Eva Mendes Sparks Discussion About Spanking After Comparing It To Spousal Abuse
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Eva Mendes has always been honest about her home life and her ongoing parenting journey. The 47-year-old Cuban-American actress is mother to 6-year-old Esmeralda and 4-year-old Amada with husband, Ryan Gosling.
On Monday, Eva Mendes posted a controversial Instagram post where she compared spanking a child to spousal abuse.
“I’m often asked what my favorite red carpet dress is. This @versace is definitely up there,” she wrote, along with a beautiful picture of her on the red carpet. “I’m not often asked what my favorite parenting quote is, but I’ll post it anyway. Please slide if you care.”
The quote was as follows: “Spanking does for a child’s development what hitting a spouse does for a marriage.” The quote is credited to children’s rights advocate and parenting blogger, Racheous.
Especially in Latino communities where chanclas are a common form of punishment, corporal punishment like spanking is a hot-button topic.
Eva Mendes’s followers quickly took to the comments section to debate over whether they agreed with the spanking comparison.
“That quote is so true. I love how you are so protective of your family and so thoughtful about what you post. It’s refreshing,” wrote one follower.
Another wrote: “Love you but completely disagree. The goal in raising kids is not to have to spank, but it’s correcting before they can reason behavior out with you. Completely different than hitting someone. That’s not correcting behavior. We raised 5 respectful loving kind kids that were a joy to be around. Good fruit shows from loving correction.”
Spanking has long been a controversial topic in parenting circles, and it seems like Eva Mendes touched a nerve with the quote she posted.
A gentle Wack on tush I think is ok. Nothing hard. And only on the tush. The child can identify as the tush being a sign they didn’t something wrong. Anywhere else is hitting. My opinion.
— Amanda Hodson (@achnva20) April 20, 2021
Parents–and especially mothers–are extremely sensitive about being judged as “bad” parents. And contrary to laws banning child abuse, there are no laws that ban “spanking” (which is defined by Merriam-Webster as “to strike especially on the buttocks with the open hand”).
Mendes, for her part, was quick to de-escalate the conversations happening on her Instagram page. “I totally respect you. Thank you for a respectful comment,” she wrote to one of the commenters that didn’t like her quote. “So nice to disagree with respect. I found the quote powerful and wanted to pass it on. Lotsa love to you and yours [heart emoji].”
“This didn’t come with a manual,” Mendes wrote. “So when there’s something that resonates with me, I pass it on. Lotsa love [heart emoji].”
