'Disturbing' film of child being involved in drag queen performance

[Iggypoppie]

Not sure of context but doesn't seem right to have a child being surrounded by adults cheering on a drag artist with arse handing out crawling on all fours towards a scared/overwhelmed looking child.

I think it speaks of a culture where parents are so afraid of not looking open minded that they don't consider the child's feelings.

twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1233355261622063104?s=20

Yanbu = yes it appears like bad parenting choices
Yabu = it's fine, I'd be happy if this was my child

Young child learning just how mad supposed grown up's can be;!

Great posts McCanne and 'TheInebriati'

This child has been exploited by adults who should know better, who should be protecting their child.

The one thing that got me through my childhood was having adults confirm that what was being done wasn't normal. Even if they couldn't make it stop.
Don't hide whats being done to her. Pretending its ok, or if its not ok it never happened is more destructive for kids than the truth.

It's gross, and I I would feel exactly the same if it was a half naked woman dancing in a sexual way around a little boy. Let kids be kids ffs!

I'd say it's the pornification of culture and concerted effort to erode parents' instincts with regard to child protection.

This, 100%.

I feel quite disturbed that 9% of MNers think this is OK.

@McCanne I am against all the sexualisation of children. So yes this is not appropriate. The reason I think this is fuelled by homophobia is that there is far more outrage over this than other things that are also abhorrent but don't involve drag queens. And one look at twitter conforms that gut feeling.
Saying this is not about homophobia dismisses that for a lot of people that is exactly what it is about.

The reason I think this is fuelled by homophobia is that there is far more outrage over this than other things that are also abhorrent but don't involve drag queens.

Like what? I didn’t routinely have “burlesque brunch” or “stripper supper” with my 4 old children either.

What's homophobia is that gay men have to be allowed to do this stuff without questioning in order to participate in life.

They fought for years to not be treated as perverts and predators and for people to accept them for the regular people they are.

This, is undoing all that...

@janemaster How do you reach the conclusion that there is ‘far more outrage’? More outrage than what? What are you basing that on?

Nobody is saying homophobia isn’t a factor either. It’s not me making any sweeping generalisations about people’s motivations.

I dare say some responses (on Twitter) ARE about homophobia. We can challenge homophobia as a parallel issue. It is irrelevant to whether the activity shown in the video is acceptable or not.

Anyway, the adult audience in the video looks like the epitome of straight suburbia.

Whenever I read ‘dog whistle’ I immediately assume the writer has no critical thinking skills whatsoever

And you’d be wrong.

Just google, there have been stories before about strippers stripping around children. Yes there is outrage in the Daily Mail, but no it has not spread like this has.
Those against sexualisation of children will have objected to all of it. But a large contingent are objecting because it is a drag queen. You can say your reaction is not fulled by homophobia, but denying there is any homophobia fuelling this is not true.

@ShriekingBansheela Yes I agree with that. Cross posted. And IME it is straight suburbia who most likes drag shows. In the 90s Funny Girls was full of straight couples and hen dos who say the show as a bit risque.

Can you provide a link Jane?

It isn’t the kind of thing that is safe to google.

When Mumsnet users found the video of a man wanking and pissing himself in rubber fetish gear in the toilets of the NSPCC offices where he was employed, we were shouted down as homophobic bigots

The NSPCC still fired him though, because they knew we were right. It’s not homophobia, it’s inappropriate behaviour and a massive safeguarding risk.

They are jean shorts with tights underneath, much like many teenager's wear.

And?! I wouldn't want anyone crawling around on the floor like that in front of my child. Whatever age or orientation they were.

Just google, there have been stories before about strippers stripping around children. Yes there is outrage in the Daily Mail, but no it has not spread like this has.

You want me to google search articles about strippers performing for preschool children? Are you nuts?

If such articles are so hard to find and underreported then why the fuck are you googling them??

They are not hard to find. I did a quick google and the Daily Mail throws up a few on the first page.

The reason I think this is fuelled by homophobia is that there is far more outrage over this than other things that are also abhorrent but don't involve drag queens.

Can you provide some links or direct a bit more specifically as I don't want to Google 'stripping around children' thanks!

They are not hard to find. I did a quick google and the Daily Mail throws up a few on the first page.

Creepy. Why are you on this thread?

That poor child looks so uncomfortable. I can't think what her parents were thinking to expose her to such an overtly sexualised performance.

And as for interpreting his touching and kissing her as an attempt to reassure her... Well it clearly didn't work and if that's what he intended he needs to work on his boundaries. You don't touch children you don't know.

It's the fact that the dancing appears to be directed at the child that makes this concerning, in my view. And I don't see how that's homophobic myself - or transphobic as surely drag artists and transgenderism are different things.

I make quite clear to my daughters that I think modern music videos are much too sexualised but this is actually up close and personal. Whether it's a man, woman, gay person, straight person, trans person or drag artist it is just yuck.

I do think people are missing the caption on the video which says the girl ‘asked to get a better view’ which does add the tiniest bit of context (rather than, as some seem to be suggesting, the girl being unwillingly offered up as some sort of sacrifice) but I still think the resulting performance is wildly inappropriate. As I said before, I adore drag and I think there are plenty of other ways that the drag queen could have interacted with the child in response to her request which would have been fine... but putting her in the middle of the room and crawling towards her was a very bad choice.

That said, I do see this as very poor judgment all round and not something more sinister.

Other performers that are inappropriate aren't usually invited by teachers, MPs, people who should know better, into schools and to kids storytime. The complete suspension of safeguarding and basic common sense in the name of being progressive is why this issue is generating outrage.