romantic gesture or toxic masculinity? Fan reactions on social media

Smiley (Andrei Maria) published, on Tuesday, on Facebook, a 17-second clip in which he slapped his wife on the bottom and then “received” male approval from several famous actors. The clip was accompanied by the message “the key to a happy relationship” and three laughs, and Gina Pistol was tagged in the post. In the video, Gina Pistol enters the game, but doesn’t respond with a languid look or a smile, but an “Ow!” and a palm gesture that mimics pain.

Smiley is one of the best-known influencers in Romania and one of the most popular and appreciated artists in the local music world. She is also one of the most famous PRO Tv stars, a judge on Romanians have talent, Vocea României or SuperStar Romania, three shows with a high audience.

The artist’s gesture quickly went viral and, within 24 hours, collected on Facebook, where it has 3.4 million followers, over 45,000 reactions, over 1,300 comments, nearly 1,000 shares and 1.4 million views. However, the joke caused controversy, being criticized by some of the public and praised by others.

On Instagram, where Smiley has 2.2 million followers, the post garnered 30,000 reactions and nearly 600 comments in a single day. On Tik Tokwhere he has 1.2 million followers, the clip collected 790,000 views, over 63,000 reactions and almost 900 comments on the first day.

The question at the heart of the controversy in the comments on social media is what message is the artist sending when he slaps his wife on the bottom in the kitchen while she checks the food in the oven, then “gets” male approval? Is it a sexy gesture or is it a joke that alludes to the superiority of masculinity/toxic masculinity?

Some commentators were of the opinion that regardless of the message the artist wanted to convey, “a gesture is a gesture”, and another user attacked Gina Pistol for allegedly having too many relationships. In other comments, Gina Pistol was defended, and in others the slap was justified because she is “young and beautiful” and still “shows interest” in her husband.

Other women justified the occasional pats on the bottom from their husbands as gestures that confirm familiarity, intimacy and closeness in the couple, and in other comments women argued that such gestures can be made between husbands, but only “in private, not in public “.

In other comments, the artist is asked “how much money he took” to publish a video with a gesture “that does not represent him”, and other users say that the gesture is “from the Cretaceous”. Other fans are disappointed because “even Smiley” started “doing this”, and other users, on the contrary, declared themselves new followers of the artist “due to” the gesture.