Grown Up Mean Girls: Mom on Mom Cyberbullying

Submitted by anthony on Wed, 2010-04-28 15:38

Story here. Excerpt:

'Motherhood is supposed to be like apple pie and a warm hug. Wholesome. Dependable.

But online, it can be anything but. Right next to support groups on diaper rash and the terrible twosare mean girls, all grown up.

It's mom on mom cyberbullying and as the popularity of mommy blogging rises, so do the often stinging criticisms.

A mom who asks about baby bottles is called "a cop out" and "uneducated" for not breastfeeding. Working moms are "selfish" and co-sleeping moms are labeled "irresponsible" online.

"There's a lot of insecurity, a lot of confusion, resentment, just about being a mother," psychiatrist and mommy blogger Janet Taylor told "Good Morning America." "There's a sense of 'I have to be better than you and I'm going to prove it by writing negative things.' Not supporting, just writing negative things."'

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Comments

It's as bad as dads who fight other dads at Little League games over taunts from dads whose sons play for the other team. It sets a bad example to everyone, kids and adults. But children are better-served when adults cooperate and support one another. Mothers picking on each other is nothing for MRAs or anyone else to snicker at. It does only this: It shows that indeed, mothers are like anyone else capable of doing or being bad people to one another. It dispels the "motherhood as holy" myth which is part of nymphotropism. Motherhood, like fatherhood, is conferred by nature based on whether or not you reproduced, a biological event that most of us can succeed at but have little idea of how it actually works (aside from the sexual part of things - a sad indictment of the education system or of the tendency of human beings to under-use their intellectual capacities). For this you need only show up and get naked. But to behave in a way that serves the welfare of everyone and their kids by supporting one another's efforts at being good parents? It seems modern society needs a bit more of that.

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Submitted by Matt on Wed, 2010-04-28 16:26

For me, this is not an MRA issue. You have this "cyber bullying" all across the board with both genders and within any topic. People are more inclined to throw out insults when they are hiding behind the anonymity of the internet vs face to face. Go to any blog and there will always be an idiot trying to stir up things. Especially one that is viewed by a large audience and is easy to text away with little or no joining procedure.

Although, I will admit that mothers like to talk about EVERYTHING. And I think sometimes there is 'information overload' where you think all these decisions about your children are so important, but really it is just a matter of what works for your family.

All the parenting books make you feel like you must do something a certain way, and seem to have all the studies to back it up, then another expert or book will say something different. Your damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Parents need to grow thick skin and not get so caught up in it.

And can a mother really feel bullied over the internet? Some advice: Step away from your computer!

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Submitted by Kris on Wed, 2010-04-28 21:24

In a society that hides many female misdeeds it is beneficial to men to balance things out with reports like these - it helps to take down the idea that women are better than men.

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Rise, Rebel, Resist.

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Submitted by MichaelClaymore on Wed, 2010-04-28 23:26