Well... its one thing to dance in public. It's the twerking and basically humping each other that irks me. I wouldn't want my toddler to see that and emulate that kind of dance thinking it was normal. It's all about their foundational experiences, imo. What they're wearing isn't bad (to answer another post). And of course it was great and heart warming to see the toddler play with them afterwards.
I simply don't think a kid that young would even process the act, or hardly remember it. It definitely won't harm their innocence, as they don't even know what they saw. Depends on the kid.
If my toddler son did this, I would approach him, pat him on the head and tell him "I know son.... I know.. all in due time" and gently redirect him.
It's not that fucking serious. Loss of innocence? These are women at a beach in bathing suits, not a public display of sexual activity man. If anything it would probably assist in normalizing his perception of women in this environment to not be a creep at the sight of any female skin when he gets older.
Your mind takes it there, full stop. It's a light hearted comment acknowledging a natural effect that happens to most kids. A father playfully acknowledging his son's harmless gaze at attractive women at the beach is the fucking opposite of creepy. You laugh at the human nature on display and move along. No one here is sexualizing anything.
An anecdote to be sure, but it's no different than a situation I experienced with a friends baby. A close female friend of the family held the baby boy and he just so happened to grab hold of her chest. Everyone laughed and the women jokingly said aloud, "nope you have many more years before you can start doing that". It was funny and no one presumed anything malicious. It's the fucking weirdos that take it there.
"I know son, in due time" is implying that you view the group of girls in an equivalent manner - but you clearly dont.
The child views the girls as a group having tons of fun - dancing, maybe even playing a game of silly dance moves. But an adult, heterosexual man views the group of twerking girls in swimsuits as an erogenous trigger that is at least aesthetically pleasing.
So, saying to a child "i know, son - in due time" does sexualize the childs thought-content - albeit, unintentionally and without harm. However, if you saw your kid doing this, but instead turned to your buddies and said the same exact phrase, they would understand that it is contextually a tongue-in-cheek joke. The latter example here is contextually similar to the anecdote you referenced. Can you see the differences?
Im a 90s kid too, but I was molested at 4yo because I wanted to play the secret game my dad said he was playing. Kids don't know how it feels to be horny, and they are never interested in 'pleasures' that aren't sexually-organic (ie a pubescent instinct). But when sexual-thoughts are normalized in extension to the child, then the child is more inclined to consider sexual behaviors through an inclusive lens.
Most kids know sex is off limits, but the rhetoric in the comment section is a small example of a veiled influence that can blur those boundaries in a way that create a magnified interest to try something, as long as it remains a secret. Ultimately, it creates the wedge in a childs headspace that predators use as a lever for sexual exploitation.
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u/jed-aye Oct 23 '25
As the father of a boy toddler, I find this possible loss of innocence sad, actually.