From his unimaginable control over his children to his ill-fated forays into politics, no one would accuse Jim Bob Duggar of being a “nice guy.”
However, the latest controversy about cult-obeying patriarchy and the mess around it is a bit different.
Jim Bob donned a few outfits for a family video shared by his son recently.
Is it offensive? Many commentators are saying so. And they may have a point.
To settle things, Jade Duggar shared a clip from the Duggar family’s various outfits. The footage is from December 2022.
This was no random video – it had to do with Jed and his wife’s pregnancy announcement. They shared that they were expecting baby #2. So he captured the reactions of the people.
Michelle and Jade’s numerous siblings were among the first to know.
Then Jed went into the kitchen and asked, “Where’s the farmer?” and “There she is!”
Jim Bob came in wearing a straw hat. The hat is, apparently, an “Amish” hat that Katie’s own parents had received in Pennsylvania a dozen years earlier.
“Jim Bob cosplaying as a farmer in that shirt and tie is an insult to actual farmers,” one commenter griped.
“That’s very disrespectful,” said another.
And the third simply declared: “He is vile.” Well, that’s an easy characterization of this ignorant patriarch.
It’s easy to take a look at this and ask: “What’s the big deal? It’s not that he’s wearing a racist outfit.
Similarly, one can see that people are saying many of these things about Jim Bob simply because he Hatred His. (And they’re right!)
Both those statements are true. But that doesn’t mean Jim Bob’s dress isn’t part of a larger, insidious pattern.
Simply put, we’re seeing Jim Bob using an Amish straw hat to cosplay as a farmer.
(There is much to be said about the cult-to-cult solidarity on display, but let’s leave discussing the grim realities of Amish life to the survivors who escape the Amish world. Suffice it to say that rape The values that sustain the culture are heavily present in both communities)
This isn’t unusual for Jim Bob in two ways: he’s pretending to be something he’s not, and he’s creating a particularly rustic, “everyman” image that doesn’t suit him.
Simply put, Jim Bob has taken great pains to advance his extreme beliefs. Not by presenting them as they are, but by sanitizing them for reality TV.
She’s part of an outrageous cult, but your average person might think that a lot of her kids have bad clothes and bad hair. Okay, before Josh’s scandals shine a light on the ugly truth.
There is more to it than propaganda. Jim Bob also reportedly took all the money from TLC for the show, telling his adult children that appearing on the show was an act of religious service. In other words, he got the money… and told them that his role was selfless.
In the end, Jim Bob is no ordinary farmer living off the land. He has accumulated millions of dollars. He is a reality star and businessman. And he has been a part of the Arkansas state government for which many citizens are forever sorry.
Sure, it was just a costume. He wasn’t really impersonating a farmer. But it’s too close to comfort like the “salt of the earth, honest working man” Jim Bob desperately wants out.
Simply put: If you’re a downright thug, people won’t even like you joking About being something you are not.