I've really had a problem with the way Elle from Feathering the Empty Nest has approached the election. I read her book after losing my own baby, and then started following her on insta after that. I felt that although she was definitely part of a 'set' that I don't aspire to, she was transparent with her ads and didn't do too many of them, spoke well about loss and did a lot of work to break down barriers in confronting babyloss in the mainstream. She also raises a lot of money for the hospital her son was cared for at, which is more than most of these instamums can say!
However recently I've been feeling off about her - she has posted a series of Christmas ads, although Christmas is a time that many bereaved families find difficult. She then went on to post about how hard Christmas can be when you are bereaved, struggling with infertility, etc. However it felt a bit disingenuous as she is just off the back of a bunch of 'Perfect Christmas' type ads...
Anyway, I finally decided to unfollow her as she has shown herself to be tone deaf over the election. First of all, she posted in her stories saying she was fed up of having people's political opinions rammed down her throat, and encouraged her followers to mute/unfollow people they don't agree with using the 'Vote' story feature:
View attachment 63932
This encourages divisiveness and not listening to the other side. She then went on to post on another (white, middle class, privileged) instahun's page to say she'd been attacked because of her stories, and that she didn't even know who she was going to vote for 3 days ago, which isn't something to boast about! Being privileged enough to be able to ignore this election and barely put a thought to who to vote for is not a great look!
View attachment 63933
Then she filled up her story timeline with pug memes to try and distract from the fact that she's politically unengaged and encouraging divisive attitudes at a time when she could have been mobilising her followers to use their votes. She's followed by mainly women, many of whom will fall into the 'under 30, unlikely to vote' category and she could have done some good here. She's also followed by vulnerable bereaved women like me, who are struggling with mental health issues following losing a child, and although lack of access to affordable services probably isn't an issue in her wealthy bubble, it is for many of us, and could have been a good way for her to talk about the election eg which party manifestos support mental health services.
Anyway, she's back pedalling hard today in her stories, trying to encourage kindness and respect, asking others to send love to those with different opinions even though she was encouraging unfollowing anyone with different views 24 hours ago! And no apology for throwing a hissy fit over people simply stating their political opinions online and being passionate about this election. Personally I believe we need to share our opinions even though they may differ, so that we can better understand each other. It's an incredible privilege to be in a bubble where you can 'opt out' of debate and not care much about an election, and it doesn't set a great example to her followers.
View attachment 63934
View attachment 63935
