An idea worth mocking
Satire news source The Onion highlights the absurdity of putting children in gendered straitjackets.
Posted by XylophoneGender on February 23rd, 2010 at 08:00 am
Category: video 16 comments »
16 Responses to “An idea worth mocking”
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:37 am |
On the nose! I work in a toy store that also sells costumes, and on a regular basis I see parents doing their darndest to make sure their children don’t step outside gender boundaries. It can be funny or it can be frustrating… and if there’s one thing the Onion is good at, it’s bringing out the funny in almost anything.
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:29 am |
fantastic social commentary, as usual.
February 23rd, 2010 at 1:24 pm |
Fantastic!!
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:52 pm |
A friend of mine works in a toy store, and he told me of this 12-year old boy who came in with his mother and proceeded to try on all the dresses they had, because he wanted to be a princess for Halloween. Unfortunately, all their dresses were too small, but he did leave with a plastic tiara and matching necklace, and a sparkly magic wand. The best part was that his mom seemed completely cool about it ^^
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:09 pm |
That was pretty funny. I always went to the boys’ section or made my own gender-bendy costume which my parents are luckily cool with. I feel sorry for the kids who really do have to deal with parents like that.
I always knew there was an underlying reason I want to be a firefighter or paramedic… stereotypically gay guys and lesbians.
February 24th, 2010 at 6:43 pm |
Wow. I am *really* glad this came prefaced with notes that it’s mockery and satire.
it’s almost too real.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:27 pm |
the Onion… so good at what they do. ten years ago I was working in a pizza restaurant in Chicago that always had copies of the free-paper Onion stacked in the foyer. Once I came out on break and there was a middle-aged lady sitting on the bench waiting for her pickup order, looking with horror at the Onion headline about how Sony had begun selling tiny implantable TV monitors for the uterus, so that fetuses could begin watching their favorite shows before birth… she turned to me and asked, in a shocked voice, “this… this isn’t real, is it?” sarah, you’re not alone.
February 25th, 2010 at 2:10 pm |
this cant be real, right?
surely not
February 25th, 2010 at 9:50 pm |
Tanner- let me introduce you to the satirical genius of The Onion. It’s all fake news. Even the video. If you click on the “The Onion” link above, there is a world of hilarity waiting for you. The Onion is widely known for its written pieces, but the video fake news deserves credit was well (incredibly divergent tangent, but this is my favorite Onion vid: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/congress_debates_merits_of_new)
February 26th, 2010 at 8:24 pm |
Ah, gender-bending children! I know a little toddler boy whose family is from another country, given a name that sounds feminine to my culture, who at least sometimes is wearing something pink or something. my mom explained to his family about the potential for gender confusion, but the last time i saw this little boy, sometime in the past week or so, he was wearing a jacket with little pink butterflies on it. :) of course this was probably chosen for him by his family, but as he gets older he will probably be able to decide more for himself whether he’s ok with this kinda thing or would rather come off as more conventionally masculine.
March 8th, 2010 at 5:25 am |
I love the Onion. On real news shows people generally try to tapdance around their hate speech so people won’t realize it’s hate speech, and they can feel some level of agreement. But on ONN they come right out and say it and force people to confront it.
March 18th, 2010 at 11:15 pm |
Well, the good news is they’ve started putting children in straightjackets!
May 3rd, 2010 at 5:55 pm |
oh, my god, i am shocked, homophobia at its supreme finest. The vampire, really???????????
May 3rd, 2010 at 7:20 pm |
Dear Anonymous- please understand that this, as with all content from The Onion, is satire. I encourage you to check out TheOnion.com if this is still confusing.
And while same-sex/same-gender attraction in men is inextricably linked to effeminacy in many people’s minds, calling the characters in the mock news show “homophobic” misses the heart of the issue. No comments are actually made toward the sexual orientation of these boys, but rather the stifling attention is aimed at the ways they cross the boundaries of gendered expectations. I just don’t know of any good words for transgressing-gender-rules-phobia.
May 14th, 2010 at 9:15 am |
This is horrible. that lady should be shot.
May 14th, 2010 at 9:59 am |
Hey Everyone,
I want to make this absolutely clear: the video above is SATIRE. It’s acting. It’s a joke. It’s not real.
I’m going to close this comments thread now because too many people are missing that component and being offended. Hopefully this will cue them to read this note. :)
hugs,
Sarah