Bambi and Ross (and Adam)
The kids are definitely NOT alright.
You might be wondering what parallel I am about to draw between Irish Eurovision contestant Bambi Thug and Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer. No they are not a ‘thing’ (though that would make an interesting sketch, Shauny boy? Babylon Bee? Mole at the Door? Get in!)- but we *are* witnessing ‘a’ thing.
Thank you for reading. Please consider supporting my work. You can ‘buy me a coffee’ here. Or become a paid subscriber for as little as £4.00 per month, £30 for the year, or £250 for a founding membership. Every penny makes a difference and allows me to keep speaking out about the failure in safeguarding for our children in schools and cultural institutions. We need to recognise, preserve and celebrate childhood. No one else is doing this in the arts in Scotland, I really do need it and so very much appreciate it.
In my previous post “The Kids are Not Alright” I spoke about how we have impoverished our children by not giving them adequate avenues to thrive. I was reflecting on local levels wherein we see boys (in particular) acting out when they do not have physical space to ‘let off steam’. This disembodiment matched with a lack of authority and responsibility are what I see being part of the storm that has led to violence in the classroom.
Then in the past few days these two darlings popped up as (what I view) as another casualty of our failure as adults to create appropriate boundaries as we amplified, even obsessed over identity and sexuality. As I watched their emotional self reflective monologues I couldn’t help feel that this is where things are going if we don’t shore up something real for our kids. (Ross Greer here) (Bambi here)
Watching their online rants these two individuals seem very different but actually are quite similar. And I cannot help but feel sad in the witnessing of it. They are both lost. I think their panic and emotions are real, if not justified. And we’re seeing this rapid self obsession, the boiling down to ‘queer’ part of oneself across the globe. Hell, we’re promoting it in schools. And where does that leave you?
I am minded of Grimm’s Hansel and Gretel. This movement gives it’s proponents a candy house with all the fixings, but ultimately it is designed to consume them.
Because to these two individuals they have been taught, indoctrinated and raised high on the idea that their identity and sexuality is the most important thing there is. That everyone cares about is their identity and sexuality. And that not caring about their sexuality is akin to denying their existence.
At the same time they have been taught that their bodies are not real. That questioning the trade of body parts (which validate identity) is a human right.
It’s a very odd paradigm and not one that will end well.
In the end when the reality of their physical realm comes crashing down in the shadow of their youth they will have to face the consequences of their actions. In the metaphoric witch’s cottage about to be cooked up for supper, will they wonder why no one questioned them, no one stopped them, no one pointed out that you are so much more than this? Or is this true?
I am minded of the NTS (National Theatre of Scotland) show ‘Adam’. Adam arrived from Egypt to Scotland (in the late teens I think), claimed trans identity and the arts world rushed to her aid. She was hailed a media darling, given extraordinary opportunity off this identity. No one questioned. Egypt with it’s 86% FGM rates, domestic violence rates also factor 86%, and 84% of the populace is opposed to homosexuality. It is very likely she had one, if not three of these aspects touch her life.
It was hailed as the ‘feel good’ story of acceptance, a love story. Adam had ‘the surgery’ with a neo-penis being grafted from her arm. And National Theatre of Scotland filmed and promoted it all. Was this kind? Was this fair? She is now thousands of miles away from home and will the self same theatre community that used her and her story be there for her when it all falls apart? As it will. Because… biology.
I saw recently that she had a residency at The Work Room related to ‘Hidden Disabilities’. Is this hidden disability off the back of botched surgeries? Did NTS create more problems for this woman by not asking the questions? I don’t know. But I know it makes me sad. I hope she finds the support she needs.
This movement exploits the most vulnerable at the same time the privileged are shored up in perpetual narcissism wherein they will never graduate to the beauty and strength that comes with maturity, age and natural change.
In the past week another bombshell hit the press about LGBT Youth Scotland being embedded in a school for severely autistic children in Edinburgh. Kids with severe autism were being propagandised about ‘being born in the wrong body’. How dystopian is that? Not least that autistic children are one of the most vulnerable groups to be caught in trans hysteria.
I just cannot factor in my head what reasonable person would think this is a good idea. I work with individuals with special needs in a dance project. I cannot imagine telling them their bodies are wrong, or bad even with their many challenges. Their bodies are…their bodies. And when we pull together performances their hard work, focus and accomplishment it is a beautiful thing to behold. I would never want to deny them that.
But this is how it is. Children are not safe when adults cannot recognise their role to maintain the very integrity of their physical form.
The word healthy derives from an old English word meaning ‘whole’. When we teach our children to fracture themselves into identities, or even to see their bodies as a series of parts to be manipulated we deny them health. Because one can never be whole unless we recognise the beauty and dignity of the whole self in all it’s complex components.
But we have this new social justice mantra that is based on this premise. And it’s framed as being ‘kind’. Any (reasonable) parent will tell you letting kids do what the heck they want is not kind. Letting my child eat jelly babies to the point of sickness is not kind.
And as I see this phenomena of ‘cultural sick’ hit the headlines, society, and the wider world I wonder how do we come back?
There are eminently sensible people like fired professor Warren Smith who tried calmly and patiently to speak his students down from the cliff face of their own irrationality. Ultimately he was fired for not keeping within the religious dogma of the trans movement, but I do wonder if in his calm and clarity at least *some* students woke up…. a little.
But in some forums this conversation has not even had the light of day. I was unsurprised to see the second motion on the Equity (Performing Arts & Entertainment Trade Union) centre protecting Drag Queen Story Time. As per the predictable mantra of our time ‘Right Wing Extremism’ is cited. (and interestingly Emma Jayne Park co-collaborator with Adam Kashmiry in hidden disability project is responsible for putting this motion forward)
It does make me laugh/cry/scream that in a time where the economy is in tatters and people are struggling to put food on the table that our entertainment industry prioritises identity issues. Perhaps it is unsurprising given the class divide of those involved in these sectors of industry that they would not consider economic concerns (even as many companies are about to tank/shutter with funding cuts) but the ‘feels’ of men who feel entitled to wear sexy frocks and read to children.
Last year I was part of a grassroots protest trying to address the inappropriate content of RSHP in our local schools (Relationships, Sexuality, Health and Parenthood Education). Myself along with 30+ other parents and concerned family members had written the following letter outlining our worries and including the content in question. When we didn’t get a satisfactory response we decided to organise a protest.
The demonstration (largely organised by Parent Watch Glasgow and including the Scottish Union for Education) included experts in the field of child protection. Here Jane McLenachan a retired social worker and expert in child protection speaks coherently of how child safeguarding is disregarded in service to political (gender) ideology. (we can now see how that is playing out as more damaged children come to the fore). She makes a case that parents have a right and a duty to question and ask questions about what being taught in schools in order to keep kids safe.
But this is not how the counter protest saw it. Led by Stripper Drag Queen Tom Harlow his commentary was quite telling (and *note: most have no issues with him ‘doing his thing’ for adult audience, the issue is what is good for CHILDREN). He speaks vehemently that it is the duty of schools to ‘push (his words) for a ‘better society’. He goes on to explain that ‘children are entitled (his words) to be taught everything’.
I doubt Tom has even looked at the RSHP curriculum. Nor does he have any children that he would be managing the repercussions of a negative fallout. He does have a financial skin in the game as some of his repertoire includes shows for children. But all this aside I consider Tom’s position as another example of a bred narcissist, buoyed in fragility by an industry collapsing in on itself. None of this ends well for anyone. Not the artists he purports to represent, not gay and lesbian teens, and not the creative industries.
Certainly not for children.
It does not occur to him that their might be some validity in parents claims. As far as he is concerned any parent who questions is intolerant. And let’s be clear, children should not be shown ‘everything’, that’s why we have age ratings for films. Tagging LGBT onto a program is a not a get out clause for assessing what is good for children. And not wanting Drag Queens in schools is not an ‘extreme right position’ as Equity would have you believe.
No one has a ‘right’ to have access to children. And it’s up to their parents (largely) to decide what is right for them. But is it any wonder that we have arrived here with our Bambis, our Toms and our Rosses? They themselves were not given boundaries, they had unfettered opportunities to fall into their own navels and now that’s all they have.
And what kind of society will we be left with in this YES, no boundaries culture? Leading kids into the witches cottage, tempted by the candy colours, the appeal of the now will leave children infertile not just physically but mentally and emotionally. And this is not the society any of us want.
We need to recognise childhood, we need to protect our children, we need to provide opportunities for them to thrive, and we need to give them boundaries. I really feel for these young ones, they are capable of so much more.
Thank you for reading. Please consider supporting my work. You can ‘buy me a coffee’ here. Or become a paid subscriber for as little as £4.00 per month, £30 for the year, or £250 for a founding membership. Every penny makes a difference and allows me to keep speaking out about the failure in safeguarding for our children in schools and cultural institutions. We need to recognise, preserve and celebrate childhood. No one else is doing this in the arts in Scotland, I really do need it and so very much appreciate it.