Note from The Ashley: Jessa is currently “on tour” with the Southern Women’s Show, roaming around the Southern United States giving people advice on marriage, relationships and how to live with a giant litter of siblings. Of course, The Ashley had to know what Jessa was going to say, so she sent The Roundup’s Duggar specialist, Holly, into the field to attend Jessa Duggar’s speech/Q&A session, held today in Memphis, Tennessee. Holly was in the crowd to capture all of the awkwardness, and listen to what Jessa had to say. Here’s her account:
By Holly Rasmussen
Today, I met a Duggar and checked another thing off my bucket list. As we previously reported, Jessa Duggar Seewald (or resting bitch face Duggar, as she’s better known to some) has been traveling all around the South speaking at a series of “Southern Women Shows” events. Well, today she came to my city and I, of course, was in attendance.
I arrived at the event (which was held in an agricultural center-of course. There were literally horses outside) an hour early and the place was PACKED. Seriously. Standing room only and even that was scarce. The crowd seemed to be made up of older women in their sixties and young moms in their thirties with small children.
Jessa obviously didn’t pick the soundtrack for the speech, because they were playing songs like ‘Brickhouse’ by The Commodores. (A tune about a well-endowed woman would certainly not be appropriate for Duggar ears to hear by choice!)
Finally, the moderator comes on stage and says, “Hey everyone. Ben is here!” and the crowd goes wild. Ummm…?
Anyway, the new couple comes out (holding hands of course) and I am shocked. Jessa is wearing a sleeveless, body hugging dress and sheer black panty hose. This is a far cry from the denim jumpers they started out wearing in their original TLC specials. They sit down and kiss, of course, and the crowd cheers. So awkward. Then, it gets even more awkward. The moderator asks the crowd to turn to the person next to them and give them a side hug.
Seriously.
Now, down to business. I was under the impression Jessa was going to give a speech, but that’s not how it went down. Basically, the moderator just asked her and Ben questions. The questions were pretty bland. The moderator asked them things like, did you see another side to each other once you were married? Jessa said Ben is 20 times more loving, caring and passionate than she thought he would be. Barf. Ben said Jessa is even more organized than he thought.
Nineteen-year-old man-child Ben also told us that getting married “makes you mature more.” Sure it does, Ben. Sure it does.
One thing I found interesting was the story of how they met. They said they met when they were little attending the same church, but they don’t remember it. They met again a few years ago when Ben and his family visited Jessa’s church when they were in town for a sporting event. Ben apparently had eyes on Jessa from the very beginning. Then, he started making excuses to come back to church to see her. Finally after a while, Jessa said one of her sisters told her she thought Ben liked her. Of course, Ben said he had to befriend her father and brothers first, then he asked about courting Jessa. (I mean, why would a woman over the age of 18 be able to decide on her own whom she wants to date? That’s just crazy!)
Jessa spoke about how she and Jill are updating their book, Growing Up Duggar with more information about marriage and families. I was really surprised about how much genuine affection there seemed to be between Ben and Jessa. On the show, she kind of acts annoyed, but in person she seemed to genuinely be into him. Also, he didn’t seem as derpy and clueless in person. Maybe that’s just the editing. After only about 10 to 15 minutes of talking with the moderator, they took questions from the crowd.
Honestly? This part sucked. About 90 percent of the people they took questions from were under 10 years old, which prevented people from asking them any sort of interesting questions. Here’s a summary of what was asked:
Why did you use unity sand at your wedding? (Seriously?!)
Because they liked it.
What’s it like being on TV?
“Sometimes it’s like being in a fish bowl,” Jessa said.
When do you think you’ll have kids?
“Hopefully really soon,” Ben said, in a weird tone that makes me wonder if she might be pregnant already. “And we also hope to adopt,” Jessa added.
Do you want to adopt internationally or locally?
Ben said they’d like to do both.
“Yes, we see a need in our own community and would like to start there, but we want to adopt a lot of kids so hopefully both,” Jessa said.
What was your favorite part of the wedding? –
Although Jessa said the vows were her favorite part, she also revealed that she and Ben actually stole their unique vows. She didn’t want the traditional ones and she liked the vows at her friend’s wedding, so they just took those and tweaked them.
Did the guests know you weren’t going to kiss at your wedding? (They left the chapel to share their first kiss in private and then came back)
The couple claimed that the guests didn’t know but their families did.
What do you cook for Ben?
“I cook hot meals occasionally for dinner,” Jessa said. “But most of the time we just have Greek yogurt and granola for breakfast and lunch almost every day. (No wonder they’re both so skinny!)
“Yeah, 19 grams of protein!” Ben added. (Oh, there’s the derpy Ben we’ve been missing.)
What was the best moment of your life?
Jessa hesitated, as if she was trying to cook up the “right” answer, so Ben answered first.
“When I realized Christ has forgiven me for all my sins is first and meeting Jessa is second,” he said.
“Yeah, I was gonna say that,” Jessa said.
And, that’s all folks. They didn’t call on anyone who looked like they might have an interesting question. I wanted to ask if the rumor I’d heard about my favorite Duggar, sister Jana, is really breaking out to go to college, but they didn’t happened. All in all, they didn’t really tell us anything I didn’t already know, but I was surprised at a few things. It seems Jessa may be breaking out a tiny bit from under Jim Bob’s thumb. That dress definitely was a break out.
(Photos: Holly Rasmussen, Twitter.com/Aislinn_Towne13, Twitter.com/FM100Memphis
35 Responses
On the whole ‘resting bitch face’ deal: I have dark circles under my eyes. Combination of thin/pale skin and allergies/sinus stuff. I’ve had people concerned that I had two black eyes (side note: I like knowing that there’s people on the lookout for possible domestic violence situations) when I’ve gone out without under-eye concealer. I’ve even got them in some of my baby pictures. My mother (affectionately) refers to them as ‘raccoon eyes’. Does this mean that she’s calling me a raccoon? No. Does it even mean that she thinks I *look* like a raccoon? No. (I try to keep my thick grey facial fur under control). Is it a compliment about a facial feature that is considered attractive? Nope and nope. But it’s a lighthearted way of describing something that is, in fact, there. Like ‘resting bitch face’.
Reflects her personality to a tee. I bet she has a “sleeping arrogance face” too and the general holier than thou puss!
I think her point is it isn’t a very endearing statement, regardless if its socially acceptable to some. If the comments bug her, they bug her. The Ashley responded. You can be “cheeky” without making the comments personal, in this case they were and so some readers might take them more personally.
Just to throw in another example from tv, Mario Batali on The Chew is said to have resting bitch face and they joke about it often. It’s the whole reason behind him being the Cheshire Cat for Halloween last year on the show. Michael Symon thought it would be hilarious because fans were always concerned Mario wasn’t happy…because of his resting bitch face. They use the exact phrase. I think there is enough insulting among culture and the human race without trying to instigate more by not understanding after people have tried to nicely explain a cultural reference several times. So at this point I’d say either get it or don’t, but stop arguing.
2 men.
Honey, just stop. You’ve embarrassed yourself enough and you aren’t swaying anyone.
Who’s embarrassed?
I stand by my opinion.
Heaven forbid they don’t have a kid the day After there wedding!! smh..
They’re going to have and adopt a bunch of kids? Huh. And support them with what? Their reality show earnings apparently (a la Kardashians), because neither of them has an education beyond a GED, job training, or even, ooh yeah, a JOB. Yeah, that’s an excellent example for young people.
resting bitch face duggar? You have shown low class behavior. Why is it that women want to tear each other down? What did you get out it? You got some kind of happiness out of this low class behavior? You couldn’t wait to meet Jessa? Your intent was to smile in her face and then be mean and tear her down with gutter behavior. You can write an article with out such gross behavior. Why do you want to tear yourself down by such behavior? Why is what Jessa’s wearing so important to you? What negative effect does it have on your life? Again low class behavior. Try this writing an article without tearing yourself down and harming others with such gross and appalling words. I will pray that you want to be more for yourself and be someone that people can look up to with your articles instead of another gossip column that tears people down.
@Telsy: Wanted to respond to this… Holly’s a fan of the show and did not have malicious intent. She was not criticizing Jessa’s outfit– just merely expressing surprise that she would wear something more “risque” than the typical Duggar girl outfit. My site is meant to provide news in a snarky but all-in-good-fun sort of way. I do not post malicious articles and if I felt Holly’s article was malicious and simply just written to tear Jessa down, I certainly wouldn’t allow it on my site. -The Ashley
Hmm, The dress seemed modest to me? It covered the chest area, and her knees, but not her arms…are arms a source of sexual frustration to the average guy? Especially, if they are a part of the religious set, like the Duggars belong to?
If you don’t like the roundup ,don’t read it! If the Duggars didn’t want criticism ..GET OFF TV! Period. 😉
Resting bitch face is not an insult, just sayin.
How is “bitch face” a compliment?
Do you enjoy being called bitch face Cindy?
No,it’s an insult. A stupid one at that.
LOL you must be new to the ashley
Or the internet…
Who wants to be called a “bitch”, or be reminded that they look like one?
Snark is one thing, being mean spirited is another. There is a difference.
“Resting Bitch Face” is a term used in pop culture that describes someone that always looks angry, even if they aren’t. They often have a sour look on their face. it’s not an insult.
N word, and F (*g) word are also used in “pop culture”, does that make it ok to use them to describe someone?
That’s a hell of a reach you just took. Now you just look dumb.
Resting bitch face does not represent the oppression of a whole race. Nor is the N word a “pop culture” word but a legitimate slur with a history attached to it. As someone who believes herself to have a resting bitch face on occasion, trust me, it’s not offensive. I’d laugh and high five someone if they said that phrase to my face.
You could call her sour face or say she smelled something.
I’m no feminist,but when women call each other a bitch, it gives men an opening to do it as well.
Think about our daughters
Resting Bitch Face is not calling someone a bitch. Anyone can have it… it is a relaxation of the face muscles which invoke ppl to tell you to smile when your face is resting because they think you are unhappy. Hope this definition helps to clear things up.
You obviously don’t get it…
Use your Google feature and look up the term “Resting Bitch Face”, it IS an acceptable phrase.
Although, in this case, it’s more accurate than not, since this is a Duggar we’re referencing here. They think they are better than all of us, ALL… OF… US…
Wow.. you really don’t get this, do you?
Resting bitch face is NOT calling someone a bitch.
Some people have naturally smiling faces, other people have naturally frowning faces. Resting bitch face is the term used to describe naturally frowning faces. It isnt exclusively used for women but anyone who looks like that. It isn’t an insult… seriously, Google it.
Nope. I sure don’t get it.
So,because I can “google it”, it’s ok?
Who is this acceptable to?
You look like a bitch.
Your mom looks like a bitch.
Your daughter looks like a bitch.
You’re right.
It sounds really ladylike, and it so non offensive.
Call me a bitchface on the street and see what happens.
Call the next woman you see a bitchface and see what happens.
And it sounds like you all think Jessa acts like a bitch too.
So you are telling her she is a bitch and looks like one too. Right?
I think we ought to be through having a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent
No one said they would call you a bitchface on the street. They would just tell you that you have “resting bitch face”. Get it straight, ya lunatic.
@telsy….yeah, preach on sister. I’m sure, being as religious as you apparently are, that you never ever judge anyone or say bad things about someone. No way. Because obviously religion isn’t about judging others who are different than you are at all. I know I’ve never seen it before from those that follow religion. Nope, they are as open minded as it gets. So accepting of others that think or do things differently than they do. And I’m sure you are just as accepting and open minded as they are. So like I said, preach on sister!!
She has resting bitch face. Statement of fact.