CBBC Has Fallen

You've hit the nail on the head @ShesDressedInBlackAgain. This for me IS about sex and sexuality, and while I am not completely horrified about young people exploring these parts of their identity, I am horrified that in this case the exploration has become public property.

@ashtrayheart, you do realise that mumsnet is not one person... Or even the fabled hive mind. Is it really that surprising to you that different posters have different opinions on certain topics?

I'm not confused. I think drag is shit. I think the kids who are the subjects can't properly consent to this kind of intrusive programming and I think that I don't want my nine year old exposed to stupid ideas about gender roles and sexuality presented with all the subtlety and sensitivity of a Cillit Bang advert.

I work in a secondary school in London where girls are not allowed to wear trousers. However cold, however wet, however many times they are assulted with hands up skirts, no trousers, not ever. Sent home to change is any girl dares, in 2019. But yay lets celebrate boys in dresses, its sooo progressive dont you know.

BBC has never stopped promoting the exploitation of children.

Totally agree with @Thingybob - I think mumsnet gets very confused sometimes.

Aren't there also a myriad of siblings for him to be lost in?

It just seemed like every time I caught a bit of the programme it was something else awful that had happened to him. And he didn't seem to have options. I wanted him to be doing something to take himself out of all the worrying about how he looked and presented and what people thought.

I agree that he is obviously really hurt by the rejection of his biological father. He also hinted at the bullying and exclusion he has experienced from his peers at school which sadly is a normal experience for boys who are that gender non conforming.

But I didn't think the family were f*ed up. I say well done to his Mum and other family members, who obviously love him and accept him for who he is so he in turn can accept himself as a member of the biological class he was born into. Surely that's preferable to being told he was born into the wrong body?

These comments about Annie Lennox sum up exactly what's wrong with genderist vision - any woman in slightly masculine styling isn't simply expressing a side of her personality - she's actually attempting to be male in some way. Instead of travelling forward 30 years from the 80s we all headed back in the Delorian to 1955 instead.

This sort of thing makes me glad that we do not have a tv

I don't even know where to start.

Putting kids in drag looks like a deliberate attempt to sexualise children and in turn discredit gay men to me.

Annie Lennox didn't look extremely androgynous in trousers, no more so than any other woman in trousers and not enough to be a drag king. She just doesn't look like a hypersexualised barbie doll. What does this have to do with the sexualisation of children?

''(heals were worn by men to ensure grip while riding horses)''
The heel of a riding boot is 1 - 1'5", so not that high, nothing like a high heel shoe or boot. Flat shoes are more likely to slip through the stirrup which is dangerous, if you fall off you will be dragged to your death unless your foot slips out of your boot. So you wear a slight heel. Like a cowboy boot.

High heels and make up are like all other signs of status; impractical, and to demonstrate you don't do manual labour.

I did worry about his home life. And his almost absent dad seems to have caused him no end of upset.

Just look at Annie Lennox for example

Eh?

I had a conversation with someone recently about why cultural appropriation was wrong but drag was OK.

I don't have a problem with men wearing whatever clothes they like, but the bizarre parody of womanhood aped by most drag artists just makes me wonder why it is OK, but wearing a Day of the Dead Halloween costume is wrong...

I do live in my bubble though, so maybe I am just ill informed.

I don't think this particular performance was especially sexualised. I just think that is a kid who is clearly struggling massively with his self-esteem and identity - mostly because of a pretty sad and fucked up family life and a great deal of bullying and no real role models - and he shouldn't be paraded on TV as some kind of brave trailblazer. He needs help. He's a bloody child.

Are they slapped across the media as brave and stunning? You don’t need to dig far to see very sexualised drag kids - some a lot younger - in situations you wouldn’t put your child in. And drag is pretty offensive in my book anyway.

I feel like I've just watched something different to everyone else on this thread as I didn't find the performances overly sexualised. I saw a very 'effeminate' boy (who has come out as gay) and his effeminate friends performing to their families and friends. None of them said they were girls born in boys bodies so let them be proud of being the effeminate boys that they are. Many 14 year old girls would certainly dance like that so why shouldn't 14 year old boys?

I just hate that he is being told he is brave and amazing just basically for being gay. If my kids are gay I'll make damn sure no one implies that they are somehow trangressing the bounds of normal behaviour so far that they need applause for it.

His poor eyebrows that he has shaved and you can see where he has cut himself - that makes me want to cry. Poor kid.

Can my last post on this thread be disregarded, I was trying to tip toe around what I actually wanted to say for fear of breaking the guidelines.

What I wanted to say - It is child exploitation and the people that allow this are facilitators whether it be due to ignorance or fear. The people who encourage this do so for their own agenda.

Interesting piece by a gay, drag queen, academic.

The Rise of Drag Kids and The Death of Gay Culture

I don't really care if a child is dressing up and dancing (not going to watch the video). I do think it's a very bad idea to allow a child to publicise themselves or their life online or in broadcast media.

I wouldn’t let my son watch that tonight. I will not normalise drag for him. Instead we chatted about wearing what you want without appropriating somebody else’s experience (difference between wearing a dress versus wearing a dress and proclaiming,” Now I’m a girl!”

I hate that drag is everywhere.

My sister looks like her. I’ll let her know she can use the gents now...

I hooted at the Annie Lennox comment too. I must tell my colleague, who has a similar pixie cut and wears trousers/shirts to work that she’s now a drag king. 🤣

Poor kid. If that’s an indication of support he gets from his stepfather, it’s really sad.