Publius' Forum

-By Warner Todd Huston

There was a day in American culture when Mom was considered a saint, when a harsh word about her was considered fighting words, when she was placed on a pedestal and revered. There was a time when TV portrayed her as wise, loving, and concerned. That is no more.

Now she is apparently supposed to be "hot".

There were venues when a mom might be considered a sex object in our past, to be sure. Such a status was sometimes conferred on "moms" who appeared in seedy pornography magazines, or on grainy 8MM films that were passed from one set of hands to another -- materials of which one never knew the origins but someone just happened to "have" to show you behind the garage. It was all underground discretely kept under wraps with all the other illicit and immoral materials that sat in the back of young men's sock drawers or in the backs of dirty storefronts in a dilapidated downtown area of a major city. The concept of a sexy mom was certainly not one that was celebrated in the greater culture.

We seem to have reversed the sentiment of shame one felt about such pornography and juxtaposed that with reverence for our American mothers. Where once porn was hidden and covert, now respecting mom seems to have gone underground.

Enter an upcoming reality/game TV show called The Hottest Mom In America™, for which auditions are now being held.

The website blares that "Motherhood Is Redefined - The search for women who define modern day motherhood; they are beautiful, smart, talented moms who also happen to be HOT!"

When I was a child, should someone have said my mom was hot, I'd have clocked them.

So there we have it; moms are not to be celebrated for their devotion to family, or their success at raising healthy, well-adjusted children. Now they have to be "hot". The website also says that these "hot" moms must have "...style, confidence, and sexuality beyond the carpool!"

Sexuality? Certainly our country's fathers love their wives' sexuality, but is that sexuality now fodder for everyone else's titillation? According to this new TV show it is. With this show, we have taken another bite out of a respect for the nuclear family by sexualizing our mothers.

There is one very telling thing on this site, too. Telling in that it proves how they feel about the whole reason why these women they are looking for are called "mothers" in the first place.

Please note that the audition process can take several hours and children under the age of 12 are best kept at home or with friends.

There you have it, girls. Leave those rug rats at home. They are so annoying, insistent, selfish, and loud, ya know? Just get rid of those things if you want to be a part of OUR TV show!

So, now the destruction of the family seems complete. We have sexualized our children and distanced them from parental control. We have excused the permanent adolescence of our males to the point where they are unfit for fatherhood. We have urged mothers not to have kids or, once they are born, to shove them into the hands of waiting babysitters so that mom can run off to an ostensibly more fulfilling career life. And now we are to jettison the respect of a mother's sexuality and are being urged to make her the center of a pornographic styled exploitation on national TV for all to participate in.

A blogger friend of mine, alerted me to this newest outrage and she was none too happy with this sexualization of moms, herself.

Pam, said, "Disgusting…I'm shaking my head and wondering what drove the programming. Was it men? Was it ratings? I really don't care what it was. I, myself, am insulted as a mother. No, I'm no frump. Yeah, I dress sexy why it is appropriate. However, I don't believe any Mom with any sense of self, concern for her children, would embark on this."

That is from a great American mom. And I echo her disgust.

Let us hope this TV show fails, but I am not optimistic.