Michelle Duggar has sparked controversy by advising women to always be “joyfully available” to their husbands, even when they’re heavily pregnant or don’t feel like sex.
In a post on the Duggar family website, the 19 Kids and Counting star shared her three top tips for a happy marriage, with ensuring you satisfy your man’s “special need” as number one.
Michelle says she received the advice before she married husband Jim Bob and now swears by it.
“When you are exhausted at the end of the day, maybe from dealing with little ones, and you fall into bed so exhausted at night, don’t forget about him because you and he are the only ones who can have that time together,” she wrote. “No one else in the world can meet that need.
“Be available, and not just available, but be joyfully available for him. Smile and be willing to say, ‘Yes, sweetie,’ no matter what, even though you may be exhausted and big pregnant and you may not feel like he feels.
“’I’m still here for you and I’m going to meet that need because I know it’s a need for you.’ “
These comments angered many fans, who took to Facebook to complain about the “sexist” advice.
“So according to Michelle, women are just receptacles, basically sex robots, beholden to men at all times,” one fan wrote. “As soon as a woman marries she should become a 24/7 sex slave whose feelings never matter.”
Another added: “This is 2015 not 1815. A woman’s body belongs to herself, not her husband.”
Michelle also advised couples to talk about their disagreements in private and not be afraid to get relationship counselling if needed.
