The excerpt below is from a column about mom-shaming that appeared on It’s a Southern Thing last week. Click here to read the full column now, or click the link at the end of the excerpt.
I am feeling pretty sorry for Pink right about now. I know what you’re thinking – why should I feel sorry for a woman so fierce she goes by only one name? Well … because she recently was brought to tears after being mom-shamed on social media.
Pink announced she has decided to stop proudly sharing pics of her adorable family on social media, which, as we all know, is the main purpose of social media. May as well just print the pictures and post them on the ’fridge or in a wallet photo-sleeve, like we did in the caveman days.
And I don’t blame her one little bit. Mom-shaming is not only the height of rudeness, it’s downright un-Southern. It’s like not giving the courtesy wave when someone lets you merge in traffic. It’s like not having enough food to send leftovers home with company. It’s like not wearing clean underwear in case you have a wreck. It just isn’t done.
We here in the South know the only person allowed to mom-shame us is – you guessed it – our own mamas. Well, sometimes, your mama n’im, if the “and them” is a gaggle of grandmas and aunts who’ve known you your whole life. But never, ever complete strangers.
It seems Pink was once shamed for sharing a photo of herself cooking while wearing her baby in a pouch on her chest and once for sharing a photo of her 2-year-old son when he wasn’t wearing his diaper.
I’m not trying to take mom-sides on either issue, I’m just pointing out that we as a society should stop trying to shame people because they parent differently from us. After all, we were taught by our Southern mamas two very important things:
- If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all; and,
- Don’t act ugly.
Social media has completely ignored these rules and I’ve about had enough of it myself. We should make the blanket, unbreakable, worldwide rule that only mamas can mom-shame – and only with their own offspring. Here’s why: Your mama raised you. She earned the right. Click here to read the full column on SouthernThing.com.
KellyKazek.com 