Jinger Duggar is showing some leg! The Counting On alum opted for tiny, white shorts while participating in a festive, 4th of July marathon run.
“Happy 4th!” Jinger, 30, captioned a carousel of photos documenting the adventure via Instagram on Thursday, July 4. “Grateful for the sacrifice that many have made for our freedom.”
In the snaps, the mom of two wore a red sleeveless top, mini white shorts and black sneakers as she posed with a coffee cup. In another photo, Jinger took a break by the sideline as she sipped her caffeinated beverage.
Fans quickly flooded the comment section to applaud the former 19 Kids and Counting star for expressing her own newfound freedom after leaving the Institute in Basic Life Principles, the religious organization with which her large family was associated.
In the past, the white shorts Jinger opted for wouldn’t have been accepted by her parents, Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar, and the strict rules that were in place during her childhood.
“Happy 4th of July 🇺🇲 loving how cute this outfit looks on you. Cute shorts,” one fan wrote. Meanwhile, another user added, “Look at those shorts. You look so cute!”
Her older sister Jill Duggar also shared a message of encouragement, writing, “Proud of you.”
Growing up, the Duggar girls adhered to their IBLP beliefs by wearing only dresses or skirts that were considered “modest,” which meant their clothing always extended past their knees.
“We do not dress modestly because we are ashamed of the body God has given us; quite the contrary. We realize that our body is a special gift from God and that He intends for it to be shared only with our future husband,” according to an excerpt from Jinger, Jill, 33, Jessa Duggar and Jana Duggar’s book, Growing Up Duggar, which was published in 2014. “We avoid low-cut, cleavage-showing, gaping or bare-shouldered tops, and when needed, we wear an undershirt.”
The Christian organization founded by Bill Gothard in 1961 promoted teachings on “male superiority and female obedience,” provided guidelines on how men and women should dress, offered homeschooling curricula, and emphasized Bible memorization, according to a July 2016 article in The Chicago Magazine.
After Jinger tied the knot with her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, in 2016, she revealed they began studying the scripture together and became more aware of all the “different beliefs and doctrines Christians held.”
“I realized that not everyone interpreted different passages of Scripture the way I always had, and I wanted to find out why,” the TLC personality later wrote in her 2021 memoir, The Hope We Hold. She went on to say that she “never found a passage specifically forbidding women from wearing pants.”
In her January 2023 book, Becoming Free Indeed, Jinger detailed her experience leaving the IBLP to find her own path in Christianity. She wrote about embarking on her own “spiritual journey” to “disentangle” her relationship with religion, sharing that her parents’ religious beliefs no longer had a place in her life—especially regarding clothing.
“Fear was a huge part of my childhood,” Jinger revealed to People ahead of the book’s release, noting that she grew up under beliefs with “a lot of cult-like tendencies.” “I thought I had to wear only skirts and dresses to please God.”
