𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦

In Defense of Piper McLean

Disclaimer, you do not have to agree with me. I'm just here to say what I've seen Piper get a lot of hate for, and then in turn say why I personally disagree. Have your own opinion, as long as you're not rude about it. Also, spoilers for HoO and ToA!

1. In comparison to the other Seven, she isn't seen as having as much childhood trauma.

Okay, I can see where people are coming from on this. Annabeth ran away from home, Hazel freaking died, Percy's stepdad just all around sucked, Frank's mom died, Leo's mom died, Jason was abandoned at birth and forced into a 'golden child' position. In comparison to that, on the surface, Piper complaining about her dad being a loaded movie star seems whiny.
But can we just remember the fact that Piper was excited when her dad called her for maybe a minute tops? Like, genuinely happy, which is really just sad if you think about it. If she had to resort to stealing things just to get his attention for a little while.. am I the only one who sees how fucking terrible that is? She had to go that far just for him to spare her a second glance? There's a reason the phrase "money can't buy happiness" exists, Piper is basically living proof of it. Mr. McLean, though it's not entirely his fault, is just one of those parents that makes up for their absence with money and gifts.
Also, it's heavily implied if not outright stated that Piper was bullied throughout her childhood, either for her heritage or being assumed as a snob by most people. Along with that, her main caretaker was freaking Jane, who would make Ms. Dodds proud in the way she treated Piper.
So in summary, we get absent father of the year along with no social life whatsoever. For her entire freaking childhood. Wow, she really had the perfect life growing up, didn't she? (also let's take a moment on the fact that the PJO fandom was upset that she seemed to have a good home life. I love character angst, but that's kinda messed up ngl)

2. She's insecure? And pretty? What a sin!

Piper's a teenage girl, what did you expect? Besides, her insecurities have almost nothing to do with physical looks outside of how men view her in the series (don't worry we're gonna get to that later) and her comparing herself to Reyna. She has problems with self-worth, which makes sense, given as there was no one to so much as tell her that she was worthy of literally anything (see point 1). Given how she was raised, her insecurities make perfect sense with her character (at least in my eyes) and don't come out of nowhere unlike with other characters. Just because a character is good-looking they can't be in-general self-conscious? Really?
One time, when reading the comments on a Quora article, I saw a comment that said that Piper had "no right to be insecure" when she "made fans insecure". You don't get to restrict who's 'allowed to be insecure' IRL, and you don't get to restrict what FICTIONAL CHARACTERS are 'allowed to be insecure' either.

3. She's beautiful in general, I guess that's bad now

Bro, Piper's an Aphrodite kid, what did you expect when she's part goddess of beauty? Also, she's treated as basically an object of desire by people like Dylan and that one forgettable ice dude.
(Sorry to get dark real quick here, but this actually parallels the real world, where Native Americans are more at risk to sexual violence in America in comparison to any other ethnic group. Not important to this, just a sad fact that I learned and want more people to be aware of in order to hopefully change that one day.)
The other girls in the Seven are described as being beautiful, and they don't get hated on for that. Why is the one character that actually has a literal genetic reason to be attractive the only one who gets hated on or 'called out' for it?

4. She's an Aphrodite kid who doesn't act like an Aphrodite kid.

Okay. Great. I don't care. Bianca and Hazel don't act like traditional Hades/Pluto kids either but sure. Frank is NOTHING like Mars, but okay. There's no reason to hate on Piper for not following a stereotype the fandom set for Aphrodite kids. People always say that Rick made her into a 'not like other girls' girl, and to that I also disagree. It doesn't make you a pick-me to not like makeup and stuff, it just seems like she's being overly tomboyish because she's in the fricking Aphrodite cabin.