Jill Duggar Dillard Surprises Fans By Supporting The Women Of Iran

Fans of the once-popular "19 Kids & Counting" series still enjoy following the lives of the Duggar family, most of whom are active on social media. The adult siblings regularly post photos of their own growing families, and some do sponsored promotions to bring in extra income. Jill Duggar Dillard, the fourth child in the clan, is no exception. Over the years, she's shared news about pregnancies, births (and, sadly, a miscarriage), a move to a new home, and her husband Derick's new job as a lawyer. She isn't one to comment on world affairs, but she recently made one huge exception.

Jill's Insta Stories feed on October 20 was a photo of a man holding up a sign reading, "I Stand With the Women of Iran." To emphasize her point, Jill captioned the photo, "Yes!! #mahsaamini #womenofiran" and an untranslated phrase that appeared to be in Persian. The reference was to Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman who was arrested by her country's infamous "morality police." The Iranian government requires all women to wear the traditional hijab head covering in public, and Amini was accused of wearing hers too loosely. She died in police custody on September 16, 2022, reportedly of a heart attack, but her family claims that she actually died from a beating she allegedly received from the police (via Time). Since then, multiple protests have broken out against the government's stringent laws regarding women's clothes.

Could this Duggar daughter have been sending a message about her own history of oppression?

The Duggar family is famous not only for its size, but also for its ultra-conservative lifestyle. The Duggars' dress code, established by dad Jim Bob, mandated that girls wear long skirts and tops that covered the shoulders and collarbone. Wearing anything revealing, the girls were told, would be "defrauding"  — in other words, they were the ones responsible for causing lustful thoughts in men. 

As the Duggar daughters have married and moved on with their lives, most have abandoned the clothing rules they had to follow as children. While you won't see them in string bikinis, they happily wear jeans, shorts, and even tank tops. But Jinger Duggar Vuolo has gone even further by writing an explosive new book criticizing her childhood church group. The senior Duggars follow the teachings of the Institute in Basic Life Principles, a Christian organization that has been described as cult-like (via Chicago Magazine). The publisher's preview reveals that Jinger grew up in fear, believing the only way to earn God's love was to shun immodest clothing, pop music, and other secular influences.

Jill Duggar Dillard's social media post about Mahsa Amini might be sending a similar message. Like Amini, she and her sisters were compelled to dress a certain way by male authorities. Not until she left her father's home was she free to make her own choices about her appearance and lifestyle — and now she wants the women of Iran to enjoy that same freedom.