Man’s 2-minute rant on why we should ‘fear,’ not pity, single moms is hysterically spot on

Comedian and creator Eros Brousson seems to have some kind of magical insight into the inner lives of women. Famous on social media for his hilarious rants about why women prefer to stay single, or what it’s like going through perimenopause, he has a way of articulating what women go through with startling accuracy (many of the comments on his content read something like, “How did he get in my head?” or “How can he possibly know this?”). Maybe he grew up with sisters. Maybe he’s just really perceptive. Whatever the story is, he does it all with a thick French accent and deadpan delivery that has earned him over a million followers. There are over seven million single mothers in America, according to the Center for American Progress. To put it lightly, it’s a tough gig. Single moms often struggle with higher poverty rates than other parents, difficulty in managing childcare and career, and little to no free time for dating, leisure, and self-care. Brousson, however, says that we should not pity them. We should acknowledge that these difficulties make them extremely powerful. We should fear them, he jokes. “Stop looking at them like they are some tragic charity case. They don’t want your pity; they demand your absolute fear.” Brousson says their bodies are forged out of iron in the fires of daily life. “You think it’s just parenting? It’s rapid force biological mutation. Look at her anatomy. Her left hip is permanently displaced and structurally reinforced with pure calcium just to carry a 40 pound screaming toddler while simultaneously holding six bags of groceries and negotiating a hostage crisis over a dropped lollipop.” And single moms, he says, don’t have the luxury of getting sick like the rest of us. “Men get a 99 degree fever and immediately draft their last will and testament. A single mom catches a category four stomach bug, violently throws up in the bathroom sink, wipes her mouth with a baby wipe, and goes right back to assembling a structurally perfect ham sandwich… There is no calling in sick. She has zero backup. If she goes down, the entirety of civilization collapses.” As far as rest and recovery? No such thing for a single mom. “She doesn’t sleep. She enters a hyper vigilant military surveillance state. …You want to know her only sanctuary? The driveway. Those four minutes she spends sitting in her parked car in dead silence before grabbing the steering wheel and finally going inside. That’s not a break. That’s a decompression chamber.” “She’s not waiting for a knight in shining armor to rescue her. She became the beast she needed to survive.” The moms have never felt more seen What does this random guy know about the life of a single mom? Apparently, from those who live it, quite a lot. Hundreds of commenters chimed in on the freaky accuracy of Brousson’s rant: “Single mum to two disabled children. I am my own knight in shining armour” “Well…I’ve never felt so seen before ‘She doesn’t sleep – she enters a hyper vigilant military surveillance state’… About perfectly sums up the last 18 years “ “This is the most accurate description ever” “I got chills.” “Single mom of two teenage boys, been alone with them since they were 2 and 4 – and Ive been growing a company as well. I have NEVER felt more seen than this.” “Funny, yes. But I felt this in my SOUL.” Single parents don’t need pity, they need support A good deal of policy, legislation, and proposed initiatives focus on the idea that marriage is the solution to the problems single mothers face. If only people would stop getting pregnant out of wedlock and stop getting divorced, all of the problems would go away. But, as Brousson aptly points out, single mothers are not waiting for a spouse to magically come and save them. Instead, they’re held back by structural problems like a lack of affordable child care, poor paid leave policies, and rising inflation. The Center for American Progress argues that raising the minimum wage, promoting equal pay, and improving paid family leave would do a lot more to help than just encouraging people to get and stay married. In the meantime, Brousson argues that treating single moms with a healthy dose of respect, and maybe a little fear, is appropriate: “If you ever need to approach one in the wild, just move slowly, keep your hands completely visible, and for the love of God, never judge how much screen time she gives her kid.”