If you follow Pink at all, you know she's a pretty awesome mom.
Her Instagram account is filled with adorable pics of her with her two young kids. In these posts, Pink is down to earth, honest, and best of all, has a great sense of humor about the whole parenting journey:
But even Pink has challenging moments as a parent.
In her speech at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards, Pink shared an amazing and powerful story about — and for — her daughter.
After winning the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, Pink took the stage and stepped to the mic. It was clear she had something important on her mind.
"Recently I was driving my daughter to school and she said to me, out of the blue, 'Momma ... I'm the ugliest girl I know,'" Pink recalled. "'I look like a boy with long hair.'"
Hearing your child being hard on themselves is a heartbreaking moment for any parent. But if you think Pink just blurted out, "OMG, what? Baby, you are so pretty!" well... you don't know Pink.
"I went home and I made a PowerPoint presentation for her," Pink said.
"And in that presentation were androgynous rockstars and artists that lived their truth," she added. "[People] who are probably made fun of every day of their life and carry on and wave their flag and inspire the rest of us."
She listed a handful of world-changing talents, like Michael Jackson and Elton John, like Pink herself, who never let anyone's expectations or opinions hold them back. Proving her point even further, Pink, her daughter, and her husband Carey Hart all showed up at the VMAs last night wearing matching suits.
Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images.
On stage, Pink shared this monumental moment of parenting clarity: Yes, most kids will battle with self-image and self-esteem at some point, and no, of course, they should never be made to feel like they are ugly or that their bodies are wrong in any way.
BUT — in our rush to reassure our kids that they are beautiful or handsome or pretty or cute, we should never forget that these are moments when we can teach them that there are greater things to aspire to than traditional standards of beauty ... because beauty is subjective.
"Baby girl, we don't change," Pink said to thundering applause. "We help other people to change so they can see more kinds of beauty."
Damn straight, Pink. Damn straight.
You can watch the full speech in the video below:
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."