#get this ableist notion that therapy is for crazy people!

[keeloves]

Ginny is allowed to be a bratty teenager.

Virgina *Ginny* Miller from Ginny and Georgia gets a lot of hate. Yes, some of it is warranted however she is a 16-year-old girl. I am tired of seeing her be hated on for her reactions to things that most people would not react well to at all. Let's take a look at things from her point of view for a moment. Ginny was born under unfortunate circumstances, she was born to a homeless 15-year-old teen mom living in poverty, she had the chance to have a decent childhood as in she would live with her grandparents and grow up in a stable home but nope Georgia had to pack up her things and take her daughter with her. Her mom would pack up and leave anytime things got hard where Ginny never was able to stay in one place long enough to make a friend. This happened until she moved to Wellsbury Massachusetts. Life is going pretty well until Ginny finds out some hard truths about her mom now grant it Ginny is reacting to what she found out without knowing the whole story which isn't abnormal. What she found out about her mom, she is a murderer, a thief, and Georgia took out credit cards in Ginny and Austin's name. Yes, Georgia had good reasons for all of the things she did, she murdered first two husbands because they sexually harassed/abused her and her daughter, she became a thief to survive, and she took out credit cards and framed Gil who was already embezzling money one to get rid of him for being abusive and two so she could buy them a place to live. However, in the process she basically ruined Ginny's credit before she is even old enough to get a credit card. However, Ginny not having the full story is struggling to deal with this. The other thing Ginny struggles with is confiding in her mother with anything Georgia will have these extreme reactions, like when a little boy pushed Ginny off her bike, all Ginny wanted was a hug and the boy to receive proper consequences for his actions and what did Georgia do, she went and cut the breaks on his bike. She told Georgia about her microagressive racist teacher. Most parents would call the school and discuss the situation, but nope not Georgia she goes to the school and puts alcohol in his desk. There are more examples of Georgia having extreme reactions to things, but I can't remember them all at the moment. These extreme reactions to things are why Ginny felt safe enough to tell Zion her father that she struggles with self-harm. Zion's reaction, is to cry and comfort his daughter, tell Georgia to figure out a way to help Ginny but he doesn't because she begs him not to. He however decides to put Ginny in therapy and not only that he finds her a biracial therapist. This is another reason that the relationship between Ginny and Georgia is complicated. Ginny is a biracial with a white mom. Yes, Georgia is a great mom and will go through extreme lengths to protect her daughter but as a white woman she has blind spots. For example, she dressed as Scarlett O'Hara a very racist figure. In Georgia's mind she was just a woman who dressed pretty and probably did it because she is proud to be from down south. Too Ginny she saw her mom dress up as a racist figure. Race issues are hard for Georgia to understand as a privileged white woman. Now before people jump down my throat for me calling Georgia a privileged white woman, I don't mean she didn't struggle because trust me she had plenty of struggles, but I just mean is that her none of her struggle came because she was white. She also doesn't grasp that her half black would not be able to get away with half of the crimes she committed. Another reason that Ginny didn't feel comfortable telling her mom about therapy or self-harm is because Georgia is constantly, violating her daughter’s boundaries. Georgia smokes with her daughter’s boyfriends, reads Ginny’s therapy journal without permission, takes a credit card out in her name basically ruining Ginny’s chances of getting a credit card for herself when she is older, and she basically tackled Ginny when she found about her burning herself. On top of that she doesn’t even ask Ginny to if she can sit in on a therapy session she just barges right in and basically makes the session about herself. I am in no means trying to justify Ginny’s actions, but her reactions aren’t unreasonable or unrealistic. All of these things I mentioned are why Ginny needs therapy. Given what Georgia has been through she needs therapy as well. As Ginny matures, she will understand her mom and be less judgmental towards her mom. She truly appreciates her mom but as she put, she is allowed to feel hurt and be upset about stuff that was hard for her.