Deeply concerned about Child Safety in Bristol

[MatthewJTaylor]

From May 5th to May 8th 2022, the Tobacco Factory Theatres in Bristol is having performances of "The Family Sex Show".
This show is aimed at children 5 years old and up.
The performers involved get naked.
The discussion with the children is on sex, sexuality and sexual pleasure.

I cannot imagine brining a 5 year old child to a theatre where people will to to her/him about sex and show their naked bodies to her/him.

Am I the crazy one?

Sources:
The Family Sex Show website
Listing at The Tobacco Factory Theatres

Bath Theatre Royal seem to have taken tickets off sale.

The website still has the show - but tickets are not available.

N.B to everyone complaining: the company is ThisEgg . Not The Egg as named in the petition.

The children's theatre at Bath Theatre Royal is The Egg . They are not connected except that the director of ThisEgg made the early stages of the show hosted by The Egg, I think.

The word 'queer' does not mean LGB. It's not simply a reclaimed slur. It's a philosophy, with a large amount of theory behind it. It's about blurring boundaries, subverting what is normal, creative transgression.

I found Sheila Jeffreys' book "Unpacking Queer Politics" very helpful to understanding it from a radical feminist perspective.

@FOJN

‘The Family Sex show contains nudity but it is not of a sexual nature’

Sounds like a "we're not like Ronseal" defence. JFC

The Sex Show is not of a sexual nature?

A bit late to the party i know but just seen the thread, wow - just wow.
As a parent to a 5 year old i don't even know where to start with just how wrong this all sounds.
I think they've gone so woke they can no longer see what's happening before their very eyes.

Parts of this glossary is based on Sex Ed: An Inclusive Guide, Mermaids UK, Purple Rain Collective, and Stonewall.
Just look at who has involvement, tells you all you need to know really.

For a start how can you have a show exploring boundaries, consent, pleasure, queerness, sex, gender and relationships at a level that will engage and challenge adults yet be age appropriate for children of age 5? It's just not possible. Age appropriate RSHE for age 10 is not age appropriate for age 5. It's either going to be crap or wildly inappropriate - and no prizes for guessing which is mot likely. That's just the tip of the iceberg though.
Petition signed and shared

*Bath Theatre Royal seem to have taken tickets off sale

The website still has the show - but tickets are not available

I just checked and the tab which usually says "book tickets" has been changed to "sold out"
Fingers crossed it's just a way to halt sales rather than actually being the case ...

@OliveLover01

Oh my god. The amount of people needing smelling salts here before they faint at the mere mention that a 5yr old might in anyway know about *sex* would make the North Sea fresh water!!

Get over yourselves! It’s not grooming. Go and see it before you go all Daily Mail on it. There is nothing wrong with sex. And the more normal it is to children of any age the less likely that porn is going to be the major influencer in their perception of sex. I would absolutely prefer to take my two boys 7 and 6 to a family show about sex (as they say, an intersectional, feminist, non-binary, anti-racist & sex-positive take on Relationships and Sex Education) than to be all Merchant Ivory about it and have them learn about it from older siblings of friends or watching porn with mates later on.

Well bully for you.

@OliveLover01

Oh my god. The amount of people needing smelling salts here before they faint at the mere mention that a 5yr old might in anyway know about *sex* would make the North Sea fresh water!!

Get over yourselves! It’s not grooming. Go and see it before you go all Daily Mail on it. There is nothing wrong with sex. And the more normal it is to children of any age the less likely that porn is going to be the major influencer in their perception of sex. I would absolutely prefer to take my two boys 7 and 6 to a family show about sex (as they say, an intersectional, feminist, non-binary, anti-racist & sex-positive take on Relationships and Sex Education) than to be all Merchant Ivory about it and have them learn about it from older siblings of friends or watching porn with mates later on.

Just out of interest which adults, who aren't your children's parents/immediate family would you be cool about being naked in front of your children while talking to them about pleasuring themselves?

@Redskiesatnight

We can all decline to buy tickets.

I wish people would stop making out this is an issue of parental consent.

If parents decided to take their kids to a swinger’s party, would it be ok because we don’t have to take ours?

Safeguarding is about standards to protect ALL children from ALL abuse, including that from their own families.

Exactly. Of course, nobody has to take their own children to see it. But there's a moral obligation (in my opinion) to do something to try and stop things that could be harmful to any children, not just our own.

I've sent off rounds of emails today, hopefully something will actually be done.

The Sex Show is not of a sexual nature?

Just the daily reminder that words no longer have meanings.

The word 'queer' does not mean LGB. It's not simply a reclaimed slur. It's a philosophy, with a large amount of theory behind it. It's about blurring boundaries, subverting what is normal, creative transgression.

Let's not forget the grandfather of queer theory thought children as young as four were capable of consenting to sexual activity with an adult.

[quote MatthewJTaylor]That's this twitter space concluding.
Nonetheless, if you want a space to issue a statement through a sympathetic media outlet, get in touch with UK Mallard.
twitter.com/UKMallard[/quote]
Thank you, that was interesting in parts, but it would have been much better if you were upfront about this being a very right wing political outlet. (Citizen Go, which is hosting the petition is also very right wing).

I completely agree that issues like this are not right/left and that it's damaging to present them as such. I agree that we need to work across political divides on certain issues.

But the only way to successfully do that is to do it consciously, so everyone knows where they stand, where others stand, and can make informed decisions on the nature and extent of any collaboration.

This whole conversation is about boundaries, after all.

It's dishonest to present this as simply 'a sympathetic media outlet' and not warn posters here about the extreme right wing bias.

So no thank you. You don't seem trustworthy to me.

Politics is almost as bad for safeguarding as queer theory is. The only way to effectively safeguard children is to centre their interests and wellbeing.

Posters wanting a proper safeguarding discussion around this would do far better engaging with women posting here, and especially on FWR, and following twitter accounts such as @PankhurstEM, @claireOT, @GeorgiaXCross, @leakylike and @SafeSchools_UK.

@Puzzledandpissedoff

Their statement says "We fully understand and are committed to the vital importance of child safeguarding"

But the NSPCC's guidance on safeguarding makes clear that "you should make sure: the activity is suitable for children to be involved in (for example no nudity, bad language or sexual content)"
"everything you do is appropriate for the youngest or most vulnerable person (this could be due to age or stage of the child’s development)"

So how does that work then? And why have some PPs insisted that they're working within NSPCC guidance when that's so clearly not the case?

I'm trying to find where you found these quotes so I can email n&n festival back but can't find them in the mass of information on the nspcc website. Can you remember where you found them please?

Destroying children's boundaries with jarring naked performance art at an early age does not "empower" them

stimpyyouidiot the NSPCC info was linked at 20.29, and I'm pretty sure the "We are fully committed ..." bit was from the producers' own website

I also noticed that on the theatre's website, it says the running time of the show is "still to be confirmed". Call me dense but isn't that something they'd be expected to know by now? Unless they're hoping to sort of make it up as they go along, which in this context could well be even worse

@stimpyyouidiot it's on this page, click on 'Creating a safe environment'.

learning.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding-child-protection/for-performing-arts

For clarity, I believe those NSPCC guidelines are for children performers, but I expect they would also be reasonably applicable to children involved in arts shows generally.

I just checked and the tab which usually says "book tickets" has been changed to "sold out"
Fingers crossed it's just a way to halt sales rather than actually being the case ...

This is where someone with a lot of spare money in the kitty could do some good.
Buy all the tickets so they they perform to empty theatres.
It might send a message in a weird way.

I'm now imagining them performing their whole queersexyfuntime show in front of an auditorium that is empty except for 6 or 7 lone, fidgety men.

@littledrummergirl

I just checked and the tab which usually says "book tickets" has been changed to "sold out" Fingers crossed it's just a way to halt sales rather than actually being the case ...

This is where someone with a lot of spare money in the kitty could do some good.
Buy all the tickets so they they perform to empty theatres.
It might send a message in a weird way.

Are refunds possible?

People need to buy tickets and go and film it undercover. Then it needs to go to all the mainstream news.

@LangClegsInSpace

^Thank you, that was interesting in parts, but it would have been much better if you were upfront about this being a very right wing political outlet. (Citizen Go, which is hosting the petition is also very right wing).

I completely agree that issues like this are not right/left and that it's damaging to present them as such. I agree that we need to work across political divides on certain issues.

But the only way to successfully do that is to do it consciously, so everyone knows where they stand, where others stand, and can make informed decisions on the nature and extent of any collaboration.

This whole conversation is about boundaries, after all.

It's dishonest to present this as simply 'a sympathetic media outlet' and not warn posters here about the extreme right wing bias.

So no thank you. You don't seem trustworthy to me.

Politics is almost as bad for safeguarding as queer theory is. The only way to effectively safeguard children is to centre their interests and wellbeing.^

Why do people have to trigger warn about right wing press? Surely readers can make those decisions for themselves. Additionally you presume that the default political stance of Mumsnet is yours?

I think the response up thread for Norfolk is very disingenuous. Children will be taught the names of random body parts but not know which body they belong to as all the language is desexed and only talks about people. People with vulvas, people with a penis. Children need clear language about their own body and their body parts and the body parts of the opposite sex. The gender ideology running through the show is ridiculous.

Why do people have to trigger warn about right wing press? Surely readers can make those decisions for themselves. Additionally you presume that the default political stance of Mumsnet is yours?

I'm not asking for a trigger warning I'm asking for upfront honesty.

Readers can make these decisions for themselves but not if they are deliberately misinformed.

There are women here from across the political spectrum and I make no assumptions about anyone's politics. Women have been organising across political divides for decades, in all sorts of conflicts. This is what we do.

Welcome to mumsnet tho

Massively concerning

@StageRage

Though my reservations about the way this show has been presented run deep I will not be supporting The Mallard. The feature writer is coming at this with a very conservative Christian background and shudders at the mere idea of a slipped towel while changing at the beach.

The emergence of posts which border transphobia really is not helpful.

There have been some very calm sensible posts about flaws in the approach the company have taken. It is hardly likely that any hapless family will find themselves buying tickets by accident - the title is very plain. We can all decline to buy tickets.

Does she shudder at the idea of the slip of the beach towel? No. She says this is contextual. Why go to the effort of twisting the words of someone with only good intentions? Also bear in mind she was the one who exposed this show in the first place! Should be grateful!