This woman overheard an argument between two siblings and was disturbed when she overheard one of them using homophobic slurs. She intervened, much to her sister’s disapproval.
A Family Vacation
The Original Poster (OP), her husband, her sister including their two children, Emerson and Irvin ages 13 and 10, recently took a week-long vacation.
They spent their holiday in a beachfront property OP’s husband inherited from his father last year.
OP’s husband, who operated a daycare center until last year, loves his nephews. He has lovingly helped care for her nephews since he first met them three years ago. They plan to have children themselves soon.
On the Second Day…
The story began when they got up early on the second day of the trip since they wanted to visit Lisbon.
OP’s nephew, Emerson was the first to rise and use the restroom.
Emerson is a kid who uses a variety of skincare products, including creams and face masks, in his daily routine. He says he follows the ritual because his baseball coach told him to do it as part of his tips on how to impress girls.
The coach is a decent man in his 20s who is married to a man that OP is close friends with. Emerson and his friends respect the coach and see him as a cool, young teacher. After speaking with his coach, OP learned that Emerson and the other boys frequently ask him for advice.
An Argument Ensued
Things became ugly when Irvin opened the restroom door where Emerson was performing his skincare routine at the time, and he made a comment about it being “gay” and called him “zesty.” Emerson explained “zesty” is a Gen Z slang term for gay/feminine boys.
The comment led to a heated argument between the siblings, so OP and her husband rushed in and separated the children, and allowed Emerson to use the restroom by himself.
Emerson kept calling Irvin stupid, and Irvin began using homophobic words and proceeded to curse and use more homophobic slurs.
When OP’s husband went to see how Emerson was doing, he remarked that this was typical for Irvin and that Irvin enjoys watching sexist and homophobic TikTokers.
It’s His Typical Behavior
Emerson responded that he was OK when OP’s husband asked him if he was alright and added that he was shortly going on a date with a girl he likes, saying that his skincare routine is important to him.
OP told his sister what had happened but she brushed it off saying that “kids will be kids” and that Irvin hadn’t done anything particularly grave.
Irvin, according to her, just has a dark sense of humor and isn’t homophobic.
She mentioned that she loves Emerson and Irvin no matter who they liked or what they were wearing.
She Asked Him to Apologize
She approached Irvin and told him to apologize to Emerson, but Irvin responded that he was only stating the truth and that OP was being overly emotional.
OP then warned her that Irvin would not be permitted to travel with them again if he didn’t apologize to Emerson.
After that, her sister made several attempts to get Irvin to apologize, including offering him candy and a promise to buy him Pokémon cards and comic books, but he resisted.
They eventually left and spent the day in Lisbon.
Upon returning home, OP called her parents and told them about her day.
But the parents told OP to apologize for “taking Emerson’s side” and giving the impression that OP had a favorite nephew.
They Say She’s Taking Sides
So OP took to Reddit to ask whether she was wrong for making his nephew apologize.
Hundreds of Reddit comments came in support of OP.
One Reddit user said that OP is not wrong but making Irvin apologize isn’t much use and it would be better to try to educate him in a kinder way. The comment said that he’s only 10, but if he’s watching misogynistic content already, that’s disturbing, and his parents aren’t taking corrective measures.
Another Redditor wrote, “This is one circumstance where maybe it is ok to have a favorite. I’d go with favoring the non-homophobic nephew. And that nephew can holiday with you again. Favoritism can be re-visited if the homophobic parents educate themselves and their homophobic child.”
So what do you think? Was OP wrong for what she did? What would you do in this situation?
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The post She Was Concerned About Her Nephew’s Use of Homophobic Language, but When She Confronted Him Her Sister Wasn’t Happy first appeared on Wealthy Living
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Source: Reddit