Duolingo is trying to queer us again.

If you can tell me what specifically the word "queer" means I'll answer your question.

Kink falls under the "queer" umbrella which is larger than just gay and lesbian people.

And you are sadly misinformed if you don't think breaking down barriers around childhood sexuality isn't a major part of queer theory activism, it has been since it was first developed and many advocates were explicitly agitating their governments for removal of things like age of consent.

I do watch chidrens films.
And am aware that some have gotten into trouble with bad publicity or expanding out into new markers Eg Disney distroyed their child brand etc. for $$$

A movie scene is a little different to the app is it not?

One is relying a multi level multi method of communication ( visual aural and oral) to convey a second meaning the other is direct conversation of a child asking a adult about sex items.

One relies in the language being understood and a pre-existing foundation of cultural knolwdge the other is teaching new words based in a specific context.

As a non binary person myself I am very aware of what being non binary means. I love being non binary. I hope you’re not going to be transphobic and tell me I’m not?

Best you never watch any kids films then. They are all stuffed full of innuendo. If someone doesn't know something has a potential sexual interpretation, they are not going to see it.

Do you see the problem of having a sexual context to a story being used by children?

Even if they are older it is normalising the idea of involving children in the sex life of adults.

The story is grooming adults too, as users seeing it have not been writing to ask WTF are the company thinking.

But then, for people who self-identify as "queer", it's inevitably other people's boundaries that they refuse to respect.

I think when Planet says "non-queer" they mean what used to be called "square".

It's just my observation, but people heavily into the "kink" scene are a bit like the old joke about vegans, you don't need to ask because they'll tell you. But it's only the "kinks" that might seem chic and exciting, like leather and whips. It's never... let's say the adult baby nappy wearing community.

Reminds me of Joan Rivers' old gag that when celebrities confess to eating disorders, it's always the thin ones.

The correct answer to this is, as long as you're not impinging on anyone else's boundaries, nobody cares about your banal sex life.

I think it means challenging/breaking boundaries around sex (in the sense of sexual fantasies or activity) now, whether or not that was its original intention. That’s why Pride now seems to be about transgenderism and sex fetishes, and excludes lesbians who aren’t prepared to become bisexual.

What is a non-queer person?

I only know "straight" as heterosexual, seems like you think it means something else - can you elaborate?

If a straight monogamous person who enjoys BDSM sees themself as queer, are they wrong?

I've had the story pop up a few times during the Duolingo Spanish course and have to confess that I just saw it as a joke that would go completely over the head of a child but might amuse an adult.

This story has been in Duolingo for at least 4 years, no idea why it is causing a fuss now. Have seen several threads about it.

The story opens with Eddy asking how Junior's day at school was and Junior telling him it was great because they talked about careers. He says he wants to be a lion tamer like his dad. Eddy asks why he thinks he is a lion tamer. Junior found his leather suit and whip in the wardrobe. Eddy says er. End of story. It really isn't some sordid BDSM story, just a bit silly.

If a child asked questions, I would say it was fancy dress. Although, from memory, I think an child having got far enough through the course to find this story is likely to be secondary age anyway.

Not my problem if you don’t know what non-binary means.

I’m using straight to specifically refer to non-queer people, not just heterosexual. Someone might be non-binary and heterosexual and identify as queer for example.

Someone yes BDSM is not something that only queer people do.

As the thread has gone on though the claim that any unacceptable sexualising of children is ‘queering’ - even if it’s done by AI, or regardless of motive - is wrong and it is used with a very specific and hateful intent.

How is queer a minority group? If non binary falls under the queer umbrella, as 99.9 % of the world is on binary as they don’t adhere to gendered stereotypes, then queer people are actually the majority. So yay!, we’re all queer here.

But your original objection was that BDSM shouldn't be called "queer" because straight people do it. Nothing to do with sexualising children. You were policing "queer" as something straight people cannot be.

It’s not though. The concept of queering is inherently related to challenging norms around sexuality and gender which relate to children too.

Claiming that any example of inappropriate sexualisation of children is ‘queering’ is not wrong or dangerous rather an observation that some people advocate to normalise such activity and ideas being applied to children

That’s all fine but that is not about challenging heteronormativity or cisnormativity and to claim that it is is blatantly just an abhorrent attempt to wedge child sexualisation and queerness together.

You have no idea who added this - if it even was a human - or why. So how can you claim it even meets your own broad definition of queering?

Dammit I thought words meant whatever you wanted them to these days...which makes learning vocab a waste of time actually.
We're heading into a world where we communicate by interpretive dance and emojis, though I think some of those are ambiguous cos I was only asking for a brinjal bhaji and I got a nasty surprise.

Though in seriousness, as per pp, really not appropriate for an app recommended by schools for young children. All sorts of boundary pushing going on.

It’s not though. The concept of queering is inherently related to challenging norms around sexuality and gender.

Claiming that any example of inappropriate sexualisation of children is ‘queering’ is both wrong and dangerous.

I thought kink and BDSM did count as queer these days. Spicy straights and all that. I thought the whole point of queer was to be a broad church that embraces and celebrates all marginalised sexualities: basically anyone who likes anything outside vanilla straight sex with one partner at a time.

@PlanetJanette I think you might not be up to date on how the word ‘queer’ is used these days.

It also doesn’t mean what you seem to think it does.

It’s an appropriate use of ‘queering’ in the sense that @Ereshkigalangcleg explains upthread 👆. It’s a usage of the term that is found elsewhere, neither she nor the OP have made up its use in this sense.