Last week, two moms from Texas, both professional photographers, decided to photograph their own kids in a wedding-themed photo shoot. Ella, 3, played the part of the bride, and 5-year-old Sullivan played the groom.
The response from Breana and Bria's immediate social media circles had been mostly positive — many friends and family complimented the quality of their photos and how "adorable" their kids were styled.
However, after ABC News promoted their interview and feature over the weekend, the public opinion had shifted.
@ABC "Our kids like to play together so we sexualized them & made them pretend to marry each other bc what else do… https://t.co/5vExk79fcn
People took issue with both the optics of the shoot and how the friendship between young children was being represented.
@ABC This isn't magical, it's creepy and tells the kids that cross-gender friendship must have a romantic/sexual component.
They did not see the "fun" or whimsicality in the mom's photos. Many believed two children role-playing a romantic wedding was an example of "sexualizing" and "fetishizing" their innocence, and pushing an adult fantasy onto children.
@ABC Disgusting, not magical. They're being sexualized, ffs. Let them be kids.
@makledes @FadeResistant @ABC I'd say fetishizing innocence. It's so gross. There's a lot of this in bad Hallmarky-… https://t.co/D64wNzsMe2
Others did not articulate it as critically, but expressed their general discomfort with the photo shoot concept.
@ABC Something about this makes me super uncomfortable.
This is super creepy... https://t.co/o87Lt2PUUr
The backlash has only grown this week.
I'm not the kind of person to throw the word 'problematic' out there, but damn that shit's problematic. https://t.co/FThplmiqS3
@ABC Is this straight culture?
Breana said she's disheartened and confused by the negative reaction. "I don't understand how people can take something done for fun and innocently and turn it into anything sexual," she said. "It's sad."
The moms have even received harsh and disturbing threats, Breana said, including one from a stranger who said her daughter would get pregnant at a young age.
Some claim they're imposing heteronormative agendas on their children, which both moms deny.
Heteronormative standards being forced on children Still not as creepy as Gender reveal parties though.... https://t.co/TgoDZr3KfX
"You can't teach kids who to love. You can teach them who to hate, and we've worked hard to make sure no one is on that list," Bria said.
how 'bout stop pushing your gross & harmful heteronormative agenda on children. https://t.co/XPE5SeydVX
"All we can do is encourage them to love all people," she added.