Former TLC star Derick Dillard is being slammed on Instagram after he referred to cooking as ‘women’s work’ — but a comment from his wife Jill Duggar suggests that the controversial evangelical may have been trolling his followers.
On February 8, Derick, 30, shared a snap of Jill, 28, cooking at the stove, all the while wearing their two-and-a-half-year-old son Samuel in a baby carrier on her back.
‘Baby Sam helping Jill in the kitchen,’ he captioned the image, adding the hashtags #teachemyoung, #ergobaby, and, most interestingly, #womanswork — which prompted commenters to lambaste him as ‘sexist.
Sexist? Derick Dillard is being slammed on Instagram after he posted this image of his wife Jill and referred to cooking as ‘women’s work’
Just a joke? When commenters said that Derick just wrote that to get a rise out of people, Jill replied in agreement and used laughing emojis
While the post earned over 20,000 likes and plenty of support, the comments section was full of angry critics — some of whom complained that Samuel is way too big for baby-wearing, and many more who were furious that Derick indicated that cooking is a job for a woman.
The trolls of the fam: The couple seems keen to mess with fans and critics
‘Hashtag “woman’s work”? Wow and I was rooting for you too….’ wrote one.
‘I was with you until I saw #womanswork This makes me sad and angry,’ added another.
‘Woman’s work? #sexistmuch,’ commented a third.
And a fourth chimed in: ‘Woman’s work???? Jill, I hope you know you’re more than just a helpmeet. I hope he meant that jokingly.’
But it turns out that Derick may, actually, have meant it jokingly — and seemed to write the caption and include the hashtag to get a rise out of people.
Rude! The critics certainly came out, calling Derick out for the supposedly sexist caption
Jill gave it away, leaving her own comment with the words ‘”Baby” Sam” and a crying-laughing emoji, and another crying-laughing emoji after the hashtag #womanswork.
When a commenter speculated that Derick posted it to be ‘entertained by the comments,’ Jill answered: ‘lol… yup.’
Late, one commenter told a critic: ‘You know by now that he loves messing with the public I found it funny!’
Jill responded to that, too, writing the word ‘yup’ with another crying-laughing emoji.
Derick may have been joking, but it’s not all that surprising that followers believed that he considers some things to be ‘men’s work’ and other things ‘women’s work’ — at least, given how most of Jill’s family operates.
Starting drama: When one commenter said that Derick ‘loves messing with the public,’ Jill replied: ‘yup’
Kidding: Jill also laughed at Derick referring to their two-and-a-half-year-old son as ‘Baby’ Sam. Critics said he was too old to sit in a baby carrier, but that also seems to be part of the joke
Small family: The couple has a four-year-old son named Israel in addition to their youngest, Samuel
Most of the Duggars have very traditional expectations about the roles of men and women, and so far only Jill and her sister Jinger have made any moves that don’t align with their parents’ teachings.
For example, the male adult Duggar siblings all work: Most work a family used car lot, while sex pest Josh, 31, held a job with a Conservative lobbying organization until he was forced to resign in light of his dual sex scandals. And Jed, 21, is running for Arkansas State Representative.
But not a single female adult Duggar has held a job. Before marriage, they all lived at home with their parents and helped with the house and their younger siblings.
Once they tied the knot — mostly in their late teens and early 20s — they were homemakers in the early days of their marriage and quickly got pregnant, transitioning to stay-at-home moms.
Oldest sister Jana, 30, is unmarried, but still doesn’t work. She lives at home with her parents, takes care of her younger siblings, and has hobbies.
On their own: Since marrying Derick, Jill has has some distance from her parents, and doesn’t follow all their rules. She even wears pants, which are off-limits for Duggar women
Be submissive, ladies! Jill’s parents, Jim Bob and Michelle, believe in very traditional gender roles and expect women to submit to the men as heads of household
But since Jill married Derick, she’s been the adult Duggar to drift the most from her parents’ rules.
Though she is a stay-at-home mother, she has only had two kids, her youngest already two-and-a-half. (Most of her siblings, meanwhile, have had more babies in quick succession.)
Derick had indicated on Instagram that they may use birth control, something that Jill’s parents, Jim Bob and Michelle, have preached against.
She is also more lax on modesty standards when it comes to clothes, wearing pants and even denim shorts. Nearly all of the other Duggar women — except Jinger exclusively wear dresses and skirts.
What’s more, there has been speculation that the couple will enroll their children in public school. Jill and her siblings were all homeschooled, but Derick got a formal education and is now earning his law degree.