It is natural for mothers to look after their children, especially their daughters. With the impossible standards imposed on girls in our society today, mothers serve as a guide on how their daughters should treat themselves.
However, one mother gained the ire of the netizens on her recent TikTok video. Despite her explanations, people still had split opinions about what she did.
Viral for the Wrong Reasons
Leah Garcia is a realtor and content creator based in Texas. She shares her day-to-day life as a mother and realtor through her TikTok account. But one of her videos that garnered a million views and a lot of divided opinions was this particular video.
It was a video of her waxing her three-year-old daughter’s eyebrows. She wrote a text on the video saying:
“Idc! Idc! I’d rather y’all call me a bad mom before I let my 3year old walk around with a unibrow like my parents did!”
She also captioned this: “My fellow Mexicans, y’all understand!” Leah’s caption implied that it is common among those of Mexican descent to have unibrows.
However, even if she meant well and some user showed their support, Leah received more bashing and hate from other followers.
A Case of Bad Parenting?
Leah took time to explain herself not only through TikTok video replies but also through an interview with Insider. She stated that both her daughters – Behautti (11) and Bliss (3) – are used to getting their eyebrows waxed.
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In that interview, Leah said she never forced her daughters to get their eyebrows waxed. She said she would usually tell them if she would get her brows waxed and ask them if they wanted to do the same. This has become a routine in their household since Behautti was three.
A Different Level of Hate
People were too quick to judge when they saw that video, posting hateful comments here and there. They thought that Leah was hurting Bliss, especially when the little girl said in the video, “Ow, that hurt me. Ow, mom, that hurt me still.”
“The hate is on another level. I’ve never experienced anything like it. To be attacked as a mom when my intentions and my heart are so pure when it comes to this situation, that hurts,” she told Insider.
All in Pure Intentions
So why did she wax her daughter’s eyebrows? It stemmed from the trauma she had when she was younger. Leah said her parents never had her wax her unibrow, so she ended up being bullied in school.
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Many comments said that it would have been better if Leah had taught her daughter about self-worth so Bliss would develop confidence and self-esteem. They added that if her daughter learned all that, she wouldn’t worry about bullies.
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“My parents did a phenomenal job making sure that I was a confident little girl, making sure that I knew that I was beautiful, even though I did have bushy eyebrows. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t change that horrific experience when you’re a kid at school without your parents, without your siblings having your back,” Leah said.
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Read the full article in Insider to get the perspective of a teenage psychologist. Did Leah do the right thing? Or did she overdo it?
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
@leah_txrealtor My fellow mexicans, y’all understand! 🤣 #fyp #momsoftiktok #badmom #mexicantiktok #andGO ♬ original sound – Leah Garcia
