The Portuguese actress’ 3-year-old son’s “first kiss on the mouth” Sofia Arruda, 34, was captured in a photo and shared on his Instagram. The image reignited the debate about the early eroticization of children on Brazilian networks, who responded to the publication by raising the hashtag #childrendon'tdate. The subject was one of the 10 most mentioned on Twitter this Wednesday (03). For the mother and owner of the photo that went viral, the criticism came from “sick minds”.
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Not even a joke
The actress, who has already written a book about motherhood, received complaints about her account and numerous criticisms of her post, following the repercussions.
She closed the platform's comments box and, early Thursday afternoon, decided to delete the post which said: “I don’t know if it will be a summer love or a lifelong love, but it painted a mood.” In the image, Sofia also warned: “we met the girl's parents and everything is fine”, alongside laughing emojis.
What professionals said
A psychologist Leiliane Rocha addressed the encouragement of “boyfriends” and kisses on the mouth in a post on her Intagram, she explained to her followers that “most adults today were eroticized children, which is why some have difficulty seeing this as eroticization”. The professional took the opportunity to list some of the negative consequences of child eroticization on children's development.
This post on Twitter from Beatriz Macedo it reached around 100 thousand likes and shares this Wednesday. Beatriz has a master's degree in Education, mother and motherhood and childhood activist.
Fighting in circles
“Stop sexualizing children! (…) Stop with this story that 'ah, it's normal'. IT’S NOT!” exclaimed another publication contrary to Sofia’s stance, which in 2002 aired on Brazilian TV with the series “Morangos com Açúcar”. Some of the mentions on the subject defended non-reproduction of the image originally published by the actress, under the argument that the propagation of the content would sabotage, precisely, the fight against the culture of early eroticization. A trend of parents making their children's lives public on the internet and the respect to identities and children's gender expressions also joined the discussion.
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One of the reactions to the exposure of children kissing came from deputy Marina Helou (Rede-SP), which has “childhood, women and the environment” at the forefront of its work, according to its Twitter profile.
