Duggars only get access to social media once courting - why?

[BlackSheep]

Paid help? Not likely since there were 500 volunteers for Jill's wedding day prep. The Duggars expect handouts and free labor.

That really burned my butter. :angry-banghead: If you need more than a handful of volunteers, and the volunteers are total strangers... then consider dialing it back. :roll:

You have 21 people in your immediate family, plus Anna, Ben, and Cousin Amy and her parents. The bride and groom helping to decorate isn't unheard of either. Even if, say, the youngest 5 kids are watched by 1 adult, that's still 22 people to decorate the day before. Oh, and hire a caterer!

The dresses were on clearance. CinderJana modified them. Cheap sandals. A family friend played the piano. The honeymoon was a few states away (did TLC pay for it? :think:). The house was free.

Bunch of cheapskates. :roll: They must be holding tightly to their money for when the TLC gravy train stops. And it will.

[HarleyQuinn]

OT, I suppose, but I wonder if they have domestic help. Paid, domestic help I mean, not just the kids and Grandma Duggar. We hear a lot about their "Jurisdictions", but we really don't see them doing too much. Even the child rearing isn't really shown much. The little kids just run wild, so I don't really see where Jana, Jill, Jessa and Jinger have been too terribly busy chasing after them.

And by now, all the kids can dress themselves and all but may Josie and Jordyn should be able to brush their own hair, etc. So other than a few reminders here and there, the care of the kids seems pretty light in that family. Schooling we know is done mostly by Debbie Query, and I think when she lived at home Jessa helped out, but I don't think Jana and Jinger do that.

While my heart goes out to those girls, and really all of the kids, I really do wonder exactly what it is that Jana, Jinger and Joy do all day to stay busy? I suppose Joy is still in SOTDRT, but not the other two. And what do Josiah, Joe, the Twins do all day? The Twins probably spend some time in school, but Josiah and Joe are graduated, so WTF are they doing with all of their time? Other than their occasional travels, their lives seem incredibly boring to me.

That's what I wonder too. I assume JD and Joseph work at Duggar towing. Joseph might even do all of it now that JD is a "cop." But what does Josiah do? He doesn't strike me as incredibly close to his older brothers, so would they let him help? Or is he stuck hanging out with the twins making youtube videos all day and doing lawn work?

[FJismyheadship]

You talked to Amy?

Sorry, I didn't specify. I asked her on Instagram

[Toothfairy]

That really burned my butter. :angry-banghead: If you need more than a handful of volunteers, and the volunteers are total strangers... then consider dialing it back. :roll:

You have 21 people in your immediate family, plus Anna, Ben, and Cousin Amy and her parents. The bride and groom helping to decorate isn't unheard of either. Even if, say, the youngest 5 kids are watched by 1 adult, that's still 22 people to decorate the day before. Oh, and hire a caterer!

The dresses were on clearance. CinderJana modified them. Cheap sandals. A family friend played the piano. The honeymoon was a few states away (did TLC pay for it? :think:). The house was free.

Bunch of cheapskates. :roll: They must be holding tightly to their money for when the TLC gravy train stops. And it will.

The days of doing shit themselves are behind them. Way to take advantage of people

[karen77]

It could also just be a rite of passage maybe?

[SassyPants]

The days of doing shit themselves are behind them. Way to take advantage of people

I agree they are users and cheap, and I also agree they need to watch every penny (that is if anyone other than JB has any say or control of the money). JB. M and GMM will be ok once the show ends, but the rest will be hosed. Derick could support a small family on his income, but the rest are so uneducated and just how many unskilled labor jobs are available that will allow a man to comfortably and adequately support a mega family?

After JB is gone, Josh is in charge...maybe I'd better retract M and GMM being safe.

Picture it, Josh and Anna in control at the TTH and Michelle as the servant and laundry hag...I hope we see it in a VSE-

[Feberin]

I agree they are users and cheap, and I also agree they need to watch every penny (that is if anyone other than JB has any say or control of the money). JB. M and GMM will be ok once the show ends, but the rest will be hosed. Derick could support a small family on his income, but the rest are so uneducated and just how many unskilled labor jobs are available that will allow a man to comfortably and adequately support a mega family?

After JB is gone, Josh is in charge...maybe I'd better retract M and GMM being safe.

Picture it, Josh and Anna in control at the TTH and Michelle as the servant and laundry hag...I hope we see it in a VSE-

Michelle having to do work would be amazing to see! I think Grandma Mary is pretty safe. Even if her son goes belly up it appears her daughter is doing well without any help from TLC excluding whatever money Amy gets from them but I would assume Amy blows that money on herself versus handing it over to her mother or anything. I would assume if it becomes an issue Grandma Mary will move in with Deanna and use money live off rental properties not being used by her grandchildren.

[fabkiwi06]

I thought that Jana Pinterest account was pretty convincing. I think she's probably online as much as she wants to be. I bet there are more private accounts that we don't know about... I wouldn't want my ish public if I was on TV.

Jill and Jessa seem to like the attention a bit more than their siblings. Having their own social media accounts lets them have their own attention. It made sense to launch public accounts while they were the focuses of the show.

[mebeforee]

Even if Josh became the head of the family, I don't see him making Michelle do any work, and I don't think she'd be offering. He actually seems a little closer to his mom than to his dad, and if the M names are any indication he apparently felt she wasn't getting the recognition she deserves (although with the show it's hard for me to understand why anyone would think that, she gets way, way more recognition than she should and she's delegating all her work to her children). Anyway, I just can't imagine any scenario in which Michelle would be seen doing work. She tried that, and it resulted in an emotional meltdown in her laundry room. She's not going to head back in that direction now that she's free of it.

[socalrules]

If Jim Bob died, Michelle will be the head of the family just like she is now. Half of what They have is Michelle's anyway so Jim Bob can't will away what is hers. As he obviously is still over the moon for his cheerleader, Jim Bob is going to make sure she is happy and well taken care of. I think the Duggars like to play super fundy but, when push comes to shove, they aren't going to do something like make Josh head of Michelle. Besides, I have always gotten the idea that Jim Bob does not have much respect for Josh, likely for his lack of work ethic. Also, I have always believed that Michelle is driving this crazy fundy train and she will always be the sole decider of its fate.

[Rescinded and Mended]

I think that Michelle is the power behind the throne, and that their home life is very much the mentality of, "If mama ain't happy, nobody's happy." Jim Bob has stated in one interview that he'd be fine with his daughters getting job training to support themselves, if need be, but Michelle immediately stated after that even though her daughters were hardworking, the goal was for them to be wives and mothers for the lord.

I know it's debatable how much Jim Bob means what he says, but I've always gotten the personal impression that the only reason the whole patriarchal Duggar family structure works is because Michelle supports it. Jim Bob is very insecure, and if she can manipulate Jim Bob by building him up in order to do things her own way, she will.

If Michelle wasn't the one cracking the whip behind the scenes, all while making Jim Bob look like the one who was making the final decisions on the big choices (daddy chooses suitors and keeps his daughters' hearts, but mommy is the one getting visibly pissed when she sees Jessa and Ben holding hands and Jill and Derick side-hugging before marriage), I think Jim Bob would be a lot more laid back.

Of course, the great irony in all this is why it's so important for her daughters to grow up to be Godly Wombs for Jesus. Michelle herself seems to enjoy being Jim Bob's wife, but she loses all interest in her children once they are weaned and handed off to a buddy, except for Josie. Why insist that the only purpose for your daughters is for them to grow up to be mothers, when you yourself don't appear to have much interest in motherhood?

[nst]

Just look at Jessa and Ben for example. Jessa and Ben both began their instagram accounts on May 26 of last year....Jessa posted three photos and then stopped - meanwhile Ben posted endless pictures of them - just pictures of them no rants just one or two ravens.... No one stopped him until his epic facebook rant.

To them it's a platform screaming look at me (and we did) and now that they have the prize in their eyes, they can cease posting happy photos of "My best friend" and Ice cream and post endless photos of the bible and ravens. What is the point? honestly - I would rather see the pictures of them then ravens and bibles - and quotes

It's total manipulation

if it is to prove that they are holier than us - it's not working

[SassyPants]

I do not follow any of the couples on Instagram, but do peek when certain photos are mentioned. These couples are all kids in my mind as I am older than JB and Michelle and my own kids are the ages of some of the older Duggars. I really take nothing that Jess and Ben post seriously. Those 2 are like kids in Jr high. I wonder if Ben bought Jessa an ID bracelet for Christmas? The 2 are like kids playing house and I wonder if they aren't bored out of their minds.

[fabkiwi06]

The 2 are like kids playing house and I wonder if they aren't bored out of their minds.

[kmary1]

I think the social media accounts were started purely for TV ratings. I doubt the girls would be allowed to have those accounts if they weren't a TV family, or if they were it would be when they're engaged, not just courting.

[BrownieMomma]

[jingersrealmom]

They all have smartphones, no way in hell can they be monitored, that's too much work and would be a 24/7 position. Michelle is too lazy and self involved to do that. Unless of course it's a courtship conversation, then she just gets her jollies reading what they say.

[BrownieMomma]

Not monitored but locked down, as in modified to not be able to access the Internet or controlled to specific websites.

[Nishi621]

Not monitored but locked down, as in modified to not be able to access the Internet or controlled to specific websites.

[jingersrealmom]

I guess if they don't know any different, it's OK. My kids would have called cps and reported me as unfit. If course they didn't have smartphone until they were like 15/16.

[Nishi621]

I guess if they don't know any different, it's OK. My kids would have called cps and reported me as unfit. If course they didn't have smartphone until they were like 15/16.