Former Spice Girl and current fashion world queen Victoria Beckham has done the parenting unthinkable. Victoria has kissed her 4-year-old daughter Harper Seven on the (gasp!) lips. Equally horrific, Victoria (gasp!) posted a photo of her lip locked with her daughter on Instagramin honor of her daughter’s birthday. If the comments on the photo are an indictor of social norms, the world will never be the same again.
At the time this post was written, the photo has received over half a million likes. Quickly VB fans expressed their support of the photo, commenting that it was beautiful while sharing their own stories of their own mother’s kisses. But the photo has also sparked some serious controversy with some followers commenting that it’s disgusting to kiss one’s child on the lips, or that the photo is somehow sexual.
A photo of a doting mom giving her 4-year-old daughter a peck on the lips is now considered sexual.
It’s not disgusting to show affection to your children. In fact, it’s quite lovely.
Photograph by: Meredith Gordon
I can only imagine what VB’s fans would say if they saw me with my 5-year-old daughter. See I, like Victoria Beckham, adore my daughter. I adore her so much that I want to hug her, hold her hand, and yes even kiss her on her little adorable 5-year-old lips. I want to show her as much affection as I possibly can because I adore every ounce and inch of her being. I want her to know that. I want to show her love.
But the very thought that anyone would assume in any way that Beckham is sexualizing her very small child, or treating her child in a sexual way, blows my mind. Honestly people, it’s time to step back and take a chill pill. We live in a world where teen girls are wearing shorts so small it looks like their butt has eaten their shorts and that’s not considered sexual, but a mother giving her daughter a smooch is.
As the mother of an adorable little girl whom I’d love nothing more than to show affection to any time she’ll allow it, I can honestly say there is nothing sexual about kissing your own child on the lips. It’s not disgusting to show affection to your children. In fact, it’s quite lovely.
So if you find it disgusting to kiss your child on the lips, I suggest not doing it. Just don’t judge others who do. And don’t call it sexual or disgusting. And while you’re at it, ask your teen daughter to put on some pants. You’d hate for someone to think you're sexualizing your child.
