# Why do women/moms pinch kids' cheeks? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 20, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-moms-pinch-kids-cheeks/720436 "2015-05-20T17:30:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-moms-pinch-kids-cheeks/720436/21 "2015-05-20T22:42:28Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > In my family, it was something we did mostly because only babies and very young kids have the kind of cheeks you can pinch. Once they get old enough to lose that baby fat, there’s nothing to pinch. So it’s sort of affirmation that, yes, the baby is still a baby. Nonsensical, but no more harmful than tousling a boy’s hair. Plus, you can’t exactly shake hands or hug yet… it’s a way of making contact. By the time a kid got old enough to complain, we’d stopped doing it to them. Yeah, this is the only kind of cheek-pinching I have ever experienced or seen in real life. Barely even a “pinch”. I had no idea people pinched kids’ cheeks in a mean-spirited way. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-moms-pinch-kids-cheeks/720436/22 "2015-05-20T23:10:58Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > They’re checking to see if the kid’s ripe yet. Huh. I thought you were supposed to thump on the rounded end. Anyhoo, I thought of pinching cheeks as a gentle thing too, like snuggling your face into them or chucking them under the chin. > [@Yllaria](#): > > Oddly, I’ve never seen a movie or TV portrayal of ‘got your nose.’ I’ve seen that in real life, but it isn’t uncomfortable. My mom had to ask my grandpa to stop playing that game because I took it literally and cried and cried. Same with Nana: “Don’t run in the house or it will fall down.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-moms-pinch-kids-cheeks/720436/23 "2015-05-20T23:51:52Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > It’s not only done by women, it’s thankfully not done by all women and it is agressive (abusive) behavior. It is done by the kind of person who finds it funny to hurt a child; not so funny when one of the child’s grown-ups snarls “she has clearly said ‘no’. That means NO. Get your hands off her or I’m calling the cops”. The one time I can recall having this done to me (and I have no idea if it was a man or a woman who did it), I bared my teeth and snarled, “Don’t…touch…me.” I was maybe 5 or 6. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-moms-pinch-kids-cheeks/720436/24 "2015-05-21T03:34:50Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > They’re checking to see if the kid’s ripe yet. Darn - beat me to it. OK, my fallback is: Checking to see how much cooking time they’ll need? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-moms-pinch-kids-cheeks/720436/25 "2015-05-21T05:30:07Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Oh brother! I’m sorry you had to deal with that but do you really think that’s standard for the people who DO pinch cheeks? IME it is - and I’m one of those people who have had it done as adults; yes, I’m young enough to be your grand-daughter; yes, I have round cheeks (well, I did - not any more); no, damnit, you’re no more allowed to pinch them than you are allowed to grab my tits. Most of the time, when I see someone pinching a child’s cheeks, the child is trying to escape. Touching and pinching are two different things - one doesn’t hurt, the other does; if what is being done would have left a bruise in a different body part, or if the recipient is howling “noooo” while trying to escape their pushcart, I don’t think it’s acceptable. One of my brothers made an exception for specific neighbors, but it was for specific people: they did not pinch, only hug too hard and kiss too sloppily (why do so many women who paint themselves like circus ad escapees insist on sharing their lipstick and foundation with the world?), and… they gave him cookies. Sloppy hugs and kisses, he didn’t like; cookies, he did. Mercenary little brat… ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-moms-pinch-kids-cheeks/720436/26 "2015-05-21T08:50:13Z")
We actually have a word for this in Filipino - _gigil_ (pronounced like the English “giggle”). Now it could mean be so frustrated with someone that you want to slap them silly, but at its core it means a sense of overwhelming cuteness such that you want to squeeze the life out of kittens and puppies. It’s often accompanied by a high-pitched squealing sound. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-moms-pinch-kids-cheeks/720436/27 "2015-05-21T10:51:23Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > They’re checking to see if the kid’s ripe yet. > [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](#): > > Really, to find out if they’re fat enough for good eatin’ yet. 😉 Maybe this started with Jonathan Swift’s _A Modest Proposal_? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-moms-pinch-kids-cheeks/720436/28 "2015-05-21T20:23:13Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Well bless your heart. You aren’t from around here, are you? I’m having a hard time parsing this. Is this about \*\*Nava \*\*being from Spain? IIRC \*\*Oakminster \*\*works (worked?) with abused children within the legal system, so I’m pretty sure this isn’t about how silly someone might be to equate a painful touch with child abuse, sooooo … 😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-moms-pinch-kids-cheeks/720436.md?page=1)