People have been coming out in support of Victoria Beckham after a photo of her kissing her daughter sparked an unlikely debate. Like many in this social media age, the former Spice Girl and now fashion designer Beckham marked her daughter’s fifth birthday on Instagram. The fashion designer shared a picture of herself kissing her daughter on the mouth while on holiday alongside the caption: “Happy birthday baby girl. We all love you so much. Kisses from mummy.”
The image has drawn an unprecedented response. A number of articles followed asking if a parent kissing a child on the lips was "controversial" in response to negative comments left on Beckham's page. They included: “It's nice but you're not supposed to kiss you're children on the lips. I'm not trying to be rude but it's true," and, "Not a fan of kissing my kids on the lips...That's just me.”
“Eww sorry I'm old fashioned it looks like they making out," one Instagram user wrote, while another said, "It's nice but you're not supposed to kiss you're children on the lips. I'm not trying to be rude but it's true." Meanwhile, yet another commenter “ this time one with a slightly better grasp on spelling and grammar -- weighed in, "That's one passionate kiss right there...Hope she gets so passionate with @davidbeckham."
But the negative commenters got an earful from many parents and others online. Quite a few started leaping to Victoria’s defence. One replied to a few negative comments by saying, “Wow I've never read anything dumber than that you sound worse than Donald Trump.” Another commented: “She is a mum showing her daughter how much she loves her. Get your minds out of the gutter people.” And someone else said: “it's her child, why shouldn't she kiss her on the lips, forehead, toes or wherever she wants? Necessary doesn't come in to it. She is not causing her harm or upset. She's being her loving mother.”
Then came the pictures. Parents started posting pics of them kissing their kids. We don’t find anything wrong in parents kissing young children on the lips. It’s a natural thing. But nothing is ever natural or harmless in today’s society where anyone can get offended by just about anything.
The controversy didn’t stop there. News portals online began asking for comments on whether it was okay to kiss your child on the lips. Television New Zealand had a segment which argued that “there would have been no comment if it was David Beckham kissing the girl.” One presenter stated that no one should be told how to raise their child.
You know what, they’re right!
