A library thought it appropriate to book this 'entertainment' for children and I feel sick

[flashbac]

I thought it was a joke, a photoshop job, a hoax even but it's not.

WTF

A children's entertainer in a library with this costume?

twitter.com/StandingforXX/status/1414247886242598912?s=19

What the hell is this?

@334bu

Obviously this company should not have been employed for this event . However, there were another three points when this event could have been stopped in its tracks. 1.Knowing the venue, the company should have known better that to send " Rainbow Dildo Butt Monkey" 2.The actor should have realised the error when they arrived at the venue and saw the costume they were to wear

3The library staff on seeing said costume , should have stopped the event before it began.

Everyone was culpable. Shame on them all.
.

All the pushback on women for being ‘prudes’, ‘Karen’s’ ‘pearl-clutchers’, ‘t*rfs’, ‘transphobia’ ‘rightwing Christians’ and telling us to ‘be kind’ when they raise safe guarding concerns make it harder for women working in places like libraries to stand up and say ‘this is inappropriate’.

I’m not saying this to excuse any of the people along the way who should have stopped this but as yet another reminder of the end result when men (and the women supporting them) keep telling women raising safeguarding concerns to shut up.

Im with @Winniewonka on this. I am a qualified librarian and am astonished and appalled at this. I am also desperately sad that anyone would feel unsafe in a library.

Like many of you I spent much of my childhood in the library and it was a haven from a sometimes not very happy homelife. I've tried throughout my career to ensure that I do the same for the children and young people I work for and with.

I also agree that it is deeply concerning that volunteers or indeed any staff in libraries are not DBS checked. Sorry I'm in Scotland so the system is different here but if we use volunteers at an event they either have to be checked or they are supervised at all times. All staff who come into contact with children or vulnerable adults ahve to be checked before they can begin work ( at least in the authority I'm in)

It does make me worry for libraries and the profession that those of us who are appalled by the actions of Redbridge are lumped in with them.

Please please don't avoid using libraries because of this - complain and insist that your local authority fulfils it's legal duty to provide a library service.

As a completely frivolous aside, seeing an MP using the phrase "rainbow dildo butt monkey" in a formal letter on headed paper made me laugh.

"All the pushback on women for being ‘prudes’, ‘Karen’s’ ‘pearl-clutchers’, ‘t*rfs’, ‘transphobia’ ‘rightwing Christians’ and telling us to ‘be kind’ when they raise safe guarding concerns make it harder for women working in places like libraries to stand up and say ‘this is inappropriate’.

I’m not saying this to excuse any of the people along the way who should have stopped this but as yet another reminder of the end result when men (and the women supporting them) keep telling women raising safeguarding concerns to shut up.!"

This is also very true

This honestly makes me want to vomit. Paedophiles setting up companies and getting into children’s story time at libraries, dildo monkeys running around and men with erections in full sight approaching little girls whilst claiming that they are women.

All approved by local councillors #Yorkshire #Sussex #Manchester

What I find really hard to understand is.

I mean say I work for a library or a company that provides the service on behalf of a council.

I want to get together some things to entertain the pre schoolers to encourage them to like coming to the library and enjoy books.

How on earth are they even getting the names of these orgs? It must be pushed from somewhere else. On an approved list or good resources librarian site or whatever.

And then having a look and thinking hmmm. This doesn't feel like the sort of thing for this at all.

I think instead I'll get one of the librarians to read or a local children's author or maybe the fire service would spare a couple of firefighters to come in uniform and read a story about a fire engine and then maybe the kids can ask some questions about their job...

Say they did hire them then when they turned up in costume you'd say hello sorry there's been a misunderstanding. This isn't appropriate for story time.

In this case they tweeted about how fab it was and another library agreed.

I don't get it.

@TheQueef

Plastic Monkey Dick. So many inventive ways to introduce Dick to children. And it is always dick, I've yet to read about vulva being plastered about.

How far off the mark am I thinking children don't need to see any dick unless they own their own and even then shouldn't see anyone else's?
Honestly there is not a single solitary reason I can think of.
Not a one.

How else are they going to get their Johnny's off on children infront of their parents. Sick, twisted bastards and I for one cannot wait for the day they start burning in hell.

The company posted a lukewarm non-apology on Twitter, but it was undermined when they liked a tweet complaining that the outrage had been manufactured by 'Twitter transphobes' .

They also liked a second tweet comparing the situation to seeing animals at the zoo.

How does this have anything to do with transphobia?

It doesn't.

What it means is bloody women just ignore them.

@NiceGerbil

What I find really hard to understand is.

I mean say I work for a library or a company that provides the service on behalf of a council.

I want to get together some things to entertain the pre schoolers to encourage them to like coming to the library and enjoy books.

How on earth are they even getting the names of these orgs? It must be pushed from somewhere else. On an approved list or good resources librarian site or whatever.

And then having a look and thinking hmmm. This doesn't feel like the sort of thing for this at all.

I think instead I'll get one of the librarians to read or a local children's author or maybe the fire service would spare a couple of firefighters to come in uniform and read a story about a fire engine and then maybe the kids can ask some questions about their job...

Say they did hire them then when they turned up in costume you'd say hello sorry there's been a misunderstanding. This isn't appropriate for story time.

In this case they tweeted about how fab it was and another library agreed.

I don't get it.

The library had worked on an event with them before. Mask making and beautiful day of the dead costumes. All appropriate.

This company seems to have two sides. Beautiful and creative carnival inspired costumes, and overtly sexual costumes for Pride.

For some reason they thought that the pride monkey costume was appropriate, and that it was a good idea to use the optional penis...

Did Exeter library clarify their position on their tweet?

twitter.com/HasAhmed_/status/1413931013340807172?s=20

Strawberry and cock monkey having a chat.

Strawberry is holding a children's book called 'monkey and me'.

My guess is monkey is a fun friend and goes on adventures with a child , or looks child when sad or similar. We all know what children's stories are like.

So IMO it gets worse...

@DeeCeeCherry

littlbrowndog What the hell is queering the library for children

Lambeth Libraries are doing this too. Someone on Twitter has pointed out that some LGBT find the word 'queer' offensive.

Whatevers going on I hope voices are raised to just stop giving a free pass to men wanting to indoctrinate children with sexual knowledge for their own gain, and mould children into feeling sexual activities between adults and children is entirely normal.

well at its core, Queer Theory means taking anything thats prohibited and taboo and making it happen. That it being taboo is the issue, the having of rules or things that are considered wrong. So Foucoult says that pedophilia isnt wrong, in itself, its the fact that is is taboo thats the problem. Butler, another mainstay of queer theory is another paedo apologist.

its about getting rid of all the rules of whats considered immoral by society. Maybe as an academic or theoretical theory it has some place, purely for discussion. But to move it out of the theoretical late night discussions into real life is hugely problematic because taboos are there for a reason, and we know damn well the damage that can be done to women and children by unchecked sexual practice

Oh my days 😂

Well, now that sex work is considered "work", I suppose it is only another step from there to saying that if you are a single mum needing benefits, you have to do sex work if it is available. If it is considered a job like any other.

The leader of the council seemed genuinely horrified and stepped in to stop the event which seems like quite a strong (but justified) action to take. I've therefore got some hope that maybe they weren't fully aware/involved in the day to day running, and didn't give an explicit act the thumbs up.

He apparently stopped an event he claims to have no control over because those organising it are nothing to do with him...

And blocked the first lot of people who complained about it.

What was he horrified at?

One defence of this I've seen (although hardly anyone taking that stance) is that monkeys have penises so what's the problem.

Well.

Monkeys if they are male do indeed have penises. Do they look like dildos manufactured to look like engorged human penises? Which monkeys have rainbow fur?

For that matter humans are monkeys- great apes to be correct. So a human penis is a penis on an ape. So why would the man not go naked? That would be the obvious thing to do if you follow that argument.

I doubt anyone thought that was a real monkey

I think someone else mention the Sussex library tweet - though this is the uni library twitter.com/sussexlibrary/status/1413504987024396302 but it does flag up Brighton and Hove libraries Drag Queen Story Hour which Brighton and Hove libraries liked enough to RT.

It really needs flagging up and complaining about every time we see it. I know some drag queens will be different to others and probably tone things down and are just fine with the kids but even then it is getting too close to normalising something that was originally just in adult entertainment and has the potential to become a gateway to a major safe guarding issue, as with the monkey.

But why drag queens for kids anyway?

Why not an adult with an interesting job who happens to be gay?

Why is drag queen and seemingly usually drag queen a good way to gently introduce children to the idea of homosexuality? That's a bit weird. The vast majority of homosexual people are not drag queens.

Oh. Lightbulb!

It's seen as being like a panto dame? And therefore traditional and child friendly?

Exeter library twitter has issued an apology, but if you didn't know the back story, I'm not sure anyone would have a clue what it was about or why they were apologising. No mention of dildo butt monkey....

@NiceGerbil

How does this have anything to do with transphobia?

It doesn't.

What it means is bloody women just ignore them.

Indeed. It's so sickening how concerns about safeguarding seems to attract accusations of transphobia these days.

NewallKnowall
Exeter Library have finally posted a week -'it wasn't our fault' / will look in to the matter tweet this evening. I have already written a formal complaint to the library and DCC safeguarding. Will let you know any response.

@DamnYouAutoErect

Exeter library twitter has issued an apology, but if you didn't know the back story, I'm not sure anyone would have a clue what it was about or why they were apologising. No mention of dildo butt monkey....

Helpfully, a couple of people have replied. One with a photo of the monkey alongside their totes hilair tweet. And someone else with a copy of Wes Street’s letter to Vision which references their response.