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Her daughter had every right to refuse.
By Isaac Serna-Diez — Written on Jan 02, 2023
A woman recently had a falling out with a family member because of his disrespectful attitude toward her and her young daughter during a family get-together.
She posted about the incident on Reddit’s “r/TrueOffMyChest” subreddit, a place where people normally post about their grievances just to, well, get it off their chest — but she claims she’s proud of the way she handled the situation instead of feeling remorse.
When her male family member tried to force her daughter into a hug, she fought back.
She revealed that she didn’t always speak up for herself, but confessed that having children, alongside the COVID pandemic, all of that changed.
“Having kids made me more brave and adamant about speaking up for not only myself but my husband and children,” she wrote in the post.
“My family didn't agree with how we handled things (we got vaccinated and they're anti-vax and I had the 'audacity' to stand up for us).”
While their family made preparations for the upcoming holiday season, namely Christmas, a middle-aged, male family member caused a commotion when he asked her young daughter for a hug.
He said, "If you don't give me a hug, I'm going to come get one," which prompted her to respond with "No. She is learning her boundaries and doesn't have to hug or kiss anyone."
She, of course, was referring to her daughter (who was younger than five) and her right to refuse physical contact from anyone.
Feeling like he was entitled to a hug from her daughter, he pressed the issue.
She was shocked by what he said next, which was “She's not gonna get r--ed right now.”
“I came around the corner where I could see him and said, ‘She is MY daughter and I will protect MY family,’” she continued. “He said, ‘That's bulls--t, she's my family, too.’”
“I repeated, ‘She's MY daughter.’ He then told me, ‘Go f--k yourself.’”
She says that this family member is the same one who said the exact same thing during the pandemic when he disagreed with her over the virus, so it’s “Needless to say, we aren't going to that part of our family's Christmas again.”
She continued on, defending her daughter, her choice to stand up for herself and her daughter, and reiterating that “Kids do not need to hug or kiss anyone.”
People in the replies slammed the man and praised her for her bravery.
“I feel the same way about my children and physical affection,” someone wrote in the comments. “I never made them hug Grandma, or even me. They’re older now and I still enforce that boundary even with each other.”
They wrote that it was important to teach young women that their bodies belong to them and no one else, and even suggested going no-contact with the family member to avoid issues in the future.
Other people were very critical of the man for even bringing up “r--e” in this context.
“The fact they even brought up r--e in the context of an under 5 yo is reason enough to never let them hug anyway,” someone else wrote.
“Who jumps from not getting a hug to r--e with a five-year-old so easily?” wrote another. “That is appalling on so many levels. Good for you for standing up to him for her. Disrespectfully, he can go f--k himself.”
She received a lot of support from these strangers on the internet, and thanked them in an update to the post, replying several times over that she would continue to defend her daughter and teach her all of the right things.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.