Analyzing the controversial 'boy moms' trend on TikTok
What's the story
Mothers on TikTok are now being criticized and called "boy moms." Reason? For teaching their sons how to cook. The "boy moms" term started when Laura Elizabeth Graham, a TikTok user, posted a video of herself and her son cooking with a caption that did not settle well with other TikTok users. The video soon became a topic of discussion across social media platforms.
Trend
What is the trend about?
While the idea was to teach young boys to make their own meals, her caption changed the whole intention. "Making sure my son can cook so he's not impressed by your daughter's lasagna. He's gonna need a home-cooked meal, Felicia," she wrote. The video went viral soon after she posted it. More moms began sharing similar videos with their sons.
Twitter Post
Teaching sons to cook
Or, cooking is a life skill that everyone regardless of gender should know how to do.
Boy Mom trend is so weird. pic.twitter.com/BwfBua8i8P — AskAubry 🦝 (@ask_aubry) August 26, 2023
Comments
The video got mixed reactions
The trend divided users over parents' intentions towards raising their children with skills and values. Many encouraged the idea behind the video. Amber Wardell, a mother and psychotherapist reacted to the TikTok trend by saying in a video: "I'm teaching my son to cook so that he will show up for his future wife as though she's his partner and not his servant."
Criticisms
Users targeted moms for their faulty logic
The video had its own share of criticisms among the TikTok community. Many mothers opposed the trend and labeled the parents who taught their sons to cook as toxic because of their faulty logic. Some people seized the opportunity to point out that teaching young boys to cook would rather teach them to expect more work from their future partner in the kitchen.
Misogyny
The video was called out for promoting misogyny
Many users criticized it for encouraging toxic parenting and having inherently misogynistic tendencies. Mant TikTok users also blasted the trend in the comments section, saying that rather than demeaning women and promoting the idea that women should only play domestic tasks in relationships, parents should be teaching their sons to cook because it is an "essential life skill."
Twitter Post
Cooking—a life skill or a gender role reversal practice?
nh cuz girl dads are doing this trend so their girls are protected, have self worth and standards... and boy moms just make it misogynistic somehow... https://t.co/lfc3eal5Ua — anni (@annisnotmkay) August 26, 2023