I kiss my nine-year-old daughter on the lips just like David Beckham – it’s natural and only creeps would sexualise it
DESPITE being berated by critics numerous times before, David Beckham was again pictured kissing his daughter Harper on the lips last week.
Trolls were quick to take a swipe at Becks for planting one on his nine-year-old girl while they visited an organic farm, saying: “Why is he kissing her on the lips?” and “Please stop kissing kids on the lips.”
As we told you previously, fans of the family were quick to defend the picture which Victoria posted on her Instagram, asking why critics were sexualizing the innocent act.
Writer and dad-of-three Jon Axworthy, 48, agrees and says kissing his daughter Annie, also nine, on the lips is the most natural thing ever.
He said: “You wouldn’t catch me kissing my nine-year-old daughter Annie on the lips in public like the recently snapped David and Harper Beckham.
"But that’s not because I’m weird about it, or too prudish – it’s just because Annie hates it when I do it unshaven, as she tells me that it’s “far too prickly”.
"Also, if I ever donned the trademark tweed flat cap that Becks is sporting in the picture, Annie wouldn’t come within a country mile of me because I’d clearly be an embarrassment.
"However, clean-shaven (I haven’t got time in the mornings for Becks’ millimetre perfect designer stubble, I’m afraid), I often give her a proper smacker on the lips, accompanied with an 'I love you', which is reciprocated from her without either of us batting an eyelid.
"Usually, kisses are confined to when I tuck her up in bed, however there are plenty of times when we’ve been out when we’ve naturally had a peck and we’ve been doing it since she was little - after a swim at the beach, or just before she disappears through the school gates on some mornings."
Jon continued: "It’s just a lovely habit now that neither of us have to think twice about, just as it seems to be with Becks and Harper who have been previously pictured having a kiss at an ice rink, on the beach and at a football match.
"This time, the picture that created the stir was Instagrammed by Victoria Beckham while the family were out foraging for organic food in Gloucestershire.
"Now, Annie and I also go on day trips together - although we prefer to spend our time munching on pasties at our local zoo in south Devon on one of our bi-monthly 'daddy and daughter' days."
According to Jon, he's not the only dad planting a smooch on his daughter's lips.
On a recent day out o the zoo, he saw plenty of other men kissing their little ones.
He said: "Each time, the kiss was totally innocent, instinctive and natural and a non-verbal demonstration of reassurance, or thanks, that plenty of studies have shown raises self-esteem and confidence as kids go into adulthood.
"The last time I kissed Annie, when it wasn’t her bed-time, we were out for pizza together and as we left she said, 'Thanks, Dad,' and puckered up.
"I suppose the big question would be whether Annie and I will still be doing it when our daddy and daughter days out at the zoo have, hopefully, matured into dad and daughter nights out at the restaurant.
"I’m sure the habit will fizzle out as she grows up, but until then we’ll keep doing it without a second thought because it’s just a perfectly natural way to show how much we mean to one another.
"I’m sure the Beckhams had a few visits from the troll brigade too, claiming there was something sexual to the kiss. Seriously?
"The problem doesn’t lie with David and Harper, or with how close Annie and I are, the problem lies with the fact that you see an innocent image and think the worst, not the best."
Jon’s wife Clare O’Reilly, 41, also a writer, said she sees nothing wrong with dad and daughter sharing a smooch.
She said: “There are many things that annoy me about Beckham, but seeing his kiss on the lips with Harper makes my heart burst. And I’m all for Jon kissing Annie.
"They have always been the apple for each other’s eyes. Like Harper, Annie has big brothers - Eddie who is now 16 and Sammy who is 12.
And while Jon gets wedgies and footballs kicked at him by the boys, Annie and her big brown eyes persuade him to draw and paint with her.
"They have always been physically affectionate with each other.
"When I read David had been trolled my blood started to boil - it’s plain to see what a happy little girl Harper is growing up to be and Annie’s just the same. They’re both lucky little girls to have amazing dads who dote on them.”
For more real life stories, find out about the doctor who says she's constantly trolled for being too pretty, but it won't stop her posting bikini snaps.
And as we told you previously, one Mrs Hnch fan says she cleans for 5 hours a day to stop coronavirus spreading and has got through 100 bottles of bleach.