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AIBU?

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Original poster

to find it odd when people refer to their babies as sexy....

53 replies

filipolarbear · 19/12/2011 11:46

Title says it all really. I have a friend who calls her one year old ds her sexy little man (actually has done for as long as I can remember) , I know, its her baby she can call him what she likes, but sexy ?? Really?

OP posts:
FunnysInTheGarden · 19/12/2011 12:33

awful. That is what it is.

squeakytoy · 19/12/2011 12:39

I said that "sexy" cannot mean anything other than sexually alluring. It has the word 'sex' in it

Plenty of words have "sex" in them...

Sextant
Sexton
Sussex

It is all in the context. People might say "wow that car is really sexy", it does not mean they are looking at the car in a sexual way.

Someone could say your child is gorgeous, they could also say a bunch of flowers were gorgeous, and then go on to say Angelina Jolie is gorgeous... all three would be in different contexts.

I am not saying that I like hearing it, but I can accept that the meanings of the words we use change over time, and different generations use words in a different way too.

HandMini · 19/12/2011 12:40

I think "honey" used to be a nice childish endearment, but has been hijacked by the Nuts/FHM genre of magazine (High Street Honeys ) and lots of awful American teen films with lines like "She's a honey!" Although I think it's sweet for children, I'd probably avoid it because of that.

StrandedUnderTheMisltoe · 19/12/2011 12:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TroublesomeEx · 19/12/2011 12:41

Ok squeaky you got me there, but I don't think sexy can be used in any appropriate context as far as children are concerned.

OTOH, none of those other words relate to sex, though. Sexy does. It's about sex.

HandMini · 19/12/2011 12:42

Squeaky - I think that's wrong. If someone refers to a car as "sexy", you're right they are not wanting to have sex with it, but they are saying that the car invokes in them feelings that adults understand as being related to sex - stuff like power, speed, excitement etc. It takes the talk about the car to an adult level. The word sexy cannot mean anything other than to do with sex.

Obv sextant, sexton and sussex can stay clean!

Bearcrumble · 19/12/2011 12:44

People aren't looking at the car itself in a sexy way, but they are still talking about sex - implying that owning the car will make them more sexually attractive.

I can't imagine anyone calling a baby sexy. It's yucky.

StewieGriffinsMom · 19/12/2011 12:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

latrucha · 19/12/2011 12:57

This was a man, the first time he met her, not a mother to her child.

squeakytoy · 19/12/2011 13:13

It still isnt offensive to call a child a little honey, even if you are man and it is the first time you have met the child. Sorry, but to take offence at that is really weird.

pigletmania · 19/12/2011 13:14

YANBU, babies are babies, they are not sexy fgs. Sexy is used in connotation with sex and having sex appeal to allure the same or opposite sex, nothing whatsoever with babies. Those who refer to babies as being sexy are disgusting.

youngwomanwholivesinashoe · 19/12/2011 13:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SardineQueen · 19/12/2011 13:19

What's inappropriate about little honey?

Honey is sweet - it's the same as saying sweetie-pie. To me, anyway.

Sexy OTOH when applied to people means what it has always meant. I have never heard anyone say that a baby is sexy.

MMMarmite · 19/12/2011 13:20

Well, I've always thought it weird that people refer to their lovers as "baby". It's basically the same idea. But I think I'm on a losing battle with that one.

GwendolineMaryLacedwithBrandy · 19/12/2011 13:24

YANBU I don't like it either. And the word hasn't evolved that much. To 99.9% of the population, sexy is related to sex.

SardineQueen · 19/12/2011 13:26

Lots of baby related comments are to do with food, which is a bit odd when you stop to think about it.

latrucha · 19/12/2011 14:15

Ok. Obviously I'm wrong there.

SardineQueen · 19/12/2011 14:32

Why did you think it was wrong though? Maybe you have a different meaning of it than some others. I think honey = stuff bees make = sweet.

GoingForGoalWeight · 19/12/2011 15:10

YADNBU! Disturbing,.

I went to a female 'friends' flat one evening and her 3 year old DS was getting dried after getting out of the bath. She removed the bath towel and asked him to wiggle his sexy bottom in my face.

Asking me to agree he had a sexy little bottom and telling her DS to squeeze it. She also squeezed and smacked his behind 'in fun'. I was Shock.

He hesitated, he was unsure and did so but he was uncomfortable, I said i didn't agree it was funny and she called me a prude stating children shouldn't be ashamed of their bodies... Odd woman .

I was digusted did not know where to look :(

GoingForGoalWeight · 19/12/2011 15:13

My gut instinct was screaming thats got to be child abuse!!

lostafrica · 19/12/2011 22:36

Eeewww, that does sound horrible. Poor boy! I hope, though, that it's ignorance rather than abuse - it sounds like this woman equates being comfortable with your body with flaunting it.

Poor kid...

GoingForGoalWeight · 20/12/2011 00:12

She was neglectful in emotional terms too, selfish.

I spent a lot of time making sure he got enough attention :)

the friendship ended as we were too different.

Writing my post made me feel sick as i did that day.

tigerlillyd02 · 20/12/2011 00:23

I know someone on fb who always refers to her young girls as sexy - I really hate it! One I think is about 7, the other about 18 months. There are often pictures of her 7 yr old in, what I think of as unsuitable poses for her age with mom writing underneath things like "my sexy lil supermodel".

I don't doubt that she loves her child however - I just think that she's a bit ummm thick, to put it mildly.

My sister commented on a topless photo of my DS (only one where he wasn't fully clothes) saying "wit wooooo, sexy lil man". Made me feel sick, I deleted it straight away!

Alicious · 20/12/2011 00:35

YANBU-I have a friend who does this- and lets her almost 5yo smack her bum/grab her norks and say 'sexy' at the same time and it makes me feel sick sick sick.

WinterWonderlandIsComing · 20/12/2011 00:41

It is a bit strange.

I remember a year THREE disco and a very beautiful little girl arriving in a white lacy see-through dress and all the parents saying, "ow - don't she look sexy?!"

Sexy for babies - does that happen? I still call DS (4) my little chap and a handsome little man. I wonder if that is wrong.