Pink's Powerful VMA Speech Dedicated To Her Daughter and Other Kids Who Feel Different

   By SheSpeaksTeam  Aug 28, 2017

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It’s heart wrenching when any mom hears about their child being picked on or bullied. Pink’s recent speech at MTV’s Video Music Awards a powerful response she recently had when her 6 year old daughter brought up worries about her looks and how other children respond to her.

USA Today reports about the pop star’s speech about being bullied when she accepted the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at Sunday’s VMA’s. The speech was dedicated to her six year old daughter Willow who recently complained to her that she felt “ugly”.

Pink said of her daughter, “She said to me out of the blue, 'Mama, I'm the ugliest girl I know,' And I said, 'Huh?' And she said, 'Yeah, I look like a boy with long hair.' And my brain went to, 'Oh my God, you're six. Where is this coming from? Can I kick a six-year-old's (butt)?” Rather than following her first instinct to seek out the six-year-old offender that made her Willow feel this way, Pink took some time to consider the situation.

After some thought, Pink put together a PowerPoint presentation for her daughter highlighting the successful “androgynous rock stars”. Some of those featured in Pink’s presentation were David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Prince, Annie Lennox and Freddie Mercury - she referred to them as  “artists (who) live their truth, are probably made fun of every day of their life and carry on and wave their flag and inspire the rest of us.”

Pink is used to people calling her out for not being feminine enough or not following gender norms. She explained in her speech how she talked to her daughter saying, “When people make fun of me, that's what they use: They say I look like a boy or I'm too masculine or I have too many opinions or that my body is too strong.” She then asked Willow, “'Do you see me growing my hair?' And she said, 'No, mama.' 'Do you see me changing my body?' 'No, mama.' 'Do you see me changing the way I present myself to the world?' 'No, mama.' 'Do you see me selling out arenas all over the world?' 'Yes, mama.'” She continued explaining to her daughter, “So, baby girl, we don't change. We take the gravel in the shell and we make a pearl. And we help other people to change so that they can see more kinds of beauty. ...And you, my darling girl, are beautiful. I love you.”

What do you think of Pink’s speech at the VMA’s?

How do you handle it when your kids complain about their looks or reveal instances of being bullied?