Disneyland greeter

[Neverplayleapfrogwithmrpipes]

https://twitter.com/jonesville/status/1663381709667303425?s=46&t=mjCevLYB8rsDn2VcwfsB7w

This popped up on my Twitter regarding a Disney greeter called Nick in a dress.

I have an issue with men wearing dresses to:

1. Mock women
2. Gain access to women's spaces
3. Gain sexual gratification involving unaware/unconsenting individuals.

I have no issue with a male fairy godmother's apprentice. At least, I think the whole idea of adults dressing up as disney characters is a bit naf, and I hate the relentless consumerism of it, but I feel the same way whether it's a man or woman dressing up.

At three or four my nephew was desperate to wear a dress and have a barbie. He wasn't allowed. I still think this is a great shame.

On the grounds that Nick refers to himself as a fairy Godmother, not godfather, I decree that he is appropriating womanhood.

Fairy Godfather... it might catch on.

Fairy godmother's apprentice... not the fairy godmother herself.

Dawson from Dawson's Creek is on that Twitter thread. Giving his political opinion. Bit weird.

So, trainee Fairy Godmother then…
Why do you think that sounds better?

I have no issue with men in dresses, but there is something about the specifics of this which bothers me and I can’t quite put my finger on. There are literally hundreds of jobs in Disneyland and many of them have different uniform for men and women. He’s in the only one which is about make overs for little girls and involves touching them. Yes, he’s only greeting, but presumably once he stops being a trainee, he will be doing the girls’ hair and makeup?

i wouldn’t have an unknown man touching my little girl, I just wouldn’t. All they do in that job is makeovers for girls under 12 - literally nothing else.

Because an apprentice isn't a male or female word.
We have apprentices at my work. At no point is the apprentice required to identify as the gender (sex) of their boss.

Most (all) workplace positions are available to both sexes, though.
There’s no such thing as a male Fairy Godmother.
Come on…. Are you being deliberately obtuse?

No, not being obtuse. I'm just pointing out that a fairy godmother's apprentice isn't by definition a male or female. It's a fictional fairy tale job, linked to a traditional fairy godmother character.

I'm not sure if it helps to hear it, but I vehemently oppose children being attracted towards trans identities as the answer to their distress at their growing bodies. As I said earlier on this thread, I don't believe there is any such thing as a trans child. However, I'm also not averse to Nick in a dress, on the assumption (I've seen nothing to suggest the contrary) that Nick is a man who is happy to show children that dresses are for anyone who wants to wear them (without dresses being sexualised of course).

Perhaps a more appropriate costume for this cheerful gent

So you'd be OK for an unknown woman to be touching your little girl?

Are you suggesting there’s no actual difference?

um, there's no such thing as an actual Fairy Godmother full stop. It's all made up.

So maybe fairy godmother apprentices graduate to be fairy godfathers. Or maybe someone casts a spell at graduation and they become fairy godmothers, because while no real human can change sex really, imaginary magical people can absolutely change sex magically! Or maybe Godmother is an honoury title that men can also have in fairyland. Or maybe apprentices never progress to another role just like Santa's little helpers never become Santa. Or maybe all fairies are female even the ones with beards (like dwarves). Or maybe they have no concept of sex or gender and reproduce with acorns and moonlight.

Who knows? No one, because it's all made up.

I mean, I really am as gender critical as the next woman, I'm pretty sure I've proved that, and I care masively about the appropriation of female language for males, but even I think fairy tale characters can be allowed a bit of gender fluidity!

As long as Nick is not claiming to be a female person in real life and is safe to be with children (and whether or not I align with Disney's other brand values, I'm sure they do take safeguarding seriously so there's no reason to assume he's any less safe than his colleagues), good luck to him.

Yeah, maybe…
Meanwhile in the real world we have a man wearing a dress that no actual female over the age of 7 would be seen dead in.
I find that all sorts of weird.

it's literally his uniform. Actual women over the age of 7 wear it in the same shop!

Realistically he probably is at least a trans ally, if not an enby, just because things are so polarised now that men think they can't be gender non-conforming without an identity label.

But I still think he's not doing anything wrong as long as the kids are safe and happy.

Would you have a problem with a girl in trousers?
It’s a garment, what’s the issue?

My (regrettable) experience of Disney is that it's full of very fat middle aged women wearing clothes styled for toddlers. Plus mouse ears.

My working assumption is that any Disney cast member has whatever the US equivalent of a DBS is, and that the child being made over is surrounded by fawning relatives with iphones capturing every moment for posterity. So I struggle to see that there's a safeguarding issue here.

Nick isn't (that we know) invading women's spaces, or getting off on the whole experience. If there were after-hours photos of him in the costume with a margarita and a strap-on then I'd be outraged. As is? I just wish someone had recut the polyester bodice so it fitted better.

In public, which is where this would happen, just like a hairdresser. It's not like they're taken off to a private room on their own....

Grayson Perry goes into schools.

He has said that the reason he wears voluminous skirts in public is to hide his erection.

And that he had to get more and more outrageous walking around, because as he encountered increased acceptance, the shock factor wore off and it wasn't arousing enough.

We wouldn't be forensically analysing some bloke in a frock at Disney, if these bloody men didn't fetishise every fucking thing. If they didn't centre their boners in every single thing you could possibly imagine.

Sorry is rigidly enforced gender roles the thing you're aiming for?

Yes, because it’s incredibly unlikely that she would be getting any sort of sexual thrill from it or my daughter would be an unconsenting participant in her fetish

And @Iyiyiiii you don’t think it’s remotely noteworthy that of the thousands of different jobs at Disneyland, he wants the one that’s exclusively about giving little girls make overs?

So I assume you wouldnt be happy with a male hairdresser then? or a mail manicurist?

I have feel intuitively averse to male manicurists and have felt put out when I have been given one I haven’t expected. I realise now I really hate the experience of a male stranger touching my hands and feet for so long, so I haven’t got it done for ages now. In fact now you mention it, I am going to ask if they are male or female in future and go somewhere else if I have a bloke.

I really don’t like male hairdressers either - I have only had a couple, but I feel more comfortable talking to a woman about what I am trying to achieve.

These are intimate experiences- where you are being looked at closely, touched, asked how you feel. Doing this with a stranger is bad enough, let alone someone of the opposite sex.

@Iyiyiiii I can’t think of a male hairdresser or beautician who exclusively works with girls under the age of 12. I would find that creepy.