Hilary Duff sparked quite the debate on her Instagram after posting a picture of her kissing her four-year-old son Luca on the lips.
In the snap of the pair at Disneyland, Hilary is cuddling up to her son in front of one of the rides. A sweet moment between a loving mum and kid, you might think – but some commenters were offended by the picture.
“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,” wrote one angry Instagram user.
Others left shorter, but still as judgmental, comments like “Ew” and “sickening”.
The debate about whether it’s acceptable to kiss your children on the lips isn’t a new one. Victoria Beckham was criticised by angry commenters when she posted a similar picture of her and daughter Harper kissing back in July.
There were plenty of people coming to Hilary’s defence, though. “This is adorable! A mothers love is everything,” wrote one, while another added: “I feel sad for all of the kids being raised without kisses! Go on, Hilary! Great mama!”
And Hilary wasn’t phased by the criticism one bit. In a subsequent post, she rightly pointed out that anyone who didn’t like what they saw on her Instagram could simply unfollow her.
“For anyone commenting that a kiss on the lips with my four year old is “inappropriate” go ahead and click a quick unfollow with your warped minds and judgment,” she wrote.
*What do you think? Would you kiss your young children on the lips, or are you uncomfortable with it? Tell us over at Facebook and Twitter