CMV: The way mothers are portrayed in the media now is incredibly toxic and unfair.

This may seem like a strange change my view post, but I am also a mother to two boys and I am really passionate about this topic. I'm hoping that by using some outside perspectives, I can find a way to see this issue in a different way, or find ways to combat it. <br><br>Recently I've been seeing a lot of ads, shows, commercials, that portray mothers in a very different way than the media did even five years ago. These depictions of mothers are incredibly selfish, lazy, narcissistic, and cruel. Instead of being the loving, nurturing, and selfless people that society used to view us as, we are now being portrayed as entitled brats, who complain about how motherhood has ruined our lives. These portrayals of mothers also complain about how much they hate their husbands and how if they were to all of a sudden disappear, the mothers wouldn't care. We are portrayed as having no patience for our children and as people who ditch our parental responsibilities whenever we can. <br><br>In contrast, fathers are being portrayed as the sole people who actually give a shit about their families and want to help their children. They are the ones who are patient with the kids, the ones who parent, the ones who self-sacrifice for the family. Mothers now seem to be a burden, and an unnecessary one at that. <br><br>I've seen this trend in a lot of commercials and ads. There is one subway commercial where the father and son are out on their own and the father goes out of his way to be a good father and make his son happy, then at the very end of the commercial, the mother is shown at home on the pc, where she is too busy to be bothered with her husband and son, who are out and about together. There is an ad for a cake decorating kit that focuses on the father and mother doing the activity with their children. The mother is grumpy and violently angry the entire time, whereas the father is happy and excited. <br><br>On the TV show "The Lost Boys", there is a character who is a teenage boy and his plot is centered around how his life was ruined when his mom turned into a vampire. He then gets together with another woman with two teenage sons who also had their lives ruined when they realized that their mom was a vampire. This woman is selfless and a wonderful parent, and a good person, and eventually she and the teenaged boy get together romantically. <br><br>I've also seen a commercial for a protein powder supplement in which a mom and dad have a little girl whose teeth are slightly crooked. The father is the one who works with his daughter to fix her teeth, and the mom is the one who doesn't know how to parent or help her daughter. <br><br>On the show "The Boys" the only two moms who are portrayed on camera, are both cruel and narcissistic mothers. One has a son who is an extremely violent and dangerous man, but she completely ignores and justifies his behavior and instead blames others. The other mom is just extremely selfish, entitled, and cruel. <br><br>In the show "For all Mankind" one of the main characters is an astronaut who has become a national hero. She is also a mom and her becoming an astronaut has had a positive impact on her son. In contrast, one of the other main characters is another astronaut who is also a mother. She was never able to see her daughter because she was always away on missions, and as a result, she has now grown up and is a teenage girl who is an extremely entitled brat, who hates her mom and has made it her life's goal to ruin her mom's life and make her suffer for not being there as a child. <br><br>On the show "Ted Lasso" (which I love and enjoy a lot), one of the characters is a mother who is portrayed as an extremely cruel and selfish parent. She is a wealthy woman who doesn't spend any time with her daughter and who hired a man to pretend to be her daughter's boyfriend because she is concerned about her daughter's well-being but is too busy to be bothered to help her herself. She is an extremely unlikeable and unempathetic person. <br><br>On the show "Monarch", there is a main character who is a mom and she is portrayed as a completely horrible person. She is a cruel and selfish mother and is a narcissist. The father in this show is a much better parent and he actually cares about the well-being of his children. <br><br>Mother's are portrayed in a very negative way on "The Marvelous Mrs. Meisal" as well. They are portrayed as being horribly selfish, cruel, and uncaring, and the fathers are shown to be better parents and far more nurturing and caring. <br><br>I could go on and on with other examples, but I'll stop there. <br><br>I've noticed a very clear trend in media and advertising. They are portraying mothers as selfish, cruel, narcissistic, unempathetic, lazy, and entitled. The removal of mothers from the picture is often portrayed as a good thing for the family, as the mothers are often an burden and don't actually care about their families. <br><br>Now, I know that this portrayal isn't true for real moms. Most moms love their children, want to care for them, and are selfless and kind. We are not removal, disposable, cruel, or unnecessary. We want to nurture and care for our children and we actually do a lot of the parenting. Our roles are important and we are good at our jobs. Just because there are some moms who are shitty parents, doesn't mean that we all are. <br><br>So I am asking you, is there something that I am missing in this portrayal? Is there something that I am not seeing, some sort of valuable truth in this portrayal of mothers that I am blind to? Or is this portrayal of mothers truly as unfair, hateful, and negative as I believe it to be? <br><br>If you can make me see the value in this portrayal, I will be awarding you a gold metal. <br><br>Edit: There was a commercial for Burger King that I forgot to mention. In this commercial, a mom and her teenage son are at home together. They are both wearing matching hoodies and are cuddled up on the couch together. They are both eating Burger King chicken nuggets and are both extremely happy for some reason. The mom is looking over at her son, smiling and giggling, and her son is looking at his mom in horror. It's almost like when you see a post on tiktok, where a mom will try to use slang and be cool, and she thinks she's being awesome, but really she's just embarrassing and gross to her kids. So yeah, that commercial is a good example of the "live for your kids" thing. And yea, it did come off as sexualized and inappropriate. <br><br>I also just saw a commercial for Arby's, where a dad is taking his son camping. The son is probably around 8 or 9 years old. The dad is cooking Arby's in a portable microwave and the son is super stoked about it. It's really sweet and the relationship between the dad and the son is what is being highlighted. <br><br>I'm glad that dads are being portrayed as more nurturing and caring. I think that's a really good thing for society, and it's important that their roles as parents are highlighted as well as moms. The problem is that the media is automatically portraying moms as the cruel, lazy, and selfish ones. Like moms are not necessary and dads are the ones doing all the work. <br><br>I also agree with the people who pointed out the lack of single dads. I know there are some out there, particularly in the sitcom type shows, but yeah, overall, it is moms who are portrayed as being the primary caregivers and single parents.