Xorkoth
Bluelight Crew
To me, I don't get what the problem is with a man dressed as a woman reading books to children. Like, I don't get why people are wildly for it or against it. That is not sexualizing children, that's someone dressed abnormally reading books to children. It feels the same as the outrage that was probably felt 40/50 years ago if an openly gay man were reading books to children. Today we wouldn't bat an eye, but that's because we normalized being gay to the point that not a lot of people think it weird or troubling anymore.
On the other hand, children being taken to drag shows where people are gyrating and there are neon glowing signs that say "it won't lick itself"...that is another matter entirely. That is troubling indeed, and wildly inappropriate. But I think the two separate things are often being conflated. Simply exposing children to the idea that transsexual people exist isn't sexualizing children, children don't think of gender in terms of having sex or anything we think of as dirty or inappropriate. What I see as the point of stuff like "drag queen story time" is to try to expose children to the idea that people like this exist, and that they're not something to fear. But, as with everything, the media/society has taken some examples of that sort of thing going badly, and turned it into a hill to die on. I couldn't give two fucks if a man dressed as a woman, or a man born a woman who identifies as a man, is reading books to children in the same way that anyone else would read books to children. if I had a child, I might take my kid to such a reading, but it would be based entirely on what the book was, what the event was, etc. It would have nothing to do with who was reading it or what their gender was or how they were dressed. If I had a kid, I would be trying to raise them to see all this stuff as a non-issue, it's just people expressing themselves the way they want, which is their right, and far be it from me to judge.
But I certainly wouldn't take them to a sexualized drag show.
On the other hand, children being taken to drag shows where people are gyrating and there are neon glowing signs that say "it won't lick itself"...that is another matter entirely. That is troubling indeed, and wildly inappropriate. But I think the two separate things are often being conflated. Simply exposing children to the idea that transsexual people exist isn't sexualizing children, children don't think of gender in terms of having sex or anything we think of as dirty or inappropriate. What I see as the point of stuff like "drag queen story time" is to try to expose children to the idea that people like this exist, and that they're not something to fear. But, as with everything, the media/society has taken some examples of that sort of thing going badly, and turned it into a hill to die on. I couldn't give two fucks if a man dressed as a woman, or a man born a woman who identifies as a man, is reading books to children in the same way that anyone else would read books to children. if I had a child, I might take my kid to such a reading, but it would be based entirely on what the book was, what the event was, etc. It would have nothing to do with who was reading it or what their gender was or how they were dressed. If I had a kid, I would be trying to raise them to see all this stuff as a non-issue, it's just people expressing themselves the way they want, which is their right, and far be it from me to judge.
But I certainly wouldn't take them to a sexualized drag show.