Jill Duggar’s Instagram Comment About ‘Woman’s Work’ Has Fans Up in Arms

At first glance, it looks like a cute photo of a mom and her son. On Feb. 9, Derick Dillard shared a photo of his wife, former Counting On star Jill Duggar, on Instagram. In the image, the mom of two is in the kitchen washing dishes with her 2-year-old son Samuel strapped to her back. But one of the hashtags Derick used on the post quickly had some people up in arms. 

Derick used the hashtag ‘woman’s work’ on his photo of Jill

Derick included a brief caption on his photo of Jill, as well several hashtags.  “Baby Sam helping Jill in the kitchen 😍 #teachemyoung #ergobaby #womanswork” he wrote. 

A few people thought Derick’s post was cute, funny, or captured a special moment between a mother and her son.

“What a wonderful thing to snap a quick pic of how much this momma loves her son,” one person commented.

“This is a great way to get work done when a child is whiny and only wants mom,” another wrote. 

Many people were offended by the post 

While Derick got some positive comments on his post, many people were put off by his use of the phrase “woman’s work.” Critics weighed in, saying that the 30-year-old law student should be helping his wife in the kitchen rather than snapping funny pictures of her while she worked. Others thought he was embracing outdated gender norms by assuming that cooking and cleaning were activities for women, not men.

“All this picture says to me is … Jill is cooking with a child strapped to her back while you have the luxury of standing there watching and taking a picture on your phone …….. maybe try HELPING her!” one person wrote. 

“Hashtag ‘woman’s work’? Wow and I was rooting for you too….,” commented another.

Jill seemed to think it was funny

While people were quick to judge Derick for what they saw as a sexist comment, his wife didn’t seem to mind. She commented on her husband’s post, writing “‘Baby’ Sam….😂 #womanswork 😂.”

Unlike some of the commenters, Jill appeared to have a sense of humor about her husband’s remark. It’s possible that the two were joking about Jill taking on “woman’s work” because in reality they share household duties. Or perhaps she just saw the humor in the situation she was in at the moment Derick snapped the photo.

Jill comes from a conservative family where men and women embrace traditional gender roles. Now that she has a family of her own, she seems to have largely stuck with that same dynamic. Her husband works or goes to school, and she stays home and homeschools their two kids. Based on what she shares on social media, she also seems to take on the majority of the household tasks like cooking. It’s not clear if Derick helps out with those responsibilities. 

Some people thought Derick was being deliberately provocative 

As some people were getting worked up about Derick’s post, others argued that he was likely being deliberately provocative in order to get a rise out of people. 

“You know he did that on purpose. He loves to get people riled up,” one person wrote. 

“You know by now that he loves messing with the public. I found it funny! 🤷🏼‍♀️😁” another commented. 

Jill replied to that last comment. She appeared to confirm that her husband was trolling people with his sexist hashtag.  “😂 yup,” she wrote.