A Texas mother says her children are being shut out of friendships because of what she does for a living. Holly Jane Johnston, 43, believes a whispering campaign in her gated Southern community has led some parents to keep their kids away from her four children.
Holly creates adult content online and has more than a million followers on Instagram. She says the trouble began when neighbors found out about her career, and what happened next has left her feeling targeted.
How the gossip spread
According to Holly, someone began posting articles about her in local Facebook groups. She claims the same person also urged other parents to "think twice" before letting their children spend time with hers.
Things then reached her teenage daughter. The girl was told that a neighbor had been getting in touch with the parents of her friends to talk about her mother’s online work.
Holly is blunt about how she sees the people behind it. "Thanks to these neighbors from hell, some parents will not associate with us, and won’t allow my children to play with theirs," she said.
Not everyone close to her knows about her job. Some family and friends do, but her parents do not. She says she is close to them, but they are "very old school and wouldn’t understand."
Why she thinks it happens
Holly does not believe the anger is really about her as a person. She thinks money plays a part, because many people work hard and struggle financially. When they see someone earn in a month what they earn in a year, from a career they neither respect nor understand, she says resentment can follow.
She also points to insecurity. In a culture obsessed with appearance, she argues, many people are unhappy with how they look. Watching someone openly embrace their body and get attention for it can be uncomfortable, and she says that discomfort sometimes comes out as criticism.
She adds that her financial independence and personal freedom may leave some people feeling "threatened." Some may find that empowering, but others find it "unsettling." She accepts that some people object on moral or religious grounds and says she respects their right to hold that view.
Drawing the line at the children
Holly says her work has given her children opportunities that many families cannot offer. The income lets them travel and have experiences that could help shape their futures.
The downsides, she says, have never come from inside her home. "It has come from outside of it," she said, claiming people in her community have made her children feel uncomfortable by getting involved in her personal business.
She says anyone is free to be uncomfortable with her. But when that feeling leads to children being left out of friendships, she argues, "it stops being about values and starts affecting innocent kids."
For now, Holly says she is standing by her family. She describes her home as "safe, stable and loving" and says her children are well raised, have friends and are not defined by her job. Her request is simple: "I am not asking for approval; I am asking for fairness toward them."
Image credit: Holly Jane Johnston
Source: The Mirror US
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