged and married. New footage from the Duggar family reality show suggests that this might be true. In one scene, Jana was left behind to sew all nine of the bridesmaids dresses for her sister’s wedding as the rest of her family went to a tea party. In another, Jana got teary-eyed when asked if she had a boyfriend. Here’s more, thanks to Star:
In the “Duggar Girls Go Glam” episode that aired on Sept. 30, Jana was stuck hemming nine bridesmaid and flower girl dresses for Jill’s wedding, while the rest of the family enjoyed an afternoon tea party!
“I felt kind of sad for Jana being the one pushed into doing the alterations,” a blog commenter wrote. “I felt she is too sweet to say ‘no’ to Jill, like Cinderella.”
The 24-year-old herself even said she didn’t understand why she got the job of seamstress while many of her sisters can also sew. Then, to add insult to injury, the TLC cameras zoomed in on a tear-filled Jana’s face when a hairstylist asked her if she was seeing anyone special. “I’m good with just waiting for now,” she replied politely.
Radar takes it a step further by reporting that parents Jim-Bob and Michelle use Jana to watch over all the kids. A source tells them “It’s absolutely ridiculous how much the family makes Jana and the older siblings do. Jim Bob and Michelle have totally transitioned a lot of their parental responsibilities onto her… Ever since she was young, she’s had to watch over the house while Jim Bob and Michelle would go out for date night alone.” Remember, there are still 15 kids at home, five of whom are 10 and under. Jim Bob and Michelle probably feel like it’s not that much work for Jana and her sisters considering how hard it used to be.
I have a conspiracy theory to propose. I don’t watch the show so I can’t say if I’m pulling this out of my butt or if it might be true. (Not that those things are mutually exclusive.) What if Jim-Bob isn’t screening nice fundamentalist Christian boys for his oldest daughter because she’s so good at housework? What if Jana’s parents are keeping her home to do all the grunt work? Remember, marriage is the only way out of this family. Jana has studied midwifery but it’s not like she can leave the house as a single woman. The two kids who have left have married partners that were preselected for them. Maybe Jana is the sweet one who will take care of the kids so her parents can have more free time.
That’s not so far fetched. It used to be fairly common for one of the daughters in a family to stay behind and care for the others. I hope she finds a way out of it.
I’m hoping she’ll end up eventually rebelling over it. Or maybe – as harsh as this is – she wont be saddled with 20 kids of her own because she’ll be home taking care of her siblings for so long. The whole thing is just so sad.
She’s the chosen one who will stay single and live at home to be the all encompassing household drudge. Rebelling is not an option in their world where the sense of duty to family is very powerful. She will never have enough nerve to break free and become independent. She also may not have the financial ability to escape. She’s the one who will look after her parents when they’re old and needy. Her fate, due to her specific caring nature, was probably decided years ago.
I hope so too. I am reminded of this very fundamentalist family that I know–and their story gives me hope. It’s a young couple–neither of them are thirty yet. But both come from families of 10-12 kids. And both said that they wanted a large family. She proceeded to have four kids in six years (and one miscarriage)–and in the midst of all that, she had major health problems. Not only did she have kidney stones throughout three of her pregnancies, the first three babies had to be in the NICU for the first six weeks or so of their lives because of their mother’s health issues (they also came early). The only reason the last one came out healthy was because her second youngest was two years old when she was born.
But anyway–me and my mom ran into her at the grocery store, and she told us that she had gotten her tubes tied. And I was floored. Because it really did seem like she was going to go the way of her mom, of her in-laws……she had all of the markings–didn’t go to school past HS, traveled with her family until she got married i.e. was a babysitter (her family does tent revival meetings, and she’s the 2nd oldest), and married a massive douche at that (ughhhh, can’t stand her husband), etc.
So I hope there’s hope for Jana. She deserves a whole lot better.
Jana’s spirit was broken years ago. They have something (Journey to the Heart?) they send their kids to when they show any sense of individualism or autonomy. She was a sweet gentle girl to begin with, but they’ve beaten her down to almost broken. I’ve long believed that the Duggar parents are holding her hostage until all the children are grown. The youngest child is special needs, so I’m pretty sure they’ll guilt Jana into caring for her for life.
@Sabrine– ITA. I don’t think there’s any “conspiracy” going on here, where it’s pretty obvious to see. According to Daddy Duggar, as the head of household, if she is the most mild tempered, easy-going and compliant child of the elder siblings, then she is the most obvious choice to keep for himself/the family.
If they can only escape through marriage and these girls don’t meet any suitors without Daddy’s introduction, how else will she be ever be able to leave? Makes sense that she got teary and said that she was “content with waiting.” I’m sure it’s an ongoing discontent at home.
One of these kid’s tell-all book won’t be for another many years until they are older and are willing to be shunned from the only family and way of life they know.
Me too. Sadly though I think she’ll end up being the spinster aunt who cares for her younger siblings and when they grow up she’ll then take care of her elderly parents.
@Amanda_M87
This +1000. And it’s not just this family or large families when it comes to caring for aging parents either. Siblings rarely share this demanding job equally. And it tends to (though NOT always) fall to a woman or a person who has a gentler (for want of a better word) personality.
It’s actually kind of creepy how unconsciously these decisions are “made” by most families. Caring for your aging parents is a very loving act, but not when your siblings dump it into your lap, run for the hills and turn up to cry at the funeral.
In terms of helping raise your siblings, this happens to a lot of firstborns and it’s ok in SMALL doses. But cut your eldest child some slack and have some effing ethics. This family can afford nannies by now and they should stop being so cheap.
@Tulip– That’s an interesting point. They certainly can afford nannies now and don’t have to put this pressure on their eldest daughter. However, I don’t think they ever will. They would likely view it as a weakness and quote something biblical as an excuse.
I just watched ‘Like Water For Chocolate’…..that’s what this whole situation reminds me of.
Ha, that’s EXACTLY what I thought!
Maybe she’ll cry into the cake and everyone will sob at the reception as a result.
I hope that Jim-Bob ends up with dysentery, though. He deserves it.
I was just thinking the same thing! That does show at least the hypothesis isn’t that far fetched.
I’ve seen it with bachelor sons In rural Wisconsin, too. It’s an old way of doing things.
This used to be so normal, it was pretty much expected in Victorian England with richer families. Queen Victoria famously sulked for six months solid when her youngest girl fell in love and wanted to marry, and only stopped because the bridegroom agreed to move in and live with her, so nothing need change. Given this family have “traditional” leanings and see girls as chattel, it would figure they have assigned one to be their personal servant for life.
This whole scenario is so disturbingly Victorian. I hope she escapes being the maiden aunt, if that is what she truly desires. Is it too much to hope that she makes a break for it with someone who isn’t her parents’ stooge?
Far-fetched? Not at all. Not only has she been chosen to be the one staying home to raise her siblings, I would put money on her never marrying. Instead she will take care of Michelle & Jim Bob in their “golden years”. All the while smiling dutifully, because not smiling 24/7 is a sin against god.
I do hope she escapes, but I have doubts she will. She’s been programmed from birth to obey and smile and never, ever question the authority of her parents – especially her father. A marriage would get her out of that house at least, but without daddy dearest setting it up that will never happen. I can’t see any of her siblings helping her either, they are just as brainwashed as she is.
She is a slave in her own family and will likely remain so.
I keep hoping one of these girls will snap and run away.
Me, too. Maybe this gal will be the one to blow the lid off the entire works. Duggar- Fundy Mormon Insider Tell-All.
With so many kids the chances of someone rebelling is very likely. Especially since they are on TV and on magazine covers constantly. The parents can try to keep them contained but if they want to profit from television and be “pseudo famous” it will eventually bite them on the ass.
And it’s gonna be awesome!
She looks like Linda Hamilton and be Sarah Connor for Halloween; use her strength to get out!
JimBob and Michelle are the Dresden firebombing of parents: a phenomenon that creates its own weather and generates whirlwinds that suck up all the oxygen so nobody can breathe. I’d like to hope that Jana can somehow escape, but I don’t hold out much hope.
This is my theory on why all the girls are hurrying to get married – they’re running away from their parents. Only they are so brainwashed that breeding is what being a “real woman” & being obiedent to God is, that they’re sadly becoming their mother
That’s what I did. Fortunately, I found a wonderful husband and was able to escape the backward ideas I grew up with. Want the same for Jana.
The kids are getting married because the parents designed it that way. Female children are married off at a young age so they won’t have to be supported any longer.
Yes. The only reason they’re getting married is because their parents chose their partners and set it up. It’s not like they can just “date” until they find someone they want to marry. They date when Jim Bob tells them they can and only the person he chooses. Ugh. I just can’t. If this girl is still single, it’s because he’s already has her marked for something else.
Plus…hormones. Those kids are so repressed and unable to so much as hold hands, right? If they want to do anything more than “side hug” they have to get married. Hence the sprint to the altar.
Why do hairstylists always ask about boyfriends? Seriously they barely get my name out of me before asking what my relationship status is. Get better questions, hairstylists! In regards to her parents, she sounds like she has no escape and it is really sad. Poor Jana.
Ha! I absolutely hate feeling like I have to talk to my stylist. I’m a pretty anti-social person & I think it’s weird to talk about personal things for possibly hours every 3 months or so
I’m like you. I really don’t like talking to the hairdresser much. When I’m at the salon I just want my hair washed and treimmed and get it over and done with.
This is why I’m so thankful one of my close friends is my hair stylist. I’ve seen her cut kids hair though, and it’s hilarious. She’ll get them going on about video games, or sports, or whatever.
I have in the past told a stylist that I’m not much of a chatterbox and am perfectly fine with relative silence. It works pretty well, and doesn’t offend. In fact, I think it has provided both me and the stylist with relief. Give it a go.
That was one of my favorite things about living in Asia! I brought a picture, my hairdresser did his best to do my hair like that and we didn’t have to chit chat.
I absolutely love my hair stylist. She’s half my age and took over from my previous stylist who moved away and had been my stylist for years. I’m so glad I gave her a chance. She and I connect on many levels and have honestly learned a lot from each other and our monthly conversations.
As for Jana, poor girl. RUN!
This is exactly why I go to the salon down the block where they only speak Spanish. Since I don’t.
I used to co-own a salon (I’m an esthetician) and I always loved it when my clients were up front about not wanting to be chatty. One client came for regular pedicures and on her first visit she (very nicely) said that she really just preferred to sit and relax while getting services. With others, who obviously didn’t want chat but were a little shy about saying so, I would offer magazines, or tell them to bring their book along. Sometimes the look of relief was so obvious I had to stifle a giggle.
As long as you’re polite, don’t be shy in requesting quiet time during a service. Sometimes it’s a nice break for your stylist/esthetician to not have to talk too! 😀
or, you know…maybe she doesn’t like men and is sad because she can’t live an OUT life amongst those extremists and knows there’s no coming out for her, unless she wants to be shunned or outright disowned.
I was thinking about that too odds are one or more will be gay.
Who knows what they would do. A friend of mine grew up in a similar family to the Duggars, very religious, no birth control, way too many kids. Both of his brothers are gay the family accepts them completely and is close with the husband of one of the brothers. Of course they don’t have a reality show image to uphold.
I think the odds of one of them mastarbating would be high. Could you imagine the guilt associated with that..?
But that show I would watch because it would be interesting as opposed to creepy as hell.
Do you think she’s self aware enough to understand about being gay?
right? I would think growing up in that family, so sheltered from life on the “outside” she probably wouldn’t recognize that not being attracted to men is actually a possibility. not that she’s stupid, just that she might feel something was “wrong” with her and not realize that she could be gay and actually live her life as a gay person. I mean, these kids aren’t even allowed to get a real college education. I think any sort of heightened awareness in that way is out of the question until they are allowed more exposure to the world at large — which is not likely to ever happen.
yes, doofus, i was coming here to say the same thing! when i read “i have a conspiracy theory to propose” i thought for sure the next sentence was “jana is a lesbian but her parent’s have forbidden her to every speak of it!” or something to that effect.
it might also just be that her parents are selfish enough to keep her at home to be a 3rd parent for her siblings, because if too many of the older girls leave the house jimbob and michelle will have to raise their OWN kids themselves! (oh the horror! parents having to parent!) poor jana!
Jana has a twin brother who is not married or engaged or courting or whatever. I watch the show……..its mostly a hate watch. I don’t see how Jana’s life would change by getting married. SHe’d still be stuck taking care of a bunch of kids.
That’s the whole point of the exercise, I think. Ingrain in the females from an early age that being a homemaker, wife and mother are the best things ever, and the only really acceptable life choices. Look at how isolated they are. They socialize only with other families that are like them. These girls have probably never really talked to a woman with a college education, or one who happily works outside the home. I know the older ones are allegedly “midwives” but they provide services only inside the insular community.
Jana is stuck no matter what she chooses. If she stays now, she’s a work horse. If she marries a man approved by her dad, same thing, different master. If she runs, she loses the only home she’s known and every person she knows. She has no good choices here.
That’s how I saw it too. She’s either going to stay and continue to be their sad servant girl, or get out and go right into the same situation.
The lack of choices and education these kids have, and the strangle hold of control their parents force onto them, are so sad.
I also watch it as some kind of weird pathetic obsession. I think, having grown up in a fairly-evangelical family and now being agnostic, it is a kind of therapy and fascination at the same time.
What I have to say for Jana is that in a way she is fortunate as each year that passes means she can have 1 less child. However, because she has been so misled she probably would not see it that way. One thing’s for sure, she has been completely robbed of her youth and I consider that unforgivable. Shame on both parents and shame on Jill for taking such advantage of Jana. I really consider JB & Michelle little better than slave owners in her case. She has better health care and her basic needs are met, but it appears she is treated about like a house slave.
Jana, girl. You are pretty, young, not tied down with a husband or 11 babies, and you don’t deserve this crap. Run girl run. (Easier said than done, but I feel so bad for her).
See how your “lucky” sisters are doing in ten years.
This is basically the model their religious views promote. You use your children as labor. A household of 19 children wouldn’t be sustainable without help. I feel so terrible for Jana because its clear that she’s been roped into this. Most people her age are out of college, experiencing adult life for the first time (or they’re in grad school!). What life has she ever known? Basically childcare and housework. I feel bad for all of them, but Jana really caught the short stick.
Now we just wait to see what Jinger does. If anybody runs, a lot of people seem to bet on her…
+1 the only episode I ever watched showed the Mom going over their “Buddy System,” wherein the older kids pretty much raise the younger ones…I was pretty grossed out. Dont have 20 kids if you cant be a parent to all of them. It’s not fair to rope your older kids into being substitute parents for the younger ones
CB that is no conspiracy, that is the truth of the matter. They go all around the country preachying, doing speaking gigs, selling books and their lifestyle why she is left to raise the family. They had a lot of boys in a row after the older girls so she is needed. Let’s not forget jim bobs poor mother, who moved in after her husband died and has a room off the laundry where she is in charge of their clothes washing and that’s allllll she does allllll day. I know it sad that I know this but I have watched this show for years.
Vent over
Uh, yeah. I don’t see the conspiracy theory, seems pretty obvious to me. I don’t watch the show but …. the mother does the laundry??? All day??? WHAT? I hate these two a**holes.
Grandma Duggar would be better off if she was a house elf, as she would then be just one batch of dirty socks away from freedom. Seriously, the show I’d watch is the one where Grandma tells her ingrate son and his Stepford wife to f**k off, buys herself a nice condo on the Gulf Coast of Florida and sends all HER laundry out to be done. She could get a nice widowered boyfriend in her age bracket, give or take 10 years and go on trips to exotic places 2 or 3 times a year. The punchline when Mary Duggar was asked about her son would be “Jim Bob who?”.
Poor Jim Bob’s mom! Made the sensible decision to have only two children, then enslaved to the Duggar brood when her husband dies.
I read a TV gossip site that refers to that middle group of boys as, “the howlers”, and the youngest girls are, “the lost girls”. Josh is “Smuggar”, JB is “Jim-Boob”, and Michelle is many, many things……
I think you are absolutelycorrect. Jana is indispensable to that family and Michelle literally couldn’t function without her around. On a recent episode she was chosen to act as chaperone for Jessa & Ben while they took the youngest few to an arcade (to practice their parenting skills?) and Jana said she’s just going to observe and only step in to help them if it became necessary. I actually felt happy for her about that, because it was as if she finally got a night off & could enjoy pizza & games without being responsible for minding any children.
I feel really badly for Jana. She seems very sad and I think it’s disgusting the way her parents use her. They treat her like a slave and just expect her to do all this stuff and their belief system dictates that children (even adult children) are supposed to do be obedient and immediately do everything their parents ask of them and do it all *joyfully* with a smile and that to show anger or complain is disrespectful and not allowed. She has no escape and doesn’t even have her own bedroom. She has to share with all her younger sisters. It makes me sick how these people have all these kids and money and yet push all this responsibility on their children. Like the bridesmaids dresses…they have more than enough money that they could have hired someone do it instead of just expecting Jana to take it on on top of everything else. She’s a pretty girl and sadly, has no chance to escape until her father picks out a suitable mate for her. I hope when that happens, it’s someone who treats her well and that she truly cares for and not just something she goes along with because her parents like him or to get out of the house. She should be in university, having fun, figuring out who she is and making friends, not spending her days parenting her siblings and doing housework!
They are stealing the best years of her life – I wonder if she is a super easy going person and that is what is allowing her to survive this state of slavery – or, if she is silently holding anger, a mount vesuvious in the making. Since the only addictions she has been exposed to is pregnancy addicted Michelle and hairspray addicted Jim-bob, I could also see her falling prey to drug addiction if she gets a taste – not allowed to have anything that is not crying or smelling like vitalis.. then cousin Mary from the mountains offers her a hit of the good stuff
I have never watched their show, but I think I recall reading here that both Jana and another one of the girls have been “trained as midwives.” Does anyone know to what extent, exactly? I’m curious as to how competent they really are, given that I’m guessing they didn’t go to any kind of actual college for it… If they were to “run away,” could they get a job at a hospital or birthing center?
I think they are just lay midwives. They would not be able to work out of a birthing centre or a hospital, only at their client’s homes.
That’s kind of what I figured. That just seems insane to me, though! The family is opening itself to all kinds of litigation if something were to go wrong at a birth one of their girls attended… I guess this is just how their sect does things, but I’m 9 months pregnant right now and there is NO WAY I’d let someone unlicensed and with an uncertain level of training anywhere near me when it comes time to deliver.
They went to their parents’ school of midwifery.
Let’s just say this – I wouldn’t trust them to deliver my baby. They are “direct-entry” midwives, I believe, which basically means “self-taught.” There’s like a couple levels of midwives, ranging from nurses to non-nurses who attend specialized midwifery schools and then people like these, who just start doing it one day.
Let’s put it this way – they are people who reject almost all modern scientific data about a variety of things, including evolution, geology, astronomy, etc. They have no legit scientific education, nor were they ever trained to be critical thinkers. Successful midwives use science and evidence to made sound medical decisions. How can the Duggar girls ever hope to provide the best care for their clients, since they themselves cannot reasonably be expected to think logically or scientifically?
i wouldn’t be surprised if the girls (e.g. Jana) have midwifery skills. they probably help deliver their own siblings before they can write their own name.
poor Jana. call me a cynic, but i doubt that JB and Michelle will ever let her marry. they’ll probably twist it around and make it look like it’s her decision or something.
To go totally off topic for a second… did anyone watch that Idris Elba video? Damn!
What were we talking about……
I KNOW! He freaken glistens. 😀
Jana secretly did and, after watching his hotness, she will never marry an inbred white religious dude.
there is some creepy shit going down in that family. Gramma is chained to the laundry room and the kids are brainwashed to the point of stupidity. But yet they have a “reality show” it’s some messed up stuff. 🙁
The real issue here is jim bobs hair! I watch an episode once where they said he does through a can of hair spray a fortnight. So not only is he overpopulating the plantet but he is also really not helping the ozone layer.
They also don;t pay any taxes because they are registered as their own church.
Yet one more reason why religious institutions should pay taxes.
Its Flowers in the Attic in reverse for Grandma Duggar.
The only thing I get from these posts is that the Duggar women all have the same hairstyle.
Because that’s how Daddy likes it, which is freakin gross in itself.
Teey do — it’s the hairstyle they are told God wants them to have. No joke.
This is the first time I’ve actually felt this family is evil. I wonder if the people who help the polygamist sect girls escape could approach this girl.
THIS! This poor girl could never afford to escape on her own. She would also need therapy to deprogram herself…
I really don’t think she’d be able to cope in the “real world” after 24 years of living like a “duggar”. It would be really hard for her. I think she needs to have a talk with her parents and express her desire to get married (if that’s really what she wants). If her desire is to enter the real world and find a man on her own and a career, she will need a lot of help, but I hope she gets whatever it is she wants and is happy. Also, I hope these kids get to keep whatever money they are making from this show…would be a shame if the parents got it all.
In a way it seems Jim Bob’s personality is not too far off of that of Phillip Garrido – he has the girls to control them and they have to wear the hair HIS way to look like his WIFE who he impregnated a few thousand times. Michelle not too far off of Nancy Garrido either since she is compliant with all this abuse and fosters it through pretending it is all Jim-Bob in control. They have all these slaves who aren’t allowed freedom so they can have their messed up kingdom of control – religion gives them a pass.
Someone get that girl a copy of Persuasion stat! (Anytime someone mentions the word spinster or old maid in terms of someone in their 20s I think of Anne Elliot)
I loved Persuasion. It had a happy ending… Maybe the same will happen for poor Jana?
A few people have told me that I look like her….not sure if I should take it as a compliment or not?
Yes, you should. She’s very pretty.
You should. She’s beautiful and appears incredibly kind.
I would. I think she’s cute.
Yes, I would date her in a sec.
She looks like Linda Hamilton who is very beautiful.
I think the daughters are very pretty, which is kind of ironic, because i think that they look like their mom, and she just looks haggard. But then again, i should look so good if i spent half my life pregnant and delivered 20 children while in total submission to my husband.
My mom always defends this family by saying ‘They take of their kids, they aren’t on welfare, what’s the problem. The older kids take care of the younger ones’
here is my complaint, If this woman wants to pump out as many children as God sees fit to give her, fine. But these children didn’t ask to be parents, no one consulted them on mommies never ending clown car womb. Why do they have to be the built in babysitters for these ppl?
I’m with you, Elisabeth!
Exactly. There is a wide, wide gap between ‘helping out’ and ‘raising them.’ Poor girl. Hopefully in five or six years as the younger children get older and maybe some of the others marry and leave home, her load will be lightened and she can quietly slip away from them. Or she runs off next week with her secret girlfriend and writes a tell-all. That would be awesome.
They are parasites of the government and taxpayers. They pay no taxes because they are considered their own church. For reals. They couldn’t take care of their family without sucking on the government’s teat.
I have no problem with people on SNAP, TANF and welfare, which only lasts a few years anyway.
That poor girl looks exactly like Jim Bob.
I believe it. Any couple that is selfish enough to have 19 kids without hiring loads of help 24/7 and still want to have their ‘own’ life without the kids, date night and whatever, wouldn’t feel bad about using their kids to raise each other and maybe hold back or chose one or two to single out and make them the servant of the family.
Unfortunately, in every big family, there is a Jana. My mother is 1 of 10. Her little sister took care of everyone’s kids. She first lived with my mother between when I was born and when I started kindergarten. She was basically my nanny. She took care of me, taught me how to read, she did everything my mother couldn’t. Once I reached school age, she went to live with her oldest sister. She went from family to family until she was about 35 and had her own child because of someone who took advantage of her inexperience. I truly believe that because she became a glorified nanny to her siblings, she missed out on what could have been a wonderful life. She didn’t have a chance to be young and indulgent like everyone else. She took care of other people’s responsibility. My mother and myself are the only ones who have taken responsibility for her. We help my aunt and her son out financially and let her know that we are grateful for her sacrifice. Unfortunately, Janna has been tapped to sacrifice her life for the family. She will take care of the smallest Duggars and then then sacrifice some more by taking care of Michelle and Jim Bob when they are old and sick. I pray to my bones that this girl will surprise us all one day and say “screw this, I’m out.”
They have lovely daughters
If the father is the one who picks their husbands for them, why would he not start with the oldest daughter? If she’s 24, that would make her the oldest right? Seems like they don’t want her getting married and need her around to be the chef, maid, babysitter, etc. That’s horrible and really not fair.
Because 1. They need her to be their slave and 2. She is a “Bad Seed.” She’s been sent to that creepy Fundie reeducation camp a bunch of times.
I don’t follow the show and had no idea they consider her a “bad seed”…that’s ridiculous !
This has been my main issue with this family all along. It’s all well and good for Michelle to say shit like, “Saying someone has too many kids is like saying there are too many flowers!” but the reality of the situation is each child needs love, care and one-on-one time with their parent(s), not to mention the physical day-to-day stuff all children require (food, baths, clean clothes, etc.) And it’s obvious most of those needs are being met by the older children which is unfair to the older child and the younger child. As I’m watching the show (Yes, I’m a masochist) I’m always thinking, “What if one of these kids has an issue, like ADHD or an anxiety disorder or just any kind of behavioral problem that would require extra attention from JimBob and Michelle? Would they be shit out of luck?”
This is why the quiverful movement is also called the “stay at home daughter” movement.
Sounds like the life of the eldest child growing up in a family with domestic violence (between the two parents). Oftentimes, the parents are too consumed with battling one another that they forget their own children. Then, the eldest child steps in as a third parent to the younger sibling(s). It sucks. Such things prevents the eldest from living and developing their own healthy and fulfilling personal lives.
This was my life for a good portion of my childhood and my entire adult life so far (I’m 31). I have no partner or children of my own currently. I am hopeful that I can begin living my own life soon.
You can start living your own life as soon as you are ready. It is completely reasonable for you to walk away from family drama and games to do your own thing. Often times we get roped back in, thinking that if we aren’t there to pick up the pieces, things will fall apart. BUT, what if you moved on, and that forced people to do what they should have been doing all along?
I know it’s hard, I’ve been there. You don’t need to wait for them to tell you to live your life. They never will. You just need to do it. And the day you decide to do that is that day that it won’t seem hard.
Good luck!
The sacrifice of a life of your own is a price THEY are willing to pay to meet their needs.
I speak from experience.
If you ever want your own life, don’t partner with an alcoholic or a person with narcissistic personality disorder – Study this disorder and learn it up and down. Read comments by women who live with narciissits and alcoholics – watch for red flags. The partner calling you names, wanting you to give up ‘you’ things…. The sarah hyland articles have good comments on this. You have to be very careful because you have been controlled to not end up with your life owned by your spouse – because this will feel family – ar to you. Kind Men who don’t create drama seem ‘boring’ – they are not it is just you are not used to not being on an emotional roller coaster. Spend time getting to know yourself so you can be strong in who you are and have strong boundaries of behaviour you will and will not accept into your life before embarking on a marriage/partnership.
Jana has actually said it herself that she had troubles with her attitude towards family members and asked the Lord to help her love her family more. She’s made to feel responsible for not being able to put up with this crap at all times and with a smile on her face. Like it is her fault the burden is too much.
She’s so young but she has no idea what being young really means. She’s a full time mom to children that aren’t her own and have living parents. I’m not sure she ever had the chance to be a child herself.
There was an episode of the show about the 12th birthday of one of the other girls, Joy, and it said that at the age of 12 she had already changed more diapers than most fathers have. She’s currently 17 and she sometimes gets angry and impatient with the children, unlike the always happy and cheerful mom Michelle, and I’m thinking- of course she’s angry, she’s fed up with it and is not allowed to do anything but take it out on the kids.
Those kids must be repressing so much frustration and resentment. How can you teach your children that feeling frustrated or angry is a sin? Teach your children how to handle the emotion, not made to feel guilty that it exists. You can completely love your family but they still drive you crazy sometimes -that’s every family ever.
I say Jana, Jinger and John-David should pack their knap sacks and head for the hills….anywhere but there. The poor Stepford children. That damn Michele sickens me the way she manipulates those children. They should be like the Mormons or whoever and have the chance to make their own choices at 18. Sadly, they would probably stay there with mama and dad. John-David the only 24 year old virgin in the country. Jim Bob….what is that sound coming from John’s room…..he’s trying to escape or he’s found a playboy….I hope.
Someone should create a show called Undercover Duggars, where a young couple infiltrates this sect, and convinces the rest of these kids that life is so much more than doing what your Jack rabbit parents tell you. Then, they flee in the night with the defectors, set them up witness protection style, and we never hear from the Duggars again.
I’d totally watch that!
It would be entertaining if one of the kids rebelled and was in on this and giving a secret dialogue (like Lisa Ling without that excruciatingly annoying tongue rolling on the R’s) I’d totally give up some vices and get cable for this too.
Reminds me of like Water for Chocolate… Poor Tita had to be the family slave 🙁
Doesn’t the show have to pay the children including Jana something? Surely fame has brought them offers of agents and book deals? So surely Jana has some financial resources?
That’s assuming JB and Michelle haven’t taken it all, which is a big assumption.
Well that just screams lawsuit, against the parents and the corporate sponsors. There have got to be lawyers salivating over that opportunity.
We should start a “Save Jana” crowd funding campaign…
Oh, I tooootally believe they are keeping Jana at home to be a slave. And she will d it with a smile because thats “family” to her. Jim Bob and Michelle actually do very little actual parenting. They are too busy with fertility docs for Michelle (seriously) and appearances and political shit. I never see Michelle being a mom to the littles. She is just hanging out with her older daughters doing fun stuff like traveling to DC to pick wedding dresses and get dolled up. You can tell Jana wants out and is humiliated that her two younger sisters are on their way out. Jill is a suck up and Jessa is a complete vain narcissistic brat. This family annoys me deeply but I feel sorry for Jana, I do think she’s being kept away from men because they need the help at home.
Jana also keeps being sent to the Quiverfull Rededucation Camp. She’s been sent quite a few times.
I actually think she wants to break me and live her own life.
She is also very cute.
This brings to mind Margaret Atwood’s novel (and movie with the late Natasha Richardson ) The Handmaids Tale. The movie is watchable even for the hotness that is Aidan Quinn. I wonder if Jana has ever seen this movie or read the book.
The Handmaids Tale if you are of a younger generation you may not have seen this movie
and it is kind of like a caricature of the Duggar situation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMfsJIvYO3s
I don’t understand why these people are still on TV. Most people don’t follow the quiverfull movement so why is this still being shoved in our faces? It’s not 1955 sheesh!
I truly hope Jana finds a way out to a happier life someday soon.
FREE JANA!!!!!!!
I would like to see her progress, without having to get married in order to “do so.” I think the other daughters got married in order to get out of parental duties and get laid. I guess it is easy to have that many children if you alone are not the ones that take care of them. Don’t get me wrong, I used to help with my sisters a lot, but not to the extent that I have seen in this show, granted, I haven’t watched it in ages.
Poor Jana, maybe she’ll confide her misery in her cousin who will help her escape!