Modern day parenting is a minefield, particularly if you’re a former Playboy model whose every move is scrutinised by millions of people online.
Some devoted – but not so adoring – fans of the Italian-Argentine showgirl Belén have criticised the 31-year-old for a video of her son they dubbed ‘erotic’ and ‘inappropriate’.
Belén – otherwise known as María Belén Rodríguez Cozzani – captured a moment between mother and son that many have deemed shameful.
According to the Mirror, the video shows the former Playboy Argentina model and her young son enjoying a meal together at an upmarket restaurant, when three-year-old Santiago gets some whipped cream on his face during pudding.
Belén laughs as she grabs his chin, pulls a face at the camera and then playfully licks the cream off her son’s face – briefly putting her tongue in his mouth.
The mother-of-one then wipes her finger along the plate and dabs whipped cream on her son’s nose and cheek as he giggles happily.
The video has divided the opinion of the million viewers who watched the clip on the 31-year-old’s Instagram Stories.
Some social media users branded the clip ‘erotic’, ‘inappropriate’ and said Belén ‘should be ashamed’.
One Instagram user said, ‘You just have to feel ashamed’ while another claimed licking was ‘never an affectionate gesture, but erotic’, and a third critic with overwhelming powers of observation said, ‘You’re not a cat’.
Others defended the clip as a display of motherly love and affection.
Frankly, it seems as though Belén is a devoted mother and who are we to judge her parenting skills when her child is evidently healthy and happy?
Since when did an innocent and playful gesture become ‘erotic’?
Belén’s personal life has apparently been up for grabs ever since she was dubbed a WAG after entering into a relationship with Italian Cagliari striker Marco Borriello, who played for AC Milan throughout their partnership.
Rodriguez divorced her son’s father, the dancer Stefano De Martino, in December 2015.
Neither party have yet commented on the controversy, and hopefully, for the sake of privacy and reason they will ignore all the naysayers.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.