Hilary Duff Responds to Criticism of Her Kissing Her Child on the Lips

There are two kinds of parents: those who kiss their kids on the lips, and those who don’t. Those who don’t tend to feel adamantly about those who do. In fact, they tend to be pretty judgmental.

Actress Hillary Duff observed this on Monday when she posted a photo to her Instagram page that showed her planting a smooch on the mouth of her 4-year-old son, Luca. The two were having a ball at Disneyland. She captioned the post “Happiest happiest happiest happiest happiest happiest happiest happiest place on earth! We love you @disneyland.” The glowing mom included a copious amount of cheerful emoji.

Users flooded the comments section, but not all the comments were positive. Some people couldn’t handle the mother-child PDA, and they said so. “I don’t want to sound rude or mean but they look like they’re making out,” wrote one person.

Several called it inappropriate. “I think it’s more so how it appears that seems inappropriate. This kiss appears very deep and that tends to often times be seen more so between two adults, than between a parent and a child. A peck on the lips seems very harmless but it appears to be more so of a lingering kiss and so I guess I can see how others may view this as a bit weird,” one person wrote. “Lol ew” and “Sickening wow go get some help,” were a few other comments.

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One person was a bit more gentle in her criticism, and suggested it might be attributed to different cultural norms. “Definitely always thought it was odd to have your mom kiss you on the lips… Maybe it’s a Latino thing but the CHEEK is the most comfortable place to kiss a family loved one,” the user wrote.

The majority, though, were ultra supportive of Duff’s display of affection for her little guy. “Um- this picture captures a mother’s adoration perfectly and is exactly what being a mom feels like. I kiss my babes on the lips every. day. I will never stop! If you have issues with this, those issues may be rooted by something deeper…” wrote one. Another commented, “If anyone looks at this and sees anything other than a loving mother and her son, then they are the inappropriate ones.”

A child who’s been kissed on the lips said, “don’t worry about the haters!! I’m 24 and I still kiss my mum in the lips. It’s just how I’ve been brought up and I see heaps of my friends doing it – it’s love and respect!! ” Another added, “People are so crazy. Thank you for standing up for totally acceptable parenting! It’s sad that you need to. Smh.”

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Duff felt the need to defend her choice to kiss her son on the lips, and posted this message to her Instagram on Tuesday: “For anyone commenting that a kiss on the lips with my 4 year old is ‘inappropriate,’ go ahead and click a quick unfollow with your warped minds and judgment.” That post, and the original, got more than 200K likes.

Duff isn’t the first star to come under scrutiny for lip-kissing her little ones. Victoria Beckham was heavily criticized after posting a photo of her kissing daughter Harper, 5, on Instagram on the little girl’s birthday. A paparazzi shot of Harry Connick Jr. kissing his 8-year-old daughter even ruffled the feathers of a writer over at the Stir.

And opinions were mixed when basketball player Kobe Bryant was photographed planting a smooch on the lips of his young daughter, Gianna. “Not for nothing, but I don’t kiss my son on the lips and don’t allow him to kiss me on the lips either. In my opinion there are some things you just don’t do…” commented a user. Another disagreed, saying, “There is nothing wrong with kissing your child on the lips. People that have a problem with that have their own sexual issues.”

What do you think about parents kissing kids on the lips? Perfectly acceptable or completely inappropriate?

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