So, a little while back twitter made me pretty upset, like it usually does. The discussion being had was whether or not expressions of adult sexuality and kink were appropriate during pride fest. There was this weird alliance between people on the right and younger leftist types who were all agreeing that these kinds of expressions were not okay, and that they were damaging to children, and that pride fest needs to be dialed down a notch to make it more kid friendly.
I don't know how the discussion started, but a lot of people were freaking out over this photo of a little girl standing next to some dudes in puppy play gear, and it was being used as an example of those sexually deviant queers going one step too far or whatever.
Honestly, I find it hard to have the conversation without getting upset. Look, I want to make something perfectly clear and make sure you don't misunderstand me - there's no evidence that expressions of adult sexuality harm children unless it's specifically directed toward them. A child that sees someone dressed up in puppy play outfit or bondage gear isn't going to know it's for. If your kid is old enough to understand adult sexuality and they ask you about it, all you have to say is "it's a sex thing" and then you move on.
Adult sexuality is everywhere already, I wasn't traumatized as a kid because I saw naked women on beach towels or walking through Spencer's. What's harmful is when kids are explicitly targeted, i.e some leather daddy asks a 12 year old boy to spank him or something. But people are acting like their very existence is damaging to young minds and I find that ****ing offensive. The only reason why expressions of kink would be harmful to your children is if you raised them with a puritan, unhealthy concept of sex/sexuality. For comparison, in Germany you can find magazines of naked people out in the open in the gas station. I can't stress enough how my opposition's perspective is being molded by the backdrop of protestant culture.
As for the argument that "You can keep the sexy/kinky **** but only at after parties or on the side or out of the way" pride fest didn't start as a family friendly event tailored to children. It started as a riot. The kinksters dressed up as cops and firemen were there first. You're moving into a space that was never about you (although most pride fests do have family friendly events) and demanding older, elder queers move out of the way. It's wrong. I understand that young queers should have spaces too, but like I said, there are already spaces at pride for them, it's just not the main event. And don't raise your children with puritan views of sexuality, and everything is fine.
The fact that so many so called "leftists" were willing to get in bed with reactionary conservatives and push the trope that queers were predatory pedophiles honestly disgusts me. I can't describe what it's like to see online voices you thought were allies push that, or just be too cowardly to say anything at all.
tl;dr
to hell with your stupid kids. **** off and leave pride alone
I don't know how the discussion started, but a lot of people were freaking out over this photo of a little girl standing next to some dudes in puppy play gear, and it was being used as an example of those sexually deviant queers going one step too far or whatever.
Honestly, I find it hard to have the conversation without getting upset. Look, I want to make something perfectly clear and make sure you don't misunderstand me - there's no evidence that expressions of adult sexuality harm children unless it's specifically directed toward them. A child that sees someone dressed up in puppy play outfit or bondage gear isn't going to know it's for. If your kid is old enough to understand adult sexuality and they ask you about it, all you have to say is "it's a sex thing" and then you move on.
Adult sexuality is everywhere already, I wasn't traumatized as a kid because I saw naked women on beach towels or walking through Spencer's. What's harmful is when kids are explicitly targeted, i.e some leather daddy asks a 12 year old boy to spank him or something. But people are acting like their very existence is damaging to young minds and I find that ****ing offensive. The only reason why expressions of kink would be harmful to your children is if you raised them with a puritan, unhealthy concept of sex/sexuality. For comparison, in Germany you can find magazines of naked people out in the open in the gas station. I can't stress enough how my opposition's perspective is being molded by the backdrop of protestant culture.
As for the argument that "You can keep the sexy/kinky **** but only at after parties or on the side or out of the way" pride fest didn't start as a family friendly event tailored to children. It started as a riot. The kinksters dressed up as cops and firemen were there first. You're moving into a space that was never about you (although most pride fests do have family friendly events) and demanding older, elder queers move out of the way. It's wrong. I understand that young queers should have spaces too, but like I said, there are already spaces at pride for them, it's just not the main event. And don't raise your children with puritan views of sexuality, and everything is fine.
The fact that so many so called "leftists" were willing to get in bed with reactionary conservatives and push the trope that queers were predatory pedophiles honestly disgusts me. I can't describe what it's like to see online voices you thought were allies push that, or just be too cowardly to say anything at all.
tl;dr
to hell with your stupid kids. **** off and leave pride alone
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