YouTuber Hannah Burcaw has hit out at a nasty comment left by a troll following her recent pregnancy announcement with husband Shane.
Shane and Hannah, better known as Squirmy and Grubs to their social media fanbase, shared the happy news that they were expecting their first child last month.
In a post on Instagram, the couple said they were ‘beyond ecstatic’ to share the news and confirmed their new arrival would be here in January.
Since then, the pair have shared updates into their pregnancy journey, including a candid post from Shane – who has spinal muscular atrophy and uses a wheelchair – sharing some of his concerns about being a dad.
While fans of the couple were delighted with the news and have flooded the parents-to-be with congratulations, it didn’t take long for trolls to send over their own comments.
The couple are expecting their first child (Instagram/@hannahayl)
In a new post, Hannah launched a takedown of a comment from someone that read: “Being a single married mom is hard. Good luck.” and had been ‘liked’ more than 40,000 times.
Posting the comment alongside a photo of herself and Shane holding up the sonogram photos of their little one, she wrote: “I can’t say I’m surprised by this comment, since 8 years of sharing our lives on the internet has shown me that ableism is alive and well. I am surprised by the number of people who have liked it, though.”
Over a series of slides and in a lengthy caption, Hannah explained ‘how much work Shane does to support me and our life together’, including things like planning trips, ordering dinner, sending emails, paying bills and scheduling appointments.
She continued: “I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of invisible labour, and how it plays into perceptions of our relationship. The term was coined by sociologist Arlene Daniels in the 1980s, and is defined as ‘unseen, uncompensated, and often unacknowledged work that is vital for keeping households, relationships, workplaces, and communities running smoothly’.
“Traditionally in our society, women are the ones dealing with the huge cognitive, mental, and emotional loads of running a household, and their work often goes unacknowledged.
Hannah has hit back at a cruel comment on social media (Facebook/Squirmy and Grubs)
“Ironically, that labor seems to be what [original commenter] was referencing with her offensive comment. Even more ironically, Shane is the one who does the majority of that labour in our relationship, and his work continues to be overlooked and discredited.”
She said the couples’ skills complemented each other well and worked together to keep the household running.
“I’m sure as we enter our parenting journey, these kinds of assumptions will only continue, but hopefully we can show some people that there are many ways to be a supportive husband and life partner.”
Hannah also gave an insight into some of the adaptive parenting items the couple had been trialing (using a cute doll) to see how they can help out, including a stroller that can be attached to Shane’s wheelchair that Hannah joked would mean she’d need to ‘fight to ever push my child’s stroller’.
Hannah concluded her slides by saying the comment was not only offensive to Shane but also to women who ‘truly don’t have supportive partners’.
“Unfortunately for the commenter, I am not one of them,” she added.
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