How many times have you been around a baby and heard a phrase akin to this:

"Oh my god, what a cute baby! He's gonna be a ladykiller when he gets older."

How about this one:

"Oh, you better watch out for boys around her. She's gonna be a beauty."

These seemingly innocuous phrases reflect a cultural issue I like to call "baby bulking." I'm kidding; I don't call it that. But that is basically what it is. When adults coo over barely cognizant infants and fawn over how they're gonna be real hotties when they get older, or even go to the extreme of pairing them off with other babies with joyous outbursts of "Awe look at the little couple!" and "Your first boy(girl)friend!" Adults take no time and feel no shame in maturing babies this way, adding to their underdeveloped personalities and brain functions. Basically, baby-bulking. You may think this practice is cute and innocent enough, but it's inherently creepy, weird and by all accounts just plain wrong.

It can also be racist. Think about how statistically black children are viewed as older than they actually are. You're not doing them any favors by giving them the prestigious honor of being a "ladykiller" at a mere three months.

Not to mention it is super heteronormative. Think about how offended most parents would be if you even suggested their child might be gay. It would be seen as inappropriate and unkind. But evidently those same parents are totally fine if you suggest their child might be a womanizer or a jezebel.

It's a weird world we live in.

True story: When I was in the sixth grade, my teacher brought his 4-year-old daughter to school in a stroller. Most of the class was excited to see such a sweet child behaving herself in her little pink dress. Tell me why one of my male classmates mused, "You know when she gets older she's gonna be so hot."

Gross, right? I think we can all agree yes. But he doesn't sound too far off from a lot of adults though does he? Both he and any random adult you grabbed off the street have no problem aging a child for their own personal gratification and reflection. It's perverse either way.

Here is another true story: I've always had a raspy voice, even back when I was about 6 or 7. One day, I picked up the house phone and a friend of my mother's said hello. I responded in my raspy little child voice and the woman yelled, "Oh, you got a sexy voice!"

I'm sure I was all like, "Listen, Linda, I know I'm all that and a bag of chips, but I'm too young for you."

In truth, these comments and cultural allowances we have for viewing babies this way aren't inherently malicious but their implications are far-reaching and pervasive. Babies go through a whole lot. They live a luxurious life in total anonymity inside the womb without a care in the world. Suddenly they're thrust from their havens, exposed to bright lights and eager faces and forced into a whole new world. Must we add the added trauma of maturing them and pairing them off like some stringent society in a YA fiction series? This ain't "Divergent," kid. I'm not Kate Winslet. You can be whoever you want.

While I'm at it, I have some words on the sexualization of mothers breastfeeding. Recently I watched a disturbing clip from the Wendy Williams Show (before you judge, it was Facebook's fault, not mine.) that got me thinking. The video featured the awesome actress Alyssa Milano (Charmed, Melrose Place) discussing the controversy she inadvertently stirred by sharing a photo of her breastfeeding. Milano didn't get what would offend people about her simply feeding her baby, but Williams adamantly agreed with the detractors claiming that it makes her uncomfortable and that breasts are inherently sexual. This coming from a mother. This opens a whole other Pandora's box regarding sexualizing babies, but it speaks to how sex-obsessed our culture is.

Are people really offended by women feeding their babies? Really? Breasts literally exist to feed. They are not inherently sexual. Nor are they inherently offensive to look at. God forbid a mother takes out one of her boobies to placate a crying baby.

Step off of the high horse! Your modesty is not more important than a child's hunger. Mothers breastfeeding their hungry child should be the last thing that offends you, but if it's on your Top 5 list of most offensive occurrences you might be easily offended.

But I digress. The point is this: children are children. Mothers are mothers. They are not inherently sexual nor should they ever been seen as such. It is true that we all exist due to sex, but that does not make it okay for us to view children nor their mothers feeding them in a sexualized lens.

Enjoy babies for what they are: joys! Innocent, chubby, adorable little joys. Joys who sometimes rap: