Reader Mary responds to Kyron Horman’s Stepmom Implicated by Facebook Sleuths.”I suggest anyone interested pick up a copy of ‘the enlightened stepmother’ and read a bit about how stepmothers – who are normal women like every other woman – are typecast and stereotyped in western society as ‘wicked.'””Just check the fairytales you were raised on. This witchhunt is another perfect example.”There’s a whole world of research starting to come up about this topic, because it’s simply not true, but it’s leading to increasing secondary family breakups because there is an instant ‘scapegoat’ in all situations. “Check the stats: the majority of family units in the United States are stepfamilies. It’s time to stop villifying the women who are BRAVE enough to take on a role when they KNOW they’re going to be taking on this challenge against the deified role of “mother” (no matter HOW or WHO the birth mother was/is). “Stepmothers are one of the most undervalued, disrespected, and ignored segments in society. Why do we accept this? Regardless of the facts in this case – why is the stepmother the place people first look to throw stones? And why are they comparing her emotions to the “real” mother? “That is not the same thing, read any book on the subject that actually takes into consideration the woman’s role (rather than focusing purely on the children, which is what most of the stepfamily books in the past have done). Allow her to have her own unique role, her own unique emotions, and maybe everyone can work together to figure this out.”