#burkso

I’m going to briefly answer this now but stay tuned for an extended post (or even multiple posts at this point as I’m doing multiple seasons worth of gifs to justify my answer).

Yes. Kelso was emotionally abusive at the very least. He was a narcissist. He was a gaslighter. He was a serial cheater. He manipulated Jackie - financially, emotionally, sexually. He demeaned her. He used her.

I’d even argue he was more verbally abusive to Jackie than vice versa (and will do so in my extended post/series/essay). People point to Jackie more for a variety of reasons. Jackie is more overt/aggressive whereas Kelso is more covert/passive aggressive. But that doesn’t mean less/better. In fact, I’d argue it’s even worse because it becomes normalized and is harder to identify and fix.

It frustrates me that people hold Jackie to a harsher standard and give Kelso more grace, especially when you consider the other aspects of their dynamic (their age difference, upbringings, experience with other romantic partners or lack thereof, etc.)