The Aussie mother who has been labeled as a ‘self-absorbed idiot’ and ‘shi**y mother’ for claiming that close relatives need to get her young daughter’s permission before hugging or kissing the child fires back at her critics.
Brittany Baxter returned to social media to answer back on her critics after her initial video for expressing her frustration at older relatives went viral.
In the video, Baxter expressed her anger towards her relatives for not respecting her daughter’s right to consent to physical contact.
Baxter wanted people to ask her kid if they can have a hug and to respect her answer even if it means ‘no hug today’.
Critics did not take Baxter’s claim lightly and furiously commented that her parenting style will turn her daughter into a self-absorbed sociopath.
“Hahaha. What a self-absorbed idiot,” one man commented. “A child needs contact, almost constantly otherwise it will grow up socially inept. It’s what separates us from animals.”
“That child is either going to grow up cruel and loveless, like a sociopath, or completely awkward about human contact,” another commented.
Other critics called Baxter ‘too woke’ and said such ‘new-age’ parenting style would lead to a loveless society.
“Protect us from the woke, millennials are the worst, I will hug the children in my life whenever I want,” said another commenter.
Brittany was shocked to know that her video gathered such bad attention so she posted new videos explaining that not establishing strict boundaries around physical contact will risk a child to sexual abuse.
“For everyone who felt the need to call me a Karen and tell me that I am a shi**y parent and tell me that I am raising a snowflake, this one is for you,” Baxter said in the video. “I hope that you remember everything that you said the next time you come across, hear of, or know of a child that has experienced sexual assault, abuse, harassment, coercion, and or rape.”
“Consent starts within the home whether you agree with it or not,” Baxter explained.
Baxter said that her daughter is allowed to hug family members, however, family members cannot assume that they have the right to embrace her as they must ask like how you would ask an adult.
“It is your responsibility as an adult and a parent to model that for your child, to practice that with your child, and to help them navigate consent with any caregiver they come into contact with,” Baxter said. “It is not my fault that you think everyone else’s feelings are more important than your child’s right to bodily autonomy.”
Baxter reiterated that consent must be taught to people at an early age to stop them from becoming a victim or a perpetrator of abuse.
“We teach and practice consent with our children so that when they become adults they know what it looks like to hold boundaries and have those boundaries be respected,” she said. “Because not only will it keep them safe but it will also keep the people safe that they come into contact with.”