Instagram moms won’t be silenced
#Dontshushme gains momentum
THE PICTURESQUE world of mommy blogging was rocked by conflict over the Black Lives Matter Movement (BLM), with some of the mothers being threatened with legal action.
These moms share their lives in blog posts or the pictorial squares of Instagram (IG). They put their best foot forward, everyone’s kids are adorable and each house is immaculate. They share recipes, kids crafts, and post family portraits. The dream is to become brand ambassadors. But once in a while they upload something deeply moving, sad or traumatic with #raw or #honestmotherhood.
In the past few weeks, as the BLM movement gained momentum, the IG moms’ community became a platform for voices of colour who feel that they have been either overlooked, forgotten or marginalised by marketing strategies and brands.
A Durban mother, on June 25, called for others of colour to start a discussion.
“I opened the conversation because I did not want this to be swept under the rug. I created a question on my stories, asking followers if they supported brands that did not reflect diversity. I did this to get an idea for what my community was feeling so we could come up with a solution,” she said.
She said hundreds reached out to her.
“It got emotional and there was a lot of anger, which offended some white bloggers. I spent three days anonymously sharing the private messages of these women to my stories so they could have a safe space to voice their opinions without fear of being victimised and bullied,” she said.
She said others were bolstered and the #dontshushme movement became a full-blown cry for change within the blogging industry.
“The support from both white women and women of colour is still ongoing as we try to fathom why one fashion and mommy blogger has tried to silence the movement and threatened people with legal action.”
The Ballito fashion and mommy blogger was accused of being a “racist”, “silencing women into submission”, and “tone policing” after comments were being deleted off posts. Women were allegedly being messaged directly and allegedly challenged for their viewpoints.
A statement drafted by Giyose Sefume Attorneys was published on her Instagram account which refuted these claims and countered by saying she was the victim of defamation.
“The allegations have been conveyed directly to business colleagues and brands she was associated with through work. The defamatory statements by three other bloggers are of women untrue, inappropriate, scandalous, unfounded and prejudicial which have caused financial and reputational damage,” the statement read.
It further read that in an attempt to reconcile, a celebrity blogger was invited for collaboration to address issues of diversity, privilege, race and inclusion from the perspective of a woman and mother of colour.
“Legal action regarding the defamation has been taken against these women as our client’s name and reputation have been unjustifiably attacked. Legal action is currently ongoing and our client will not comment on the matter further.”
The mothers mentioned in the statement said it felt like they were being intimidated for speaking out against racism.
“This is an opinion held by many. While the community is trying to have constructive and necessary conversations around diversity in the industry, many are now fearful that speaking their pain or calling out injustices could see them slapped with lawsuits,” said a mother speaking on behalf of the group.
They said in the past couple of days, the celebrity blogger has reached out to the women referred to in the press release and apologised for any hurt feelings and asked the women if she could invite them to collaborate with her on a project.
“She referred to the fallout around the tone policing these women faced as girl hate and seemed to suggest mediating between all parties. I can tell you that this has not landed well.
“These women have been silenced and threatened with legal action. Finding a celebrity who publicly supported the woman threatening them in their messages felt aggressive and threatening, regardless of how gentle her tone. The offer of working together on any project felt a little like bribery as though it could make it all go away.”
The celebrity was contacted for comment but did not respond.