It's hard to keep track of which Duggars are pregnant these days. So in case you missed it, Jinger Duggar Vuolo announced that she is expecting her first child in early January. And while some of her siblings have kept fans updated with endless Instagram posts chronicling their pregnancies, Jinger has been a tad more low key. Evidently, her scarce pregnancy updates are not enough for some fans, who keep asking Jinger to show off her bump more.
In late January, Jinger posted a photo of her bump for the first time, at 15 weeks along. "Baby Vuolo is growing!" she wrote. Since then, her only two Instagram posts are photos of her with a few other family members. Her latest post is a photo of her and three of her younger sisters, captioned, "Visiting the family ❤️." In the photo, she is wearing a loose jacket, which covers her stomach. A quick scroll through the comments section reveals several comments asking her why she doesn't show her bump off more. "Cover baby bump why?" commented fabfamfun123. "Show us your bump! Please 😁," added steph.volz. "Bump picture please? How far along are you? How are you feeling?" wrote heyred.413.
While the intent behind these comments is likely positive, it's important to note that Jinger is not obligated in any way to share photos of her body. Pregnant bodies don't exist solely for public consumption, and asking a stranger to share photos of parts of their body is a little strange, regardless of whether they are pregnant.
About two weeks earlier, Jinger posted a photo with her husband Jeremy Vuolo, brother John, sister Jill, her husband Derick, and their baby son Sam. "We had an amazing last minute surprise visit from John, @jillmdillard @derickdillard & little Sam the other day! Always good to see the fam! 😍," Jinger captioned the shot.
And while the aim of the post was probably to simply share a sweet family shot, commenters still focused on her bump. "Jinger, you need to get home before Joy has her baby and get a pic of Joy, you, & Kendra showing baby bumps! Then do it again in a year with your babies! It would be so cute!" commented one user. Others made comments about Jill's body, feeding into rumors that she is expecting again.
Not to mention, when Jinger posted the photo of her bump last month, some fans commented asking when she would post another photo of her growing bump. "When will you do another bumpdate?" commented a2401baileyrena. "Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to weekly updates. So cute!" added melissaelizabeth13. And again, while these comments definitely come from a place of support, it's not fair to expect Jinger to share weekly updates solely about her pregnancy. Every expectant mother has the right to keep their pregnancy private (see: Kylie Jenner), and if Jinger chooses not to share any further "bumpdates," that's totally her call. She is also a person independent of her pregnancy, who has a family and friends. Just because she's pregnant does not mean all of her photos or life updates need to include that pregnancy, which is only one portion of what looks like a life chock full of family events.
Furthermore, a few days before Jinger Instagrammed her bump, she shared a photo of herself and Jeremy goofing off in hats from restaurant chain The Varsity. It was a totally normal, innocent photo — but InTouch Weekly framed the photo in a way that accused Jinger of withholding her bump from the public. The publication's headline read: "Jinger Duggar Hides Growing Baby Bump in New Photo With Hot Hubby Jeremy Vuolo." To say that every photo a pregnant woman posts where her bump is not front and center for all to see reinforces the idea that women do not have complete agency over their bodies — and that is problematic.
However, Jinger has proven that she won't let criticism get to her. Endless people have questioned the reality star about why she waited about a year after getting married to get pregnant (much longer than her other married siblings waited) — but Jinger seems too happy to care.
Check out Romper's new video series, Bearing The Motherload, where disagreeing parents from different sides of an issue sit down with a mediator and talk about how to support (and not judge) each other’s parenting perspectives. New episodes air Mondays on Facebook.
