Dublin Zoo FFS

[DumDeDumDeDumDeDum]

I shouldn't be shocked but I am. Someone in Dublin Zoo decided to use a bearded man dressed as a woman to advertise an offer for Mothers Day.
Before anyone tells me its a Hallmark Marketing day I'll say it and yes I agree thats what its become. Its just the principle of this is what annoys me. Its one of 2 days in the year dedicated to being a woman. And no its not even a funny depiction.

If they were going to fully commit to this nonsense there should be Furries instead of animals.

I'm both relieved and curious. Relieved because I thought they might have transed one of the inmates for displaying something considered gender non-conforming. Curious because....really!?

I took against Dublin zoo because I visited it once many, many years ago. They had what I could only describe as a bathtub filled with terrapins. It was just them and a few inches of water. No enrichment, nowhere for them to rest and massively overcrowded. Dozens of them scrabbling at the sides.

😂 thank you! Irish woman here - hadn't thought of a furry living their best life in the lion enclosure.

I saw this on X. The zoo is getting absolutely slated. Not one of their better decisions.

Visited Dublin Zoo once and never again because there were rats EVERYWHERE! I know its in a city and by a river and they are feeding animals but it was frightening to think of kids at picnic tables and touching everything and rats pee all over them. Turns out those rats have now taken over the marketing dept 😂

This wasnt done by one person. There were layers of people involved in coming up with the concept, creating it, approving it and then issuing it. But not one said STOP this is not right. I despair.

I saw that and was really annoyed, they can only make up for it by sending the same drag queen round the zoo pulling his ridiculous face for Father’s Day, because drag queens are men too. That would be the even handed treatment here.

And it's the fact that they'd never do this that tells us all we know.

This bloke?

Typical - Ireland in its constant efforts to be the best little progressive country in the class hasn’t yet realised that the tide has turned on this sort of shit and it’s just not washing anymore

All zoos should be closed down and all the animals rehomed to proper proper large spacious parks. No animals should be in cages. Their Their day is long gone. Typical sh*t show tbh

And they aren’t even offering monkey football!

Monkey tennis, even better

I just saw this in the media and I dont know why I got surprised but it did rather take me by surprise. I live in Ireland (am English) and I love it here in so many ways but honestly, why are we STILL doing this regressive insulting misogynistic and very old, stupid, boring and tiring shit?

How does anyone find a man in a dress remotely funny?
It's got to be THE most worn-out trope on the planet.
Stick some mediocre man in a dress and hey presto!
That's (supposed to be) entertainment!
Not.

Thanks, I've emailed them to say WTF, though not in so many words of course!

So - looking at the this online, it looks like this guy is some sort of comedy person (I think?) and is doing a whole campaign for them, and this is only one of a series of ads.

I seems more silly than ideological.

Well at least they're not pretending he's a actual woman.

The whole drag thing is particularly irritating in Ireland where then entire 'LGBTQ++++' community - which includes me - is often represented in the media by a drag artist called <yuk warning> 'Panti Bliss' [Rory O'Neill] who seems to be the go-to 'LGBTQ+' person to comment on anything and everything gender.

He is gay and not trans, and fair dues to him has been a powerful critic of homophobia in Ireland
But his famous 2014 anti-homophobia speech was made while in drag, and that seems to have cemented a kind of link in the public mind drag=resistance=progress=gay rights=trans rights=human rights
and 'Panti Bliss' seems to have moved seamlessly from fighting against homophobia to defending drag and trans.

The bolting the the 'T' onto LGB has had a damaging effect on the lesbian and gay community in Ireland: we are assumed to be all in favour of everything 'Panti Bliss' stands for, because he is our spokesperson isn't he?🙄
And saying that drag is offensive and sexist is taken as being homophobic/transphobic/ hate-fuelled/wanting to send Ireland back to the dark days of sexual repression/right-wing American fundamentalism etc etc.

So a man LARPing around as a woman in Dublin Zoo has all sorts of echoes and implications and resonances... I could say it is a [wild] dog-whistle but this dhole at Dublin Zoo looks like she would not be amused!😄

My autistic DS loves Strictly and DWTS, and it was really jarring watching DWTS with him a couple of years ago when "Panti" was one of the contestants. I am thankful he is not actually pretending he is a woman, and he did at least rehearse as Rory, but I found his portrayal of a "woman" offensive and sexualised, something which should have stayed in the comedy clubs, not be shoved in our faces on prime time TV.

Definitely should have stayed in the clubs. He did online ads for Tesco too, I think the Christmas before last, as ‘Panti Claus’ 🤯

Just checked, it was Christmas 23.

So these days, most zoos are heavily involved in breeding programmes for endangered species. They really need to know that there are 2 sexes and it’s a characteristic you can’t change 😡

Yes but....You've reminded me about the unsuccessful attempts to get Chi Chi the panda to mate, she had no interest whatsoever in the male pandas they introduced her to.
I remember seeing a photo of her with the caption 'How dare you assume I'm heterosexual?'😄

Jeez Dublin Zoo is completely run by the woke brigade. This image of a little girl with the pride flag painted on her face is also up there advertising one of their events.
Sad what we've become with this crap peddled subtley at every opportunity.

That child looks so sad.