Challenging shitty people online can leave you feeling exhausted and hopeless, which is why in recent years, a common method to try and combat online bigotry has been to threaten to contact the poster’s parents, particularly their moms, and let them know exactly what kind of things their child is saying online.
Thanks to one recent TikTok, we’re able to see the other side of that: what happens when someone’s mom finds their child’s disturbing content online. A TikToker, @naturalbrownbeauty6, stitched a 20-year-old man’s video in which he argues that “females deserve to be [raped] for rejecting nice guys like me.” Fairly standard toxic incel bullshit, but there’s a twist: The man in the video is her son.
She starts the stitch with, “Let me say this: I am his mother, and I’ve tried for years to tell him and encourage him to get therapy and help.” She says that she’s pointed out that he has issues with her, and that she thinks he needs to speak to a professional to try to resolve them. She explains that she’s told him, “If you respect me and love me and don’t have issues with me, then you wouldn’t be attacking women for no reason at all.”
She goes on to say that while mental health is a serious issue, he knows right from wrong and the fact that he continues to post harmful videos like the one she stitched means he’s making a deliberate choice. She’s even cautioned him that he could face violent repercussions for his content, or worse yet, she could. None of that, however, has stopped him.
She reveals in the video that she recently told her son to stay away from her because she can’t force him to go to therapy and he continues to refuse to go, arguing that there’s nothing wrong with him and he doesn’t need help. She concludes the video by saying, “Whatever happens to him, happens to him. He’s made his bed, and now he has to lie in it. But from me, I feel ashamed. I’m very disappointed. It’s disgusting, and I’m sorry to the people that have been affected by the things that he has said over the years and has done with harassing people and constantly antagonizing people. Enough is enough.”
Commenters were overwhelmingly supportive, acknowledging how difficult this must have been for her to film. Other parents, meanwhile empathized with her, with one woman writing, “Mother to mother, I’m sorry this is so painful and unfortunately I can relate.”
The whole thing is equal parts horrifying and heartbreaking.
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