Woman tells husband to stop commenting on women's bodies on TV, he says 'I'm joking.'

The way someone reacts to being called out says a lot about them. While no one likes being corrected, people interested in growth are still receptive to feedback, even when it's humbling. Conversely, people who reflexively lash out when they've been called out are often reticent to listen and learn. This can be a corrosive dynamic to navigate in a long-term relationship.

In a popular post on the AITA subreddit, a woman asked if she was wrong for calling out the way her husband talks about women's bodies. She wrote:

"AITA for telling my husband I don’t like when he comments on women’s bodies?"

We’re watching a show and he comments on this woman’s body saying “she’s too big to wear something like that hahaha.” I told him I didn’t like when he makes comments like that (which he does frequently whenever we’re watching TV).

I also told him that I mostly wanted him to get out of the habit of making these remarks because we have a toddler and I would never want him to think it’s okay to talk about other people's bodies, especially women.

Husband gets all upset and tells me I’m being dramatic because “I know he’s just joking around” and that I’m an AH for bringing our son into the conversation. So, am I the AH for telling him not to comment on women’s bodies in this manner?

The internet did not hold back one bit.

Fastr77 wrote:

NTA and you're 100% right about the kid thing. This is exactly what he will teach him. Oh and he's not "just joking" we all know that. That's just what people say when they don't want to be responsible for what they said.

AmericanJedi1983 wrote:

NTA. Your husband got called out for body shaming (something you definitely don't want your child picking up), and instead of being an adult about it, he got defensive.

emlene wrote:

NTA. Kids are like sponges, your son could pick up what he says and see nothing wrong with it, because dad does it. So it must be okay. Plus it’s just annoying to hear, especially as a woman.

Maleficent_Can1946 wrote:

NTA. Your reasons are 100% valid as to why he should not make these types of comments around you and your shared child. If he expects his son, and yours, to grow up with a respectful attitude towards women, which will impact how happy he is in his future relationships with women, he needs to take what he says around his child seriously. People take. your. parenting. seriously. please.

Children are like sponges. That is not a technical term, but if Hubby would like me to get technical, I am earning my degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and I can assure you that the developmental tasks that children go through, ages 0-puberty are especially influential, and EVERYTHING he is exposed to counts more than it ever will, for the rest of his life. Show Hubby the comments about how he is the AH.

savannahkellen wrote:

NTA. Nah, good on you for calling this out when you hear it and I hope you continue to! If I were dating someone and recognized this, it would be a red flag. If he's claiming he's joking around, ask him why he thinks it's funny.

The answer probably won't be great and I'm not someone who's going to blanket excuse things because the person says they're jokes. What exactly is the punchline to stating that a woman is too big to wear a certain item?

OP is the furthest from being an AH in this situation. Her husband needs to grow up before their kid grows up.