Are Some Duggar Family Members Getting Sick Of The Spotlight? [Opinion]

The Duggar family has been in public life for over a decade now. They debuted in the TV special, 14 Kids and Pregnant Again!, and progressed to a reality show whose title had to be updated as the family grew to 17, 18, and finally 19 kids. That wasn’t all — the show also followed as the eldest Duggar child, Josh, married and began raising a family of his own, and through the relationships of two more Duggar siblings.

However, publicity for the Duggar family turned sour after a police report alleging child molestation became public, and other scandals came to light. There was a brief television hiatus before the Duggar family was granted a new reality show, intended to focus on two of the elder Duggar sisters, and on their marriages and families. As the show, Counting On, continued, it broadened and has not only returned to including Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and the children who are still minors, but has featured another Duggar wedding and is promoting the upcoming season with another courtship.

However, it’s beginning to look as though the publicity is wearing on some of the family. In the past few months, one family member has faded from public view, another has drastically reduced at least one aspect of her social media presence, and another sounds a bit annoyed at participating in scripted video clips. One even seems to be making an active effort to keep her rare appearances out of the media.

Take a look.

We’ll start with the most obvious: Jinger Duggar Vuolo.

Jinger’s rumored unhappiness in the Duggar household has been a subject of speculation for viewers for years. A popular message board centered around the Duggar family and other reality stars and fundamentalists, is even named for the idea that she should ‘escape’ her family — Free Jinger.

Well, the last season of Counting On focused on Jinger’s wedding, and if fan theories about her desire to escape the Duggar home have any merit, she’s done so, moving to Texas with her new husband, Jeremy Vuolo. However Jinger feels about her upbringing, one thing is for sure: she has definitely taken the opportunity to slip off-camera. While the other two Duggar sisters who have married have a solid social media presence, Jinger has no (public) social media of her own, and rarely appears on her husband’s. Fans comment to ask where Jinger Duggar is, and Vuolo remains silent.

In fact, when Jinger does make an appearance — as in a recent video clip to wish Jana and John David Duggar a happy birthday — the post on Jeremy’s social media carries a notation warning that the video (posted on YouTube and Facebook) can’t be shared without written permission. Is this Jinger’s way of having more control over her public profile than some of the other Duggar family members?

Next: Jessa Duggar Seewald.

Jessa is in the last weeks of her second pregnancy — the seventh Duggar grandbaby is due February 2, according to the Duggar Family Blog. With her first pregnancy, Jessa shared numerous selfies, stamped with the stage of pregnancy.

Further selfies followed to document 22 weeks 3 days, 25 weeks 4 days, 27 weeks 3 days, and so on.

By contrast, this time around, the Duggar sister didn’t start posting pregnancy selfies until her 25th week — the point at which she had already shared four last time around.

Rather than following up a mere two weeks later, as she did when pregnant with Spurgeon, Jessa’s next selfie wasn’t until the 31-week mark.

In fact, the fifth-born Duggar has shared only four baby bump selfies on her Instagram account this time around — at 37 weeks, she’s publicly documented this pregnancy about the same amount she had her previous pregnancy at 25 weeks.

Okay, this may not be a Duggar thing — it’s common to document a second pregnancy less vigorously, and of course, Jessa Duggar Seewald is busy with a toddler already and hasn’t been skimping on the photos of him. Still, when we’re talking about the Duggar Radar Online characterized as “pregnant and vain” last year, it’s a sharp contrast.

Though some viewers have shared their thoughts on the Duggar Family Blog comment section to speculate that the timing of Jessa’s announcement and first pregnancy selfie was deliberately orchestrated to maximize publicity for Counting On, the overall reduction of selfie shares still leaves one questioning whether she’s just feeling the publicity a little less these days.

Who else?

One more Duggar is expecting a second baby, and she too is giving the impression that she’s a little less about the camera this time around.

Jill Duggar Dillard produced a short clip with her husband Derick Dillard, son Israel Dillard, and parents Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, in which she appears to announce her pregnancy. However, she makes it clear that this isn’t a real announcement, but a reenactment.

(partial transcript; emphasis added)

Jim Bob Duggar: Well, Jill and Derick, you got any news for us?
[all laugh]
Jill Dillard: We’re expecting!
Michelle Duggar: Yay!
Jill: You already knew that.

Jill doesn’t sound too enthusiastic in this video — and if her parents didn’t intend for viewers to know the clip was scripted and acted, Jill gave it away. By contrast, watch this clip when she announced her first pregnancy to her parents.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSQfJm69ttg

She presented the announcement to the whole Duggar family, timed when they would all be together, with a dramatic build-up, and sounds excited and nervous. If Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar knew before this was filmed, Jill isn’t giving it away.

Why the big change? Is she getting sick of making all her personal announcements on camera?

This all adds up to three of the young Duggar ladies changing how they present themselves publicly, spending less time on camera, and/or sounding less enthusiastic about filming. It looks as though the reality star life is starting to wear on the Duggar family — or at least, some family members.

[Featured Image by Duggar Family Official/Facebook]