The Duggar family, church, and the cult to which they belong are infamous for their dress code.
Strict wardrobe requirements, and the twisted ideology behind them, serve to separate the cult from society.
So why is Jason Duggar shirtless on social media?
And why is his own brother the one who leaked it?
22-year-old Jason Duggar did not upload the shirtless glimpse himself.
We can assume, however, that he was the one who removed his shirt.
As is so often the case with the Duggars, this would be normal for a normal family — but they are anything but normal.
James, Jason, and others recently enjoyed a “lake day.”
On boats and on water skis, they found a refreshing way to beat the heat.
In Jason’s case, it was clearly too warm for a shirt — and we don’t blame him.
Jason is shown here, seated on a boat, with his tatas on full display.
This is standard attire for partying at a lake on a hot summer, or late spring, day.
For the Duggar family, this is anathema.
To explain why this is so strange, we’ll remind you of Duggar ideology.
They believe that to present yourself in an appealing way is to cause desire in someone else.
Therefore, if you cause desires that cannot be acted upon outside of wedlock, you have “defrauded” someone.
If Michelle Duggar really believes that explanation, then Jason’s fit torso has just done some “defrauding.”
Fortunately, this is not how anything works in real life.
It’s just surprising to see the Duggars acting like real people in society instead of fringe cultists.
“Never thought we would see a shirtless Duggar (Jason),” a redditor remarked about James’ video.
The Reddit user added: “Strange times we’re living in …”
Another joked: “Guess his days of having to swim in jeans and a t-shirt [are] long gone.”
Is Jason Duggar going shirtless to rebel against Jim Bob and Michelle’s oppressive rules?
It is possible that, like some of his sisters, Jason is living on his own terms now — more than he was before, anyway.
James could even be helping him on purpose, “leaking” this as some act of mutual defiance.
That said, it seems more likely that the Duggar family is backing off on some of the clothing restrictions.
Part of this may have happened organically.
After all, so many of their adult daughters are married to men who “let” them wear pants.
In that situation, it’s hard to keep saying that these are clothes for harlots.
But another factor is almost certainly Josh Duggar.
Josh’s scandals, and the family’s complicity in enabling him through secrecy, have twice ended their reality TV runs.
In 2015, his molestation scandal ended 19 Kids and Counting.
Following his arrest last year for CSAM, TLC finally pulled the plug on Counting On.
Josh is now in prison where he belongs. But … what does that have to do with the family dress code?
Simply put, the Duggar family’s reality TV career included a lot of superficial nonsense.
The goal was to sell their twisted, toxic ideology by presenting a sanitized version of their lifestyle and beliefs.
Instead of showcasing the abuse within their cult, they filed down the points of their cult.
Instead, the TV audience was invited to focus upon bad perms, medieval courtship rules, restrictive wardrobes, and boundless fertility.
With the television cameras gone (hopefully for good) they can drop the act.
The Duggars are still part of a toxic cult, but they don’t have to show off a dress code to sell it to viewers anymore.