Photo: @annasaccone / Instagram & TikTok
She says the bond with her son "just hits different."
By Megan Quinn — Written on Dec 28, 2022
The bond between mothers and sons is said to be “one of the strongest bonds” according to most mothers of boys. They dote on their sons, cheering them on at their sports games, dreading the day they get married, and insisting they can do no wrong.
However, what about the bonds with their daughters, which are not nearly discussed as much?
The attention mothers give to their sons has some people concerned about the toxic “boy mom” culture which they fear is promoting toxic masculinity and misogyny.
One mother raised concerns after she confessed to favoring her youngest son.
Anna Saccone, mother of the popular Youtube family vloggers, the SacconeJoly’s, posted her confession to TikTok.
Saccone is a mother of four children, her three daughters, Emilia, 10, Edie, 8, Alessia, 5, and a son, Andrea, 4.
While she claims to love all four of her children equally, she shares there is something special about "that last little boy" — who she says "hits different."
“I never thought that I would be that toxic boy mum,” Saccone says in the video. “Now, I’m feeling like I’m having this existential crisis, or I wouldn’t be that mum.”
She admits that she allows her son to get away with things that his sisters would not be let off the hook for.
“He hits his sisters, he punches them, and I’m like, ‘maybe he’s having a hard day,” Saccone says.
She adds that she is dreading her son’s wedding day whereas her daughters’ weddings are days that she’s looking forward to.
“When I think about my daughters getting married, I get excited… you got their dresses, planning their weddings. When I think about my son’s wedding, I wanna cry.”
Saccone encourages boy moms like herself to “stand up” and acknowledge that they are the problem by raising boys who are praised and doted on their whole lives, leading them to become toxic men.
Other TikTok users were quick to call out Anna Saccone for being a 'toxic boy mom.'
“I think that the scariest part about this video is not the fact that she admits all of this with a big a–smile on her face…but it’s the fact that she’s completely self-aware of it,” TikTok user @maninotamari points out in a video.
“This is how you create misogynists…because you have mothers who coddle them like this and think that every action they do is just them having a bad day.”
Others were concerned that Saccone’s treatment of her son would enable bad behavior in the future.
“Now I thought I couldn’t get any more disturbed when I heard her say when her daughters get married she’s gonna be super excited, but when her son gets married she’s going to be not so excited,” TikTok user @ice_beartv responded to Saccone’s video.
“You let your son hit on girls, his sisters especially, which creates abusive men in the future…you’re enabling this little boy’s bad behavior while he’s young with a smile on your face is scary. Not only are you creating a momma’s boy, but you’re also creating a menace.”
“She just made me so angry… and heartbroken for her daughters. INSANITY,” one TikTok user commented.
“The favoritism is bad alone, but now you’re raising him to think when he’s having a bad day he should hit the women in his life??” another user pointed out.
Saccone’s video has sparked a significant conversation surrounding toxic boy-mom culture, and will hopefully put a halt to the treatment some sons receive from their mothers.
The moment a mother excuses her son’s bad behavior we encourage her to stop herself and ask, would I react the same way toward my daughters?
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.