2012-07-31
Explanation
This comic presents a darkly humorous take on modern parenting philosophy. A woman is told her son kicked a girl at school and she needs to tell him he is naughty. Instead, she quotes Oscar Wilde: "As long as war is regarded as wicked, it will always have its fascination. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular." She applies this logic to all immoral behavior, arguing that demonizing bad behavior makes it seem cool (because demons are cool), while making it seem gross and embarrassing would be more effective.
Her method is disturbing: whenever children do something bad, she sprays them so they smell like urine, then sends them on playdates. The neighborhood parents are all on board, so a playdate can always be arranged. Over time, the children internalize the shame and associate their naughty impulses with feeling ugly and foolish, eventually becoming "perfect little angels" through constant self-surveillance. When her mother objects that in her day they just spanked children, the woman replies "Spanking is immoral, Mother" -- apparently seeing no irony in considering her psychological humiliation method to be the moral alternative to physical discipline.
The comic satirizes a certain type of modern parenting that replaces direct punishment with elaborate psychological manipulation, presented with pseudo-intellectual justification. The parent'''s method is arguably more psychologically damaging than spanking, yet she considers herself enlightened. The votey panel shows the approach taken to its extreme: "Soon..." followed by the parent spraying something directly at a child'''s face and shouting "Eat parenting!"