May 28--With 46,000 Instagram followers, Landon Lee is a veritable superstar, and he's only 10 months old. But the Internet being what it is, this baby with piercing eyes and an adorable smile is already subject to his fair share of hate.
Landon's mother, Jessica Benton, started an Instagram account dedicated to sharing photos of the infant in October 2015. "We all know those mommies who overshare on Facebook," she said in a phone interview. "None of my family was on Instagram, so I started posting photos of Landon there, to not bother anyone.
The mother of five, who lives in Quincy, Ill., also saw Instagram as an opportunity to practice her photography hobby, thinking "what better subject than my baby?" After months of posting photos of Landon publicly online, Benton got word that a Facebook page took one of her photos and shared it. In March, a Facebook page shared one of Landon's photos with the caption "@babybrandonlee is going to break the web with all his adorableness."
"It was very positive, with people complementing how cute he was," said Benton.
The proud mom didn't think anything more of the initial post. But soon, Benton started getting social media notifications about another photo shared to the web, one that was decidedly more negative.
"The person who shared my photo asked people to give Landon nicknames," said Benton. "They were very cruel. Some made me cringe, like, how can you say that about someone, much less a baby?"
One name stuck and quickly made Landon the subject of an Internet meme: "Stuff Curry."
"At first I thought it was racist," said Benton, before she learned it was an uncomplimentary play on basketball star Stephen "Steph" Curry's name. "I thought, 'he's not bad looking! If they made him a child's doll, he'd look like Landon!'"
A majority of the comments from strangers fat-shamed the 10-month-old baby, while many more called out Benton for her supposed lack of maternity skills. "He's a baby, he doesn't know, but as a mom, those comments were hurtful," said Benton.
She decided to block all of her social media accounts, but was still hounded by people who kept trying to follow her on Instagram. Benton reached out to another mother whose child was the subject of similar vitriol, who advised her "they (the trolls) have already taken what they wanted, and may try to profit on Landon's photo without you knowing. Don't let them."
So Benton reversed course and turned all her profiles public again, watermarking her photos so that she retained the rights. Now, she dresses Landon in clothes with sayings like "Bullies No Bueno" and "Anti-Bully Squad."
"I don't even respond to the comments," she said. "My baby has thousands of fans who leave kind and positive messages that I just report haters for harassing and bullying.
"The comments that I get brighten my day. People tell me they're scrolling through the feed, things like 'Landon made my day better.' He's my baby, but he seems to be so much more to other people."
Baby Landon doesn't know yet that he's the target of Internet bullying, but Benton knows all too well the results of it. Her 20-year-old son Kevin, who suffered from bullying as a teenager, killed himself while Benton was still pregnant with Landon, she said.
"As a mom, I feel like I didn't protect Kevin enough," said Benton. "I remember sitting with him at the end of his junior year, and he told me that the words people told him hurt." Benton sent Kevin to finish out high school with his dad, but "it was just removing him from the situation, but didn't solve the problem.
"He was such a soft, kind soul, the bullying really affected him."
Now, Benton says, she hopes to combat the online bullying of her youngest, through positivity.
"I just hope Kevin is looking down, reading these comments, and seeing how I'm fighting back," said Benton. "I am making sure to use the hashtag #stuffcurry to make sure it's all positivity. I'm only flooding it with good stuff."
As for the attacks on her parenting skills, Benton shrugs it off. A health conscious mother who breastfeeds Landon, she thinks that people lack the knowledge to make an argument against her. "They're not doctors, they're not my child's doctors," she said. "We go to regular check-ups, and our doctor has no concerns about Landon's health.
"People assume Landon is eating junk food," said Benton. "He has four teeth!" Instead, the health-conscious mom -- to the chagrin of her older children -- insists on simple whole foods at home. For Landon, who is starting to eat solids, she feeds him whole wheat pancakes (made with breast milk and fruit purees) along with watermelon and either a banana or some avocado.
The whole incident has only strengthened Benton's resolve to fight bullying.
"You never know who you're poking fun at. They know people have been killing themselves online, and they still do it."
For now, she hopes to shield Landon from any comments directed at him, with the hope that one day, she can use this time to teach him about the power of positivity and fighting back against bullies.
"When he's a little older -- 5 or 6 -- I'll let him know the world loved him," said Benton. "When he's 8 or 12, I'll tell people tried to bully him but it wasn't successful. I hope that will help him in life have strong self-esteem and stand up for others."
jbhernandez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter: @joeybear85
