1.11.2012

Flirtive

"He's flirting," the young mother would say about her 2-year old son.

That always struck a chord with me. The wrong chord.

I always thought that's what young women did with males to {harmlessly} get their way.  Access to a closed office, a drink, and the potential for S3X but never S3X.  Just the little juice of it.  When a man flirts with a young woman, there was always danger there.  Lurking, furtive.  An older woman, a woman old enough to be the man's mother or even grandmother, it was to harmlessly get some approval; to send herself back a time before she learned how lascivious men were.  See it all as harmless and innocent.

When I search "flirt" clipart, this is what I get:

Perhaps English being my second language turned first-cousin, I never fully understood the nuances of it.  Flirt. Why would a second meaning of flirt be used on a baby?
 
Though it's not visible to the naked eye, there it is:between the f, l, i, r and t are the naked letters s, e and x.  Do you see it?

How strange to associate a word like that with the affections of a child.

Or is it just me?

2 comments:

Lora said...

I've heard parents use the word too, and took that they meant "trying to get and hold your attention", but yes, it's a little weird.

What I really can't stand is the over-use of the word "sexy" when referring to children. In the community where I live, it is very common to hear someone call their babies and small children sexy mamas or sexy boys. It's disgusting. And so common that you hear it at parks and grocers and everywhere else you see adults doting over children. So disgusting.

I've asked people that use that term why they use it, and they say it's because the child is beautiful or handsome, or it's "just something we say". I don't see it that way. Sexy means open to or available for sex.

Puke.

blackbelt said...

Ewww! Really?? I have *never* heard that. Gross. How did beautiful = sexy?? (Rhetorical) Sexy is such a small piece (if at all) of Beautiful.