A mum has been criticised for straightening her one-year-old daughter's curly hair, with many saying she is sexualising her at a young age.
Crystal Harden shared a video of her daughter Aiden, who had newly-straightened hair, saying: 'Straightened my baby's hair yesterday - she's so gorgeous'.
The video, which shows Aiden shaking her head to show off her locks, has since been shared by Instagram account The Shade Room, where it's had 2 million views.
However, many have criticised the mum for using straighteners on the little girl, who is nearly two, believing she's too young to have her hair styled.
'Too young gonna damage her hair early on,' one critic wrote on the post.
'Stop sexualizing your daughter,' another said.
Many also thought that the mum was making her daughter, who has natural curls, grow up too early: 'Let that baby be a damn baby!' wrote one.
Another added: 'She should be playing w/ toys not showing off her damn hairstyle. Ughhhhh some moms these days...smdh.'
The mum of one reacted to the comments in an interview on Yahoo saying: 'I received the negative reactions that the majority of people gave me from my own mom,' she said.
'She was like, "Oh it was too mature to do her hair like that. You shouldn't have posted that. There are creeps out there".'
However, Crystal defended her decision to style her daughter's hair straight, saying: 'She loved it. She was swinging her hair. I took her to the park and the wind was blowing. She just loved it.'
However, she also added: 'I don't want her to be preconditioned to think that she has to straighten her curls, because her hair is beautiful curly and it's beautiful straight.
'I just wanted to see herself in a different light and know that she is beautiful any way that she dresses up or however she does her hair.'
Crystal also added her hopes for her daughter: 'I hope to teach her that she is beautiful in her own skin, and she can only do that if she genuinely wants to for her own purposes, and not to impress other people.'
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