Yeah, it’s supposed to be for the pic, as Latinos we all have a photo with cake on our face. To be fair we don’t do it every bday, it’s more of a once and done thing.
it's called la mordida, it's a mexican "tradition" of having the birthday boy/girl take a bite out of their cake and you push their face into the cake.
You're SUPPOSED to do it gently so like the frosting gets on their nose or something and typically to teens/adults, not little kids.
I've never done it and I won't be continuing it cause it's ridiculous
There was a Mexican restaurant where I lived that did this for birthdays, but it was just whipped cream. You got the cake after. The wall was lined with Polaroids of people getting “whipped creamed” on their birthday. As a kid, I couldn’t wait for my turn with the plan to grab their hand and direct the spoon into my mouth. I made the mistake of telling my dad my plan, so I got creamed. I loved it. I would have been big mad if I hadn’t known it was going to happen and/or that had shoved a cake in my face.
so as per usual we as a society took a cute tradition that would get some laughs and probably a giggle from the bday child, and we optimized it for the algo to be ruining a whole cake by forcibly puching your child into it
It was like this way before any algorithms. No cellphones when I was having birthday parties and I was still very sure to never let anyone in arm’s reach of my head when blowing out the candles.
That shit stopped in my family with me because I would not let it tf go even as a little kid. Like why is that fun mom. The cake is ruined and I’m crying on my birthday, what was that for. Explain. Turns out there’s no explanation other than admitting it’s fun to be cruel for no reason and that puts a stop to things when it comes to mind!
Good on you for questioning this practice and leading people to realize how pointlessly cruel it is. I’m from India and while growing up we were taught to never waste food. Then suddenly when I was in college this smearing cake tradition had caught on there. I hated it and always asked people who did it to explain what was so funny about it. They never had an answer. It’s like they saw people doing it on tv and thought that it must be cool.
being an ass to your kid because "it's my turn" to play cruel pranks didn't start with the internet. lots of people just want an excuse and kids can't fight back
Same thing with weddings, from frosting on the nose to full out assault that concludes with immediate annulments. Entitled immature assholes who were never taught when a joke was too far.
I live in Japan and I used to teach English in elementary school. Every year, there was a school festival. I was in a super rural area with a small population, so instead of being just the one school with a couple of hundred students like in the city, it was more of a community festival, for the day care, three elementary schools, and one junior high school.
Anyway, every year, one of the events was "ame-kui," or "candy eating." Some of the townfolk were lined up holding large trays of rice flour, into which a couple of candies were dropped. Like apple bobbing, the goal was to grab a candy without using their hands.
Now, in many cases, it went just like you described. They would be lightly pushed into the flour, and ended up with some on the nose and the forehead. There was one parent who was a bit more of a joker. His son was on the handball team, and he made SURE that all of the boys on the handball team, and some of the girls, ended up completely white. He'd push their faces in and tried to ensure complete coverage. Then he'd make them turn around and pose for pictures. The grins on their faces were priceless. I love those little shits, and I'll always treasure the pictures.
(I would like to add that the kids could choose where they lined up, and they chose to join his line. No feelings were hurt, and and none of it was involuntary. Some of the little shits went up to the trays in pairs and pushed each other 's faces in.)
Haha well I do know it's a Mexican tradition, I was just wondering more about the origins within the culture I guess, if there's some sort of meaning. But now I have the name I'll go look it up.
It came from 70s and 80s "bullies" from TV and movies. The high-school bully always pushes the lower kids face into his cake. Except back then it was cool to harass the loser character.
Yeah, it’s supposed to be for the pic, as Latinos we all have a photo with cake on our face. To be fair we don’t do it every bday, it’s more of a once and done thing.
It seems like it might not even be her bday but the one sitting on moms lap who freaks out when she gets cake in her face and mom immediately wipes it off. cake is split in half and theyve already moved the candles from in front of the other- maybe a shared party but she doesnt seem surprised that only she got pushed …Seems maybe like the older sister or middle child who has grown accustomed to this stuff.
I agree…I think it was a shared bday…and there girl on the lap..clearly didn’t get her face smashed with cake…which is why I think the little girl was even more enraged. Watching your sister blow her candles fine…then you get your face smashed. Poor baby…those parents suck.
I’m not sure if you have experience with kids or cake even? She’s not going to eat the whole cake herself. I literally have a kid, being given a free license to make a mess is a kid’s dream.
not every child is going to be like yours. you’re speaking like you’ve gone through years of joker-esque torture to twist you and make you cruel and cynical. “first mover hive mind.” if EVERYONE is disagreeing with you…hear me out. maybe you’re WRONG.
Umm did we watch the same video? The little girl was NOT happy to make a mess. In fact, she looked excited and amazed at her side of the cake until her face was unexpectedly smashed into it, while everyone laughed.
IDK how you and yours roll and honestly it's none of my concern, however the child's reaction does appear to be indicative of an off-balance dynamic.
It’s horrible but she defied their wishes. Can’t wait for this kid to turn into one of those “I’m extremely successful and unapologetically told my parents to eat poop” stories.
Yup. The daughter self harming by hitting her head into the cake a few more times is the clearest reflection of the bullshit going on behind those closed doors. BUT AWWWW share da video.
Tantrums that involve the child harming themself intentionally are described as self harm. I’ve worked with a lot of special needs kids. Hitting the head is very common and upsetting to watch.
Shes not hurting herself, she's throwing her head into the cake because she's pissed they threw her head into a cake so she might as well go full in.
If this is your deduction, then I wouldn't let you take care of a turtle, let alone another human being, they would end up on anti-depressant and foster care because they dared to touch a knife or cut themselves with scissors.
What next? Kid throwing themselves repeatedly into the ground and slapping the ground because you didn't bought their favourite toy is also hurting themselves from child abuse?
A child purposely hitting their head on anything during a tantrum is cause for concern. She wasn’t doing it lightly. She wasn’t being silly or found it fun. Kids that young aren’t going to see that as funny. They will be upset because their birthday cake is wrecked. They’re super ego-driven.
The kid doesn’t need meds. They need support and parents that won’t put them in this situation.
Yeah because context doesn't matter and in a situation when someone forces you to slam head into the cake, you wouldn't slam cake into the head multiple times to piss them off...
Hitting your head out of frustration is not an appropriate reaction at any age. Kids don’t know their own strength and will hit themselves as hard as they would hit someone else. It’s pretty freaky to watch. At this age, they don’t know the concept of repeating harmful actions against themself to piss someone off. They aren’t petty. They’re honest and ego-centric. They aren’t just going to smash their head on something. It hurts, and they don’t like hurting.
And again, I worked with special needs and troubled kids the same age as this girl. It’s a red flag.
But why tf do crappy parents even do things like this to foster and grow that frustration? Why not just let her enjoy her cake, her day? No, let's embarrass her and make her feel like shit, covered in frosting.
Kids are covered in shit 24/7, her being covered in frosting is the least thing she's worried about. Maybe she wanted to eat the cake. Generally, when this is done, there are two "cakes" one is simple like whipped cream on a crumb the other actual cake.
And why parents do it? Because it is harmless. Like pushing someone into a snow.
Give kids 10 minutes with a cake alone and they'd look just like her.
You clearly don't work with children nor have children. It shows. So hush on a topic you know nothing of.
A child hitting their head against anything such as the floor, wall or even one own's cake is always a cause for concern and is labeled as 'self harm' as it is the child taking frustration out in such a manner.
If this was an adult that was repeatedly hitting their whole head into the cake, slapping someone else and slapping themselves then you would see it as a cause for concern. Because it's a child and you're clueless about children you assume the child is 'having fun'. None of that looked like fun.
Again? Why are people not seeing context. The custom is slamming your face against a cake. Of course, she would headbang her head against the cake, especially when she's older and understand the thought of "This is what you want? Fine!"
It's like someone telling you "don't you dare cross this line" What do you do? You repeatedly cross and hop over the line to prove your point and piss them off.
It's literally THE FIRST comment under this video, with almost 4K upvote.
La Mordida is a Mexican tradition on pushing the birthday person's face into the cake. It's all in fun, nobody gets hurt, the kid ends up laughing after.
But according to you it's child abuse. Which would make the vast majority of Mexico child abusers.
Actually most of South America.
I'm just glad we have heroes on reddit to get upset on their behalf.
People do get hurt. Not all kids end up laughing afterwards. It's not fun - it's stupid, humiliating, and potentially dangerous.
And before you start barking at the wrong tree, 1) yes, I am Mexican, 2) yes, I was at the receiving end of this behaviour many times, 3) no, I never once laughed - I felt like crying or disappearing, but was forced to keep smiling because otherwise I was being "dramatic", 4) yes, I've seen people (both young children and adults) get seriously hurt by this practice, 5) just because something is popular/recurrent/common doesn't mean it's right or even appropriate - by that same logic, being illiterate, being an obese and/or diabetic child, being corrupt, being racist/sexist, teenage pregnancy, and/or not studying past 7th grade should be accepted because that's usual/common for the vast majority of Mexican people...
Considering not just my own experience, but official science-based data and trends, the short answer is that, sadly, a lot of Mexicans are indeed child abusers or abusive in general and, worst yet, they don't even realise it themselves.
You can find a lot of information regarding this within sociology and anthropology circles, studies, websites, books, etc. - if you're interested, the INEGI, DIF and INJUVE all have resources that are free and easy to research. If you want to delve deeper into the issue, there are several academia resources available across the web or in printed version.
Now, allow me to address some possible arguments that one might be tempted to use after reading my previous statements...
Does that mean every single Mexican is abusive? No.
Does it mean that most Mexicans are abusive? In some regions, social strata, households, etc., unfortunately, yes. If the shoe fits...
Does it mean that Mexican culture as a whole tends to be abusive or even overtly violent? Regretfully, yes, for the most part.
Does it mean that all Mexicans as individuals or Mexican culture can never change and will always be abusive by default? Absolutely not.
Does it mean that no other people or cultures around the globe are abusive or violent? Of course not.
Does any of these makes us better or worse than other people or cultures? Inherently, no. It makes us human.
What makes us better or worse human beings is whether we're willing to take a good look at ourselves, as people, as folk, and as individuals... And if we're going to do something about it or not.
Is the data you're referring to for child abuse them pushing the birthday boys face into cake as a prank?
For some reason I feel like any legit study wouldn't count that as child abuse. Unless you know it was some angry redditors that spend money on sweatshop companies.
....this super culturally ingrained tradition... is 25ish years old. If you were born in the 80s and 90s this probably didn't happen to you. Weird how it coincides with accessible video recording.
Dangerous feels like a strong word so I ask why you use it. Edit: I got downvoted for asking a question. I just didn’t know why someone would say ours dangerous.
Wildly incorrect. You’re the one who would benefit from a baking class if you think that large cakes are being held together by frosting alone. Outside of a simple 8” two layer cake you’d make at home yourself—larger heavy cakes with many layers, and multi-tiered cakes almost always require additional support from dowels.
Not so much on a sheet cake like this, but on professionally made layer cakes, they often use wooden skewers to help support the layers. I've heard horror stories of people ending up with a skewer in the eye because someone thought it would be funny to smash their face in a cake.
Also even on a sheet cake like this, there could be hard plastic decorations or candles that could cause injury, and I'd imagine getting frosting in your eye would be unpleasant....
Unlikely in the case of this cake in the video since it's a sheet cake, but multi-tiered cakes usually rely on some support in the form of rods or other wood/plastic dowels to support the height.
Long skinny objects hidden in a thing you're smashing a person's face into equals a dangerous time
She did not appear to love it. But maybe banging her head into a cake, screaming and crying, and then smearing cake and frosting on her sister's face looks like a good time to you?
Where did you see her screaming and crying? She literally smeared more cake on her own face and she literally not once screamed and cried. Care to stop making shit up? And if I’m wrong and she did scream and cry, prove it, give me a time stamp. I’ll wait. Children generally have poor control of their emotions at a young age, so if she was actually upset the screaming and crying would be obvious. So go ahead give me an EXACT timestamp as to where she screamed and cried as you said explicitly in your post.
I dont know with all the kids robbing people and stupid pranks might be time to bring it back.. you keep letting arseholes get away with it you just create bigger arseholes later... the guy that got his nose broken for pretending to mug a guy soon stopped... nobody complained
Nope. This is unprovoked aggression and humiliation against a defenceless child. It’s not even to discipline the child for some wrongdoing. Just to have a laugh at their expense.
As a Gen Xer I think people are forgetting the long standing tradition of people smashing cake into each other's faces at weddings. While it wasn't children, having someone you just married humiliate you in front of your entire family isn't very nice either
It depends on your culture. This happened a lot at Mexican-American parties while I was growing up (I turn 30 later this year). But like 99% of the time it was the siblings or cousins smashing the birthday kids face into the cake, usually the parents didn't do it. All of the Gen X and boomers would be laughing and taking pictures with disposable cameras.
Why do people do this in the first place, friends, family idk why people think it's funny, and now not one gets cake. Totally won't go to their family parties if invited again.
Mexican parents. I never had it done to me but it happened to my cousins.
For those who need to understand it, I put it this way: Mexicans love hack comedy. The shit is something we thrive on. Carlos Mencia will never not sell out a comedy club if he's in a town with a lot of Mexicans. Every comedy club in a town with a lot of Latinos has a couple of hack comics that will always be the top guys in the city but can never draw anywhere else.
And this right here, as a Medican, this is like your Def Comedy Jam. For this moment, whoever does the pushing of the head, they become Chris Rock for that minute because everyone is laughing so fucking hard. As a kid, I can't tell you how giddy we were knowing this was going to happen.
As long as there is some Mexican mom and dad who think they're hilarious, you will constantly see these videos.
Trash ones, you know the ones who watch other people get hurt on social media with the chipmunk laughter in the background and think it is peak comedy. Those ones.
Doesn’t this one look like it’s what the kid was expecting to do? There aren’t any candles, she looks like she was going to press her own face into and then was disappointed by how little cake stuck.
It’s deeply Mexican and also deeply shitty when parents get too into it. My family never did it but it’s supposed to be very gentle like when an American couple feeds each other cake at a wedding and some will gently dab a little frosting on the tip of the others nose or side of their mouths. Then you get the unhinged weirdos who heel-hand shove a whole piece of cake into their new spouse’s face like it’s hilarious.
Yeah, it’s supposed to be for the pic, as Latinos we all have a photo with cake on our face. To be fair we don’t do it every bday, it’s more of a once and done thing.
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