It seems like moms can't do anything right these days — at least when it comes to their posts on Instagram. Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards faced some nasty mummy-shamers in the comments section of an innocent Instagram post she made this weekend. And the controversy could not be more unwarranted.
On Saturday, Richards posted a photo of her 9-year-old daughter Portia on family vacation in Italy. (Based on Richards' previous posts, my guess is Lake Como.) In the picture, Portia is wearing a bikini; her happy expression and beach hair that tells us she probably just got out of the ocean or pool visible in the background. But that's not what everyone saw when they looked at the post. Some people are criticising Richards for posting an image sexualising her young daughter on a platform where anyone, including perverts, can see her.
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"You should be ashamed and your daughter taken away from you. Not just for this pic, but for all the inappropriate pics you post of her!!" wrote livingthefitdream808Y. "Don't put your semi naked small child on a public Instagram," commented molly_my_munchkin. "Do you have any idea how many totally creepy men there are out there!" Richards clapped back at that one: "@molly_my_munchkin if that's where your mind goes then shame on you," the mom replied. "This is an innocent photo of a child just out of the pool."
Richards also got plenty of backup, with scores of commenters bashing the comments left by molly_my_munchkin. "I think it's sad that you feel you have the right to judge someone on their parenting style when you only see a snippet of their life through reality TV," someone wrote. "She's a child & @kylerichards18 is a doting mother simply posting a candid moment on her social media as millions of friends and families do." Someone else posted, "Wow. You people should be ashamed. If a mom posting a beautiful picture of her daughter offends you, then stop following her. She has every right to post whatever she feels."
One Richards defender makes the excellent point that there is a double standard when it comes to deciding whether a photo of a young child is bait for a pedophile: "just curious ... would you be going all batshit crazy if this were a photo of a boy in bathing suit bottoms with no shirt on?" It's true — people take issue with seeing young girls in bathing suits but not young boys.
And then this voice of reason popped in to shut down the debate with a marvellous suggestion: "Geez enough of the opinions everyone calm the farm it's Easter Sunday eat chocolate and get some sun Peace." We can support that.