Like Eckel, content creator Payal Desai, a mother of two boys, says she feels bad for the sons of overly intense “boy moms.” Still, she suspects Mollen may have been intentionally stirring the pot, posting “ragebait” to generate outrage and attract attention to her Instagram page.

“In the case that it isn’t, what we’re seeing is a mother who hasn’t separated her identity from her son, which is unfortunately pretty common,” Desai told HuffPost, adding that favoring your sons feels “rooted in patriarchy” by “giving the men in your life, no matter what form they come in, power and priority over your own sense of self.” 

“And the language she uses about dating her son, being jealous of girls he’s involved with, wanting his future wife to be motherless, places the burden of managing her emotions directly on him,” she said. 

The job of parents is to raise kids to embrace the world and prepare them for their own independent, fulfilling lives, “not trap them in our unhealed issues,” Desai said.