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Feeling Toxic? Let It Go.
I have seen a few posts toxic masculinity and one about some males who could use a bit more toxicity, then I saw this…
A few points about this Tweet:
1. A dad being silly with his kid is not a bad thing at all. In fact, the other day my wife was sitting on the couch folding laundry when I picked up a pair of my (clean) underwear and put it on my head. I then proceeded to try to have a discussion with my children. “Hey, I asked you a serious question and all you can do is point and laugh?!” Eventually the kids were laughing so hard they had tears running down their faces (they’re an easy crowd). Now, I wouldn’t take a video of myself or put any of that online (because my goal was have fun with the kids, not self-promotion), but I want to make clear that what I find odd about this tweet is not that the dad played dress-up with his son. They seem to be having fun. I do not see this as someone trying to encourage their kid to be a child drag queen so they can work the clubs and pose with naked men.
2. But then, why would CBS News see this as worth sharing? Do they just see it as a fun little video or are they interested in breaking down gender stereotypes?
3. They labeled this “Best Dad.” Why is this better than a dad playing catch with his son, shooting hoops, going fishing, etc? Is this “Best” because they are wearing women’s clothing? Are they promoting gender fluidity and intersectionality in an effort to be more woke? Do I honestly know, or care to know, what any of those words mean?
4. The kid wanted to dance so the dad went and put on his Elsa costume. Now when I was child, had I asked my father to dress up like a princess and prance around the room, assuming he didn’t hit me and actually went along with it, we would have had a problem because my dad didn’t own any princess costumes. Neither do I or any guys I know. Do most men have these things? Am I missing out on something?
Anyway, if you feel like the whole manhood thing is getting too toxic for you, Let it Go . . .
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Published in General
I have no idea what nuancy thingies are going on between this father and his son. It looks like they are sharing a silly moment together. That’s great and that’s fun. Filming the moment for their PRIVATE future memories is super. Now I have to ask, why does he have to post the video on the internet? What is it about our world today that compulses people to show the entire world their private moments? That is not great. It’s not fun. It’s sick.
underpants gnome?
One of the great things about life in the twenty-first century is that, if you are so minded to, it’s easy to find out (I understand, if you just don’t care to). The moment wasn’t private (and certainly not spontaneous) at all:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/allthemoms/2019/01/25/disney-frozen-let-it-go-elsa-dance-father-son-norway/2676240002/
Apparently the Dad is a Norwegian “comedian” whose son loves Frozen. He (Dad) purchased two Elsa costumes on eBay, the two of them dressed up and danced to the sound track, Dad had the video camera running, and posted the result to his social media account.
Clearly, Dad is the instigator here. The son didn’t have much to do with it, and an ungracious person might speculate that Dad is exploiting the little guy for his fifteen minutes of fame (which he’s snagged, apparently).
Ørjan Burøe (our friend the comedian) has this to say about his philosophy of child-rearing:
Regardless, or irregardless as the case may be, it’s pretty clear he’d like his son to follow in his father’s footsteps in at least one sense. If Dad has anything to do with it, exhibitionism looms large in little Dexter’s future. Sad.
So what you’re saying is that this is not as CBS reported; that the son wanted to dance as Elsa, and the Dad joined him. Rather, it was all instigated by the fame-hungry Dad.
And they wonder why we call them “fake news.”
And they also wonder why we think they’re not just reporting on the blurring of gender lines, but actively promoting it.
In this case, by making something up.
Haha! I don’t know which is most disturbing. That our military’s finest can be found sitting around drinking Red Bull (it has to be stimulant, right?) watching Frozen? Or that they can’t carry a stinkin’ tune!! Oorah!
I would say that if the son wanted to dance as Elsa, Dad could have found an old pillow-case, let son decorate it with paint and glitter, cut a neck-hole and two arm-holes in it, popped it on over son’s clothes, put a mop-head replacement “wig” on son, or on himself, turned on the music, and the two of them could have gone to town. No cameras required.
I think an awful lot of these so-called spontaneous and heart-warming moments that appear on the Internet are carefully constructed beforehand. So yes, I call BS on such things. People slurp it up, though.
Thank you @she for this additional color! I so hoped that Dad was being funny and satirical! And CBS bit and got played!
I also think Dexter “gets it” and that this only reinforces his common sense that boys and girls are very different and it is funny, not reality, to pretend otherwise.
How dare you assume the gender of death.
😁 Good point. Death really should be a…uh, dear, what are you doing with that baseball bat? Aauugh!
Ha! Funny.
There’s a Dasani bottle behind the seat.
I find frozen mostly…incomprehensible. Phooey.
What’s wrong with Mulan? Sing songs from that.
Being a parent, I have had to sit through my share of kids movies and Frozen was one of the worst for me. My daughter loved it (which was kind of the point) but my son and I would just give horrified looks at each other and go, “Oh no! They’re going to burst into song again.”
Never saw Mulan but teaching a boy to fight and saying “I’ll make a man out of him” does seem like a more appropriate father/ son type activity.
I prefer gatorade.
@vancerichards, yeh, but Mulan was a chick. The movie kind of gets the message across (you know, all that equality stuff) without pissing one off. Plus, that movie has the Best. Disney. Bad Guys. Ever.
Agreed.
Haha! Men like Mr. C and Mr. Trink, when we travel together in Yellowstone, for example, they go where they damn well please! The world is their toilet!!
That was my next spec Bond script title.
Yeah but we lost the lid to that one. Don’t use that one.
Of course Death is female. Thanos has a thing for her and is always trying to woo her. At least what I remember from when I was reading comics in college.