Thanks, I Hate It
Joy-Anna Forsyth says it took her two years of prayer before she felt comfortable wearing pants in public.
Joy-Anna Forsyth grew up on TV, often sharing her family’s ultra-conservative Christian values with the world. When Joy was still a school-aged child, she discussed modest dress regularly on her family’s show, 19 Kids and Counting. Their modest dress rules prohibited women from wearing pants in any circumstance. Many years later, Joy-Anna has ditched the Duggar family rule. Still, it wasn’t an easy choice. She admits it took her years of soul-searching to finally pull on a pair of jeans.
Joy-Anna Forsyth spent years contemplating her fashion choices
Joy-Anna Forsyth appeared to be one of the most devout Duggars when Counting On and 19 Kids and Counting was on the air. Her marriage to a family friend suggested she would carry on the Duggar family traditions. That changed when she changed her style of dress and admitted she was not following the teachings of the IBLP. She didn’t come by those choices easily, though.
In a recent Instagram story, Joy-Anna Forsyth revealed that it took her two years of soul-searching and praying before she was ready to drop her family’s strict modesty rules. Austin Forsyth was equally involved. Still, she insists the decision wasn’t a “rebellious” one. Instead, she claims she has redefined what it means to live and dress modestly.
The decision might have been easier for other Duggar sisters
While Joy-Anna had sisters and sisters-in-law who had all decided to wear pants before her, the decision was still difficult for her. The dress code change may have been more challenging for her than her sisters because of who she married. While Joy insists Austin Forsyth has supported her choices, she noted that both she and Austin were raised within the same ultra-conservative Christian social circle. They both grew up thinking that a woman wearing pants was considered immodest. Joy’s sisters did not have the same roadblock.
Jinger Vuolo and Jill Dillard both opted to wear pants before Joy. Jinger came first, stepping out in jeans and pants not long after marrying Jeremy Vuolo. Jill followed, sharing photos of herself wearing ripped jeans and even denim shorts. Both sisters have discussed the decision to wear pants and the tension it created with their parents. However, they had backers in their husbands, neither of whom were raised in the strict religious ministry in which the Duggars were raised. Neither Derick Dillard, who married Jill Dillard in 2014, nor Jeremy Vuolo, who wed Jinger in 2016, thought pants were raised to believe women in pants were inherently immodest.
Today, all of the married Duggar daughters don pants, and most of the women who married into the family do, too. However, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have kept the dress code rules for their youngest daughters intact. Michelle still avoids pants, too.
