Ticked Off Pink Tells Off Paparazzi

I just finished reading a letter from new mom, Pink. As a mom myself, I can completely understand her and her husbands desire to sheild their new baby girl, Willow, from the press and paparazzi. Working in radio puts me in a bit of a higher public profile than if I worked as say, a receptionist in a doctors office. With that public profile comes the desire and the necessity to protect MY daughter.

If you ever follow me on Facebook, you'll notice that I only refer to my daughter as E. I don't generally talk about where she goes to school, or other similar private information, although I do from time to time share photos of her. She is, after all, my whole world and I am one proud momma! One of the reasons that I don't often share is that I want her to grow up being E, not "Kat Mykals' Daughter." I once met a new friend that E went to school with, and when I met her mom it was like any other new parent meeting. Until she asked me what I do for a living, at which time that was ALL she could talke about. It was no longer about getting to know a new person to make sure that it was safe for one child to go to the other childs home to play... It was now all about E being "Kat Mykals' Daughter." I have to tell you I really didn't like that at all!

From Pink's letter...

Due to the unsettling, surprisingly aggressive and unsafe measures that the paparazzi seem to be willing to go to in order to secure that "first shot" of our daughter--stalking us, chasing us in cars and sitting outside of our home all day and all night, as new parents Carey and I decided that we would release personal photos of our Willow, and donate all of the money to charity.

She then goes on to highlight the difference between the social and media treatment of "celebrity children" and "regular children"

In EVERY other country that I recall, children's faces are blurred out in magazine photos. Why is USA the only country that continues to financially incentivize intrusive paparazzi behavior to capitalize on photos of babies, infants and children? Why is this acceptable to any of us? Why is this even legal? These are questions I ask myself as a new parent. Why are celebrities/public figures having to seek restraining orders to keep strange grown men with still and video cameras from sitting perched outside of their children's pre-schools and elementary schools, preying on little innocent kids?  After all, if a stranger was sitting outside of a school taking photographs of random little girls and boys, wouldn't he be arrested? Or, at least in Philadelphia, he would have to face a more primal sort of recourse. But because it's the child of a celebrity, somehow it's okay? I'm just not sure what is wrong with us as a society, that we do more than tolerate this, but our appetite for it seems insatiable. We buy these pictures. We buy these magazines that publish these paparazzi pictures. WHERE DOES IT STOP?

I have to applaud Pink. I have always appreciated that she does her own thing and speaks her mind openly, and her letter is dead on. NO ONE, celebrity or otherwise, should have to be concerned with their children in this way. Strangers taking pictures should be the last thing that new parents should be worried about. Pink's biggest concern for her beautiful daughter, Willow, should be what cream to use for diaper rash, and the best home remedy for teething.