Inappropriate ‘StoryTime’ in public libraries

[ScrollingLeaves]

A number of public libraries and bookshops centred on children’s books are having story times like this: m.youtube.com/watch?v=iuMic0cVw4Y
It is a movement that’s come from America.
I personally think story times like this have no place in this setting. Yet parents are evidently bringing their children to these events.

I was wondering what other people here think?

I think that's a bit overtly sexualized to be appropriate for children.
If a woman presented a story time in that kind of garb, people would be very quick to stop it.
I only saw a small part of it, but black patent thigh high boots, overemphasised buttocks, no skirt, it's club wear, not library wear! We have dress codes in schools and work places, and I doubt even a teenager trying to shock their parents would dress like that in a public place in the day time.

@ScrollingLeaves

“ABCeasyasdohrayme

ScrollingLeaves
Why only this particular kind of nice, extraordinary, different sort of person though?
It isn't, there are loads of storytimes from all kinds of characters, organisations and people. In my parenting years I've seen fairy, Princess, pirate, someone dressed as a cow, someone dressed like indiana Jones, there have been biblical figures, a couple of old time children entertainers, vikings, Indigenous people, a magician, theres a historical society who do loads of storytimes as many different people and those are just the ones I have seen advertised, drag Queens seem to get the most press for some reason.“

That’s great to know.
At the moment though, where I live, unfortunately I can only find the drag queens version on offer. Perhaps it is just a current theme.

Perhaps there aren’t other groups offering their service in the library? Drag story time has been a thing for quite a while. I have yet to encounter one that has queens with x rated names at a childrens story hour. Also, these people are performers. They invest in their performance and a gig in a library will be given the same thought, preparation and commitment as any other gig. There are many queens who are very wholesome and excellent childrens entertainers. They also have personal experience of what it’s like growing up as a gay person, possibly a trans person, possibly a child with anxiety/ott personality/ a born performer etc etc who didn’t fit into the boxes were constantly trying to assign people too. They have a perspective and could help children better understand themselves and the world around them. We’ve been to some excellent talks where queens in and out of drag have been on the panel and discussed the various things they have faced and a particular point that resonated with me was how they always felt othered and different. So many pre teens and teens at the event agreed with feeling similarly and it opened a great discussion about navigating it.

A drag Queen reading a story isn’t preventing anyone else from doing so should they wish too. I’ve also never met a queen who got paid for these gigs. I’ve also never met a queen who enjoys day drag so doing this is a lot!
They are doing this to hopefully let any child feeling alone know that there is a whole community out there for them.

[quote ScrollingLeaves]@ABCeasyasdohrayme
I take back what I said that no other sorts of story times are available where I live. I have found some, themed by the book or subject, they just hadn’t been called Story time.[/quote]
That's great.

Glad you have some choice.

Good places to look are museums and shopping centres as well as libraries.

There was one locally but not at the library at a different venue.

We didnt go

Some Drag Queens don't think Drag Queens should do story time..

It's boundary erosion, like that stupid library 'monkey' with plastic cock and balls, or the charming 'Glitter Hole' crew her in Ireland .

But Hey ho, be kind!!

Yes what about rainbow dildo butt monkey? Not exactly suitable for children, is it?

Completely inappropriate.

I've no idea how white men in drag have somehow become the fave of diversity iber all the other opportunities they could have had.

How about calling your local police or fire station and seeing they have any female officers/fire fighters. Any black.or ethnic minority fire fighters/officers

Male nurses and dancers female mechanics etc would have been great fir kids to see.

Instead you get mainly white men in make up.

The best wonen are really men they call themselves things like flow job and popping cherry and aida h d. What an inspiration

OMG.

I HOPE that when UK MN posterS support DQST , it's out of ignorance. Because they did not bother to follow the link to find out about DQST in UK and watch the whole if it.

Please, please do. All the way through, past the American bit, right to the end about what is ALREADY happening in UK.

I would have absolutely hated this as a kid, I hated pantomime dames and Les Dawson and Barry Humphries characters, they made me feel really uncomfortable. Then as a teenage lesbian there was all the anti-women abuse from the drag queens in gay clubs (the usual "fish" and how we were all so dowdy etc.) So it's a no from me.

I mean, just something to keep in mind is not all drag queens do drag to perform on a stage or at a gig. Some are 'look queens' or 'makeup queens' who have built a career on their makeup/character skills. They're not throwing out dirty jokes or doing anything particularly 'adult'. There are some I'm sure there are other examples but I don't have time to look into it yet.

They generally aren't attending Story Times and telling dick jokes or tuck jokes. They are just there to tell the story and answer questions on why they are dressed like that. Often the reason they say is because why shouldn't they be dressed like this? Why should only women use makeup or wear dresses/heels?

They have a perspective and could help children better understand themselves and the world around them

Please enlighten me how confusing children and making them.doubt their abilities to identify who is male and who is female which is a vital part of safguarding, and learning to twerk and parodying women helps children understand the world around them.

And if children are feeling alone they need love akd support and tools to help them with friendships and communicating with their parents/family members.

They certainly don't need an online community of strangers who are adults

I wouldn’t have taken my children, and I consider parents who embrace this as lacking in critical thinking skills.

I’ve been told it normalises diversity, but the only thing that drag is promoting is misogyny and gender ideology, both harmful to women and girls, and I can’t understand why any woman would accept that.

There seems to have been mass grooming of queer theory over the last decade, and I wonder if those embracing it have ever thought about the long term implications of queer theory.

If libraries want to encourage diversity they should be bringing in storytellers of different ages, races, and sexuality, not a bunch of men poncing about displaying a poor and insulting caricature of what men think a woman is.

Yes, 'gender fucking' which is, to upend any and all norms. Queer theory . Part of what Douglas Adams is railing against in the Spectator, the weak-ass, intellectual charlatanry of 'Theory', pumped out by academia.

That full dance at the King County Library. Bring you whole self to twerk.

@ThrowawayBerna
Thank you for the link to the drag queen who does not agree with this for children,
and for the one in King County library. That is shockingly awful. I looked it up and that is in the U.S.A. What can they have been thinking to put that on?
I wonder if it is ever as bad here?

What's the difference between a drag queen and a pantomime dame?

I would have hated that when I was a child, I've always been frightened of pantomime dames and clowns, I see men in drag as the same thing, quite sinister and their real emotions masked by all the make up.

I dislike drag anyway as I don’t like the stereotypes used, it feels reductive and like taking the piss out of women, if just one subset of women.

@timeschanging

What's the difference between a drag queen and a pantomime dame?

Usually the drag queens are really nasty about women

I don't know much about panto as I didn't like it as a kid.

“timeschanging

What's the difference between a drag queen and a pantomime dame?”

If you look at what ThrowawayBerna posted 16:40 or the video article in the OP they can be sexual; and also they are not just a comedy interlude in the wider story like they are in a panto. Apart from that, for a young child, they are confusing.

In London there's been a few issues similar to this one

dailycaller.com/2021/07/12/united-kingdom-drag-queen-story-hour-london/

What's the difference between a drag queen and a pantomime dame?

Websites involving bandage gear and partial nudity

I could understand the point that these drag queens are just reading the book if there wasn't all this video footage and photographs of far more happening. In the documentary in the OP there was someone shimmying their bum and teaching the kids to twerk. I'd say that's pretty sexualised and inappropriate and wouldn't want my kids watching it. I also can't think of any other acts which were developed as adult entertainment being moved to child-centred environments like this; you wouldn't have burlesque story time would you?! Saying it shouldn't be around kids isn't demonising the people doing it.

The video also quoted a response from someone from a UK library saying that the drag queen story time was happening to "promote tolerance". Tolerance of what though? As a society we've got to be careful that we aren't so badly wanting to avoid being seen as discriminatory bigots who don't approve of LGBTQ things around children that we inadvertently teach our kids to tolerate adults displaying sexual behaviour. I'm not for a second accusing any particular drag queens of having nefarious motives, but we DO have examples of very sexualised costumes and behaviours happening at three events and the libraries are either unable to stop it, don't see a problem, or are more focussed on their objective of diversity and tolerance.

Protecting children while we figure out where the line is is far more important that libraries displaying diversity themed story times IMO. And the line is not in the right place while penis monkeys and rude names and twerking is able to slip through the net.

Drag story time isn’t a way of expressing diversity! Though I can see that libraries might think it does, as I guess it falls under the lgbtq++ heading.

You wouldn’t have someone blacked up to read stories though would you, drag is ‘woman face’ isn’t it?