Why would adult men want to dress up as animals and hang out in an area where there are a lot of young kids? 🤔 I’m old enough to remember the Mr Bubbles case that happened in Sydney in the 1980’s when i lived there. I suppose it’s only fair to let paedophiles express themselves, we are all for diversity and inclusion! To exclude them is paedophobic!
I suppose someone in Scotland is busy reporting us all now, in a sex shop, or on an app, for our unconstrained levels of 'hate' and 'bigotry' and these are our 'crimes' now.
But the Scottish police won't -- or can't -- do anything about it, despite their two hours' training and drafting in 1,000 more staff to follow up "hate crime" complaints -- unless the Scottish government also gives them a shedload more money to cope with the new legislation.
It's really weird isn't it? How are they so naive and almost deliberately so? Lemmings. What made this ideology of 'trans' so powerful that this gets a free pass, on a free pass, with a welcome parade. If men without kiddie-friendly Disney outfits came to your children's play area with bags of sweets and said come and play with me over there, in my car or back at my home, what would they do then? Let them? Stranger danger, oh but not for the nice Furries or men in dresses FFS. I know when governments have fallen for it en masse that's a powerful influence, but come on.
The forced-teaming umbrella of 'trans' kids, 'trans' transvestites, 'trans' middle-aged men with fetishes and 'trans map' paedophiles seems to have worked so well to really confuse too many people.
1. Majority of parents (see mothers) are too exhausted to do anything else but parent / work.
2. They have no time to read anything.
3. Many parents even if they do have time suffer from the 'I don't want to change my world view'. They cannot allow anything different into their lives, especially things that are quite awful / damning / disturbing - because then they would have to feel those things, feel the pain / shock / horror and change their lives accordingly.
See also parents / married couples / couples that refuse to believe a friend is being abused in their marriage / relationship - it shakes their idea of the world aka: good vs evil. It would force them to look in the mirror at their own marriages / relationships if they opened themselves to what can happen.
Some people would literally rather not know. It's that horrific.
Couldn't agree more. We are more and more in bubbles, but seem to be connected yet alone. I find it disturbing and upsetting how many choose to look away and not know. You've summed up so well how all types of abuse go 'hidden' but in plain sight as so many do this internal mental flip. I was speaking to a close relative the other day who acted shocked when I reminded them of something and I relayed a conversation. They asked, who told you that? I replied, you did. So they had just totally conveniently forgotten that awkward thing. It wasn't happening to them, so they forgot.
This is how gender ideology spread so successfully everywhere. And we're now looking internationally to see which legislatures are steaming full ahead and which are putting the brakes on.
It's the gaping chasm of cognitive dissonance, that really isn't that gaping, it's literally right there in the damn park with them. Breaks my heart, it's responsible for so much trauma.
I’m always highly suspicious about adults who use things that children find attractive (bright colours, cartoon characters) to lure them into their own ideology - grooming is exactly what it is.
There’s a very well followed Twitter account dedicated to The Muppets that I used to enjoy, as an adult who likes a bit of nostalgia. Just recently, the guy who runs it has started tweeting more about his own life/beliefs and all sorts of bizarre, sexualised interpretations of these characters, which are FOR CHILDREN, eg:
- The Fraggles are asexual/nonbinary (clip of one scene where a character is referred to as “they”).
- A puppet cow who has a posh/camp voice is secret code for drag queens.
- How he and his wife are both bi and queer and how all their other genderqueer pals are their “tribe”.
- Photos of him and said wife getting married in their kiddie cartoon clobber/visiting Disneyland etc. I hardly need to add that they don’t have any children themselves.
I’ve unfollowed it because it is setting off all my alarm bells. Furries have exactly the same effect on me, and particularly in the context shown here.
There's been a growth of this in the last twenty years. I like some brief reminiscence and childhood favourites but I'm not 5, 10 or even 15 now and I noticed some can't live in the now, or much in reality and look at life full on. It's harsh, so some decide it isn't, no one can make them, so they retreat. Like 'choosing' what sex you are.
It's hard to guess at why, but maybe due to the infantilising of adults who can't move out and start lives of their own (house prices or housing instability). Then there have always been those who couldn't cope with adult life, but we seemed to allow and encourage this. We can all disappear into our own world online and find 'like-minded' tribes. Traditional life markers or events have changed or been broken. The fashion for women wearing children's clothes and hats with ears and faces on the Tube used to unsettle me a bit - nominally adults with jobs, going to offices, but I knew a few with almost underdeveloped and stuck views, wanting to be nice and light and fluffy. Pretending to be children? But a very skewed view of childhood. Portraying themselves as vulnerable. That's 'fun' right? Harming no one right? And some find that attractive and are attracted to it. It's not just about delayed development or not child-rearing or home ownership. It's almost total rejection of how life was 'done' before. It was some people who could be coddled, when others had to juggle the harsh realities of life from a very young age (way before 18). That's how older and younger generations seem so alien to each other. So that's the gap this ideology feasted upon - the do what you like, there are no rules or obligations, make your own rules versus don't waste money on coffee/avocado toast on the other. Rather than feeling a shame (why should you), there's an overcorrection to the other extreme - people are embracing this as their identity. Which is part of this identity politics mess.
There was also the growth of 'play' within the professions and how adults 'should' think in a different way, to break free of narrow or 'traditional' viewpoints. This crept in everywhere, this 'disruption' about the same time as the gender ideology. Having to sit in a room full of adults whose job was serious - infrastructure, law, engineering, health or safety, but then have consultants or professors come and tell us to 'relax' and 'play' and 'be like children' being 'creative' and using our imaginations. Like we didn't use them already? Sure. Forget the rules of physics and reality. Er, oh and totally undeveloped brains, zero life-experience, no training, sheer ignorance and no knowledge? Sure, get them to build a bridge or run a health service or a University. But but why do we need a bridge, why don't we do different jobs like influencer, wouldn't that be cool right? Hey great idea! And we NEED to include EVERYONE and ALL THE TIME so we will spend the next hour of this weekly meeting discussing pronouns and which flags need to be produced, and where, on what pillar in a London rail station, or reception hall of a hospital...and they are nice and bright and welcoming right? Everyone agree? Yes, excellent!! Anyone who said no or asked questions wasn't toeing the party line.
Excellent comments, yours and others here. Thank you! And thanks to Glinner for this article. I totally agree, especially to the infantilizing aspect. Some adults refuse to grow up and they make the rest of society pay the price, and they're getting away with it! Also I see the broad influence (in the US anyway) of consumer porn culture rotting adults' (especially men's) brains in relation to their truly natural role as carers/protectors of children and women, not exploiters. It's so cynical, makes me livid to think how porn and other noxious things like gender ideology, etc., have been taking over society and all the harm they've caused, and all the poor fools of people who don't want to see it. And children, who can't possibly know better, or protect themselves from it (they're children, FFS!) are being swept up in it. Heaven (if there is one) help us all.
Literally. I know everyone seems to sprinkle the word 'literally' literally in every second breath now. But this is some Aesop's fable come to life in some performing arts group sent out to teach everyone not to be so feckin naive. Or just a bunch of disturbed men with fetishes. And zero social skills. Not metaphorically but literally.
It could be that. I'm careful about suspecting them to be with so little info. I just wrote a lengthier post here why the incident is somewhat worrying even if all of that was perfectly legitimate.
This is really hard to express, but I'll give it a go. We (mainly women) are socially trained to accept this, and particularly to feel a bit sorry for men who are a bit weird, or hesitant and socially awkward. We are encouraged to be compassionate, to take pity and feel a bit sorry for them. It's the reason many of these men have learned to push, push, push at our boundaries. We are taught to ignore instincts and 'be kind'. I have been cautioned to be nicer, less assertive and to capitulate to the needs of others, sometimes putting my own needs second.
It's also a tactic some men use - it's social conditioning and means men have got into fairly secure events but conning their way in. Like those who wear hi-vis, or black tie to get into events. You can easily con your way into buildings and passed security or residents of other flats by acting if you have a legitimate reason to be there.
If I was those men, who for whatever reason, decided to meet up maybe by arrangement, or just turn up, then go specifically to a children's play park, I would wonder why? How would members of the public view me? They are doing it to attract attention. And the attention of small children. And why are they filming? So they can share? With? Go back home, alone, and replay the footage and look at the images? Why? Does that not set off any alarm bells at all for you?
What is their purpose in dressing up and doing this activity in this place? What and who is that for? Who benefits?
I'm just taking a very cautious approach and try not to suspect the worst in people on rather fragmentary info. I've found it to be better for my mental health.
But essentially, this is why we need and in most areas still have safeguards when it comes to children. In order to film at locations where there is a lot of children you generally need a permit in every advanced jurisdiction. And furthermore, you generally need the consent of parents or (pro temp) guardians of the children. I. e. it's rather illegal in every industrialized nation to just hop on to a playground and start filming the kids - for a number of reasons, not just because of predators.
Here, these safeguards failed miserably. No one challenged these men, at least not according to the somewhat incomplete info we got. No one seems to have called the police. And that's about as worrying as these guys turning up and filming away.
Chris. I too take a very cautious approach. I also try not to suspect the worst in people on fragmentary info. Also for my mental health. On that we agree. And I am not deluded or refusing to look. I have to believe and trust in people and also be very pragmatic and realistic. It really isn't worth the risk as when harm happens it's catastrophic. So on balance I am cautious, but in the opposite way to you - you give the benefit of the doubt to the men here showing potentially dangerous behaviours. Then actually overtly dangerous behaviours - they are in a place not designed for them, they are breaking age and cultural, social norms, they are not accompanying children themselves and then they are videoing without consent or knowledge. I am applying logic here, it's not just men who do that.
I wonder why you think these men professional, or that their behaviour wasn't professional? Why would you expect them to be? They are members of the public. Are you projecting your own views and profession on those men? It's good that you are empathetic, but the endless need to show evidence, then more and more and more evidence is really wearying when it's all out there. Some and many people seem to be given the benefit of the doubt despite growing piles of evidence. Men often give men that, women often given women the benefit of the doubt. Why is it an instinct to provide rationalisations for these men? Then they are excused and let off time and again. So a few grow bolder. I find it's often hard to discuss rape, abuse or harassment with men as sometimes they immediately say, well I'm not like that, I would never, so that slightly ends the conversation and no one is any the wiser. There is a cognitive inability, refusal or dissonance. So we're not allowed to speak and raise concerns or warnings and are dismissed as overreacting. It's like the very tiresome 'not all men' debate which I find a difficult straw man tactic. Who says that? I'm not. But it's some people, it's some and enough men. And a far higher proportion of men who do this and commit sexual and violent offences. And has been over generations, which in our gut we tend to know to do certain things to keep our vulnerable safe. Which vehicles do police pull over and why? They assess the behaviour and look at contributory factors. Call that a hunch, or years of experience and training.
Agree with you about the safeguards. But when all are arguing about what safeguards are, that's when the opportunists nip in and do what they like. When people are sitting around debating if a man in Furry outfit got on with his mother or is lonely. Or got sucked into porn online. Or needs help himself. Or his intentions are lovely really, he's just innocent. That doubt is a debate for after. We have to work on our gut instincts and much sooner to put protections in place, and not have them argued over. Most protections are societal and cultural barriers, and processes not actual physical ones. We don't have security with guns at play parks. This woman who was so disturbed by all this, took evidence and left, but was she the only one who appeared to act? The others appeared to do little. We can't shrug this off.
Hundreds of people will look around rather than act with a patent security issue in a public place, over many hours and days. Few think it's their job, even when it is their job. People will happily wave people through. This is the same.
I don't know what they wanted there. I don't have enough information about their intentions and I can't read their minds. I am neither rationalising their behavior nor making the worst assumptions about it. I'm saying: I don't know. That's a very different thing.
That being said: I think I made it plainly clear that from all info I have, they had no business being there and should have been made to leave - whether by parents or by police makes little difference in regards to quickly resolving the situation. (Police would be the better option long term because most likely it would a) quickly show what exactly they were doing there and why and b) IF their intentions were not what you and many others suspect, it would teach them a lesson.)
Whatever one's intentions: Children must be protected against random people just filming them. There are laws in place for that, and these laws are there for more than one reason. These laws should be enforced, particularly in such cases.
And I genuinely believe that in these cases it is better no to wreck our brains over what these guys were up to. It is plainly obvious that their behavior was inacceptable and inappropriate. What we should do is encourage other people to intervene in such situations by whatever means seem practicable. Here: Challenge them or call the police or both.
Even if you did have the information about their motivations it still wouldn't alter the safeguards in place. Speak to the police officers who deal with these creeps if you are so interested. Or the prison officers. Or the researchers. Or the victims of their abuse. Their motivations are of no interest to me beyond stopping them.
What you are doing is false balance and equivocation which leaves people exposed and at risk. When people are unsure, or feel they may get into trouble for making a fuss, or for 'overreacting' they don't act. They feel wary, so look the other way, and don't complain, don't speak up. That looks exactly what happened here, where no one did anything overt to approach these men, to ask what they were up to and tell them to leave.
Seriously Chris. Stop this endless guessing. We can tell by their actions, no one needs to be a mindreader. What goes through the mind of a man exposing himself and masturbating on a rail station, or at a group of girls? I didn't care, I just left and reported him. And warned friends. You are discussing this endlessly. I don't want this situation to keep happening, I want men to be taught and learn.
Attempting imagining oneself as a gran or parent there and maybe only vaguely aware of these current depravities, maybe you’d think that these characters were from the local council’s “play team”? ‘Wonder if anyone asked them why they were there, particularly FILMING their children? Did any parents maybe post on local SM groups? Imagine four male adults, or indeed any group of adults without costumes arriving at a children’s playground, standing around watching the children and FILMING with a professional type camera?! Original sharer quite rightly left, maybe someone did ask them…
Exactly this. And social bloody media. I have had to get or give consent to be filmed or have my image used. It's taken very seriously. It's often because it's unsafe to have your image broadcast everywhere, and we should have some right to privacy and choice and depending on the purpose. I have also been filmed and photographed without my permission which is a modern curse. And stalked.
I was sitting in a café the other day when I looked up and immediately in front of me a young woman was standing outside the floor length window about a metre in front of me, as in very close, in the street, holding her phone up, then clearly filming or taking a photo. I panicked as I was front and centre and from the angle she was holding the phone I was in it. Then I mentioned it to the person I sat with as I suddenly turned away so the person filming/taking photos couldn't see my face. He was a bit slow on the uptake. Anyone with children is usually very aware now of who is around.
I watched her then come in, then queue up for a drink. Then leave. She looked away so we made no eye contact. It's a highly instagrammable place apparently, so I became part of her social media fetish with no say in it. I avoid places like that now. This happened a few weeks back and someone came and took a photo of me sitting outside another place I was waiting outside. It would be far less acceptable to take a photo inside and stick it right in the faces of people trying to have a nice, relaxing sit and chat and when she saw my reaction she lowered her phone. Who knows what she was doing. This is how we lost all our privacy and totally broke all normal rules of social convention. Ask if people mind, and be aware FFS! People are totally clueless and about boundaries and privacy. People think they 'know' each other and they don't. Total strangers can collect information about you, 'follow' you then engender a sense of familiarity as they 'know' things about you. That is partly what might be going on here, where usual human instincts have been totally eroded.
I'm on holiday in Lanzarote, doing aquaerobics at midday in the hotel's main pool with 20 other (mainly) women in bikinis, waist deep. Invariably, every day, there are male spouses there facing us from poolside, ostensibly filming their wives faffing around with foam tubes but filming me and all of us without permission, for the entire 30 minute duration of the session. Seriously? Take a photo, sure, but prolonged recording??? WTF? I have to position myself behind other women so as not to be filmed or crouch down shoulder deep when possible. It's really disconcerting. And fecking infuriating 😡
That's the downside of everybody having a camera on their phone. And no, I don't mean to downplay that.
Supply creates demand (rather than the other way round), and so always having a camera on you awakens the creep in many men. (And creates the desire in a lot of other people to film anyone and anything around them all the time, privacy be damned...) This has completey changed the rules in public space, to practically everyone's detriment. And the worst thing is: There is nothing you can do about it.
Yes, infuriating is the right word for it. And yes, I'm coming to think that cameras on phones should be banned.
That, I'm afraid, also has to do with opportunities. In this case, the fact he can film whatever he likes whenever he likes can, in many cases, lead to an escalation. Much like excessive porn consumption can lead men into very weird fetish niches. Practically none of these fetishes would have developped without porn driven demand for ever greater excitement - and a feeling of being entitled to haveing every whim and wish fulfilled instantly, fueled by the same mechanism.
The male predators are coming out in droves. Keep your children close.
I came across this statement not long ago which speaks to how parents, and mothers in particular, are failing to even see these threats:
"Mothers fail to protect their children because society fails to protect mothers."
Over 40 years ago my first red flag of many as a mother, that warned me of how society really feels about mothers, was when I was a new mother who called in sick. I had to take the day off because both my baby and me were very sick with respiratory illness. I happened to mention that my baby was coughing up blood as well. When I returned the next day, still not well, having found someone to take care of my baby, I was called into the office and given a warning that sick days were only to be used for myself, not my baby. EVEN THOUGH I WAS CLEARLY STILL SICK, I was docked a day's pay and sent off with a warning on my employee file. This was when both my husband and I were both working for salaries barely above minimum wage at the time.
This culture hates parents, but in particular it hates mothers who fail to care for and protect their children against predators despite the fact that they're doing their best in the face of overwhelming challenges. Women's natural inclination to be kind and accommodating has been weaponized against them allowing male predators to make massive inroads into their lives everywhere you look.
I despair for all women, but in particular, I despair for the children who suffer because they will be victimized by these monsters and grow up never feeling safe with anyone again, but especially men. I know. Because I'm one of them. It almost destroyed my family, my relationship with my mother and affected every woman in my circle of family and friends. All of us have been targeted by male predators from my grandmothers, aunts, mother, sisters. I've been trying desperately to protect my own children, but at 65 years old my children no longer listen to me or believe me. Older women and mothers have become relegated to the dust bin in our culture.
Thank you for all that you do, Graham. It means more than you can ever know. Somehow men's opinions matter so much more than women's.
That quote, "Mothers fail to protect their children because society fails to protect mothers." Couldn't agree more. Sorry about your experiences and so many other mothers and children. One big reason (sadly) I chose not to have my own children, many years ago. Stupid society/culture that puts women is such a predicament.
Thank you. Women simply cannot win in this culture. And it's NOT feminism's fault. We tried, as feminists, to ensure women had choices about how to live their lives. But when we made our choice, we assumed we wouldn't be punished for it - whether it was a choice to be a full-time mother or a full time career woman or both. Instead, what happened was we were expected to take on the responsibilities of both full time mom AND full time career woman. And, no, feminists aren't to blame for this predicament. Our economic system is to blame and the patriarchal system which saw no need to expect fathers to adapt to the changes women were making to live fulfilling lives. Fathers could keep doing whatever they chose, but women, as always had to pay the price if things started falling apart. All this while make predators commit heinous crimes against us and our children. I'm just so sick of it all. The trans predators, the economic system which fails mothers, the entitlement that men feel to bash feminists for daring to ask for a level playing field.
/rant over. Thank you for your comment. Have a lovely day. 😊❤
That was hard to read. I believe you. I have similar experiences and it's why breaking or creating trust is so vital. This is gripping me like a vice today. I discussed it with my own mother in the last few days, and I very firmly said I am sick of it and won't stand for it. She said she is realising it too and late. We're both in a kind of shocked ennui to be honest.
And in the last ten years I was told by an employer to not take a sick day, but use my holiday entitlement instead. I'd been headhunted for that role. And also he angrily stated that 'I didn't know you had a family when we interviewed you' and 'now you want to take time off to care for them?'. I didn't want to 'take time off' I just didn't want to commute into the office that day for no reason, when my role was agreed to be part-time and working from home as I chose. Oh, and I was already over hours that week. And my family needed me. Oh, and I was senior enough to be able to manage my time. Every time I had a meeting out of the office he would challenge me - he treated me like a small child and I was on a leash. It was a shock that he would shout and yell and acted like that in a workplace. He also cried when I tried to resign. Then when I did leave they tried to withold all remaining pay and holiday entitlement and get me to sign a non-disclosure. He failed on all counts :-)
We really still aren't taken very seriously. Then we have to prove and prove and prove it. And this gender ideology and identity shite is just a facet of it. Keep fighting, keep your chin up.
Oh my goodness, the incredible entitlement that I see everywhere in this culture. The entitlement to women's time, effort, care, attention, patience, accommodation and now the trans predators while they insult and abuse and threaten WOMEN - presumably the sex they want to EMULATE. It's absolutely crazy-making. I marvel that women haven't yet started a violent revolution in order to protect their children and all that is sacred about families. I wish my mother had the courage to protect me - and she surely did her best - but she was being raped and brutalized by my father during their entire marriage. When she finally did kick him out, with FIVE children to care for, he threatened to take her children away from her.
The saddest thing is that we found out that my father himself was raped by his grandfather, who was a pedophile. But he didn't, couldn't ask for help because men don't seek help in this culture. And so the predators continue to commit these heinous crimes generation after generation.
Why would adult men want to dress up as animals and hang out in an area where there are a lot of young kids? 🤔 I’m old enough to remember the Mr Bubbles case that happened in Sydney in the 1980’s when i lived there. I suppose it’s only fair to let paedophiles express themselves, we are all for diversity and inclusion! To exclude them is paedophobic!
You mean minor attracted. Come on get your words right you bigot! 😉
I'm also Jihadiphobic in addition to being pedophobic. I guess I'm binary.
🫢woops, yes sorry 😬!!
Paedophile is a hurty word used by bigots and phobes of all sorts. :)
Yes, and it is FAR worse to use the hurty word than to actually do what the word describes!
Are you sure you don't mean a hatey word?
I suppose someone in Scotland is busy reporting us all now, in a sex shop, or on an app, for our unconstrained levels of 'hate' and 'bigotry' and these are our 'crimes' now.
But the Scottish police won't -- or can't -- do anything about it, despite their two hours' training and drafting in 1,000 more staff to follow up "hate crime" complaints -- unless the Scottish government also gives them a shedload more money to cope with the new legislation.
That too of course. Their feelings are so precious and shouldn't be trampled on.
Careful you aren't 'untoward against paedophiles' as it was alleged against Kellie-Jay 😊
Yes, child sexual molester is a much more appropriate term!
Paedophilophobic.
Jesus. This has given me the chills. Raging at how clueless so many parents are!
It's really weird isn't it? How are they so naive and almost deliberately so? Lemmings. What made this ideology of 'trans' so powerful that this gets a free pass, on a free pass, with a welcome parade. If men without kiddie-friendly Disney outfits came to your children's play area with bags of sweets and said come and play with me over there, in my car or back at my home, what would they do then? Let them? Stranger danger, oh but not for the nice Furries or men in dresses FFS. I know when governments have fallen for it en masse that's a powerful influence, but come on.
The forced-teaming umbrella of 'trans' kids, 'trans' transvestites, 'trans' middle-aged men with fetishes and 'trans map' paedophiles seems to have worked so well to really confuse too many people.
Tragically it's a combination of the following:
1. Majority of parents (see mothers) are too exhausted to do anything else but parent / work.
2. They have no time to read anything.
3. Many parents even if they do have time suffer from the 'I don't want to change my world view'. They cannot allow anything different into their lives, especially things that are quite awful / damning / disturbing - because then they would have to feel those things, feel the pain / shock / horror and change their lives accordingly.
See also parents / married couples / couples that refuse to believe a friend is being abused in their marriage / relationship - it shakes their idea of the world aka: good vs evil. It would force them to look in the mirror at their own marriages / relationships if they opened themselves to what can happen.
Some people would literally rather not know. It's that horrific.
Couldn't agree more. We are more and more in bubbles, but seem to be connected yet alone. I find it disturbing and upsetting how many choose to look away and not know. You've summed up so well how all types of abuse go 'hidden' but in plain sight as so many do this internal mental flip. I was speaking to a close relative the other day who acted shocked when I reminded them of something and I relayed a conversation. They asked, who told you that? I replied, you did. So they had just totally conveniently forgotten that awkward thing. It wasn't happening to them, so they forgot.
This is how gender ideology spread so successfully everywhere. And we're now looking internationally to see which legislatures are steaming full ahead and which are putting the brakes on.
It's the gaping chasm of cognitive dissonance, that really isn't that gaping, it's literally right there in the damn park with them. Breaks my heart, it's responsible for so much trauma.
Even so called kiddie friendly Disney characters are off limits for me. This has always been.
I’m always highly suspicious about adults who use things that children find attractive (bright colours, cartoon characters) to lure them into their own ideology - grooming is exactly what it is.
There’s a very well followed Twitter account dedicated to The Muppets that I used to enjoy, as an adult who likes a bit of nostalgia. Just recently, the guy who runs it has started tweeting more about his own life/beliefs and all sorts of bizarre, sexualised interpretations of these characters, which are FOR CHILDREN, eg:
- The Fraggles are asexual/nonbinary (clip of one scene where a character is referred to as “they”).
- A puppet cow who has a posh/camp voice is secret code for drag queens.
- How he and his wife are both bi and queer and how all their other genderqueer pals are their “tribe”.
- Photos of him and said wife getting married in their kiddie cartoon clobber/visiting Disneyland etc. I hardly need to add that they don’t have any children themselves.
I’ve unfollowed it because it is setting off all my alarm bells. Furries have exactly the same effect on me, and particularly in the context shown here.
@HistoryMuppet, it’s called.
There's been a growth of this in the last twenty years. I like some brief reminiscence and childhood favourites but I'm not 5, 10 or even 15 now and I noticed some can't live in the now, or much in reality and look at life full on. It's harsh, so some decide it isn't, no one can make them, so they retreat. Like 'choosing' what sex you are.
It's hard to guess at why, but maybe due to the infantilising of adults who can't move out and start lives of their own (house prices or housing instability). Then there have always been those who couldn't cope with adult life, but we seemed to allow and encourage this. We can all disappear into our own world online and find 'like-minded' tribes. Traditional life markers or events have changed or been broken. The fashion for women wearing children's clothes and hats with ears and faces on the Tube used to unsettle me a bit - nominally adults with jobs, going to offices, but I knew a few with almost underdeveloped and stuck views, wanting to be nice and light and fluffy. Pretending to be children? But a very skewed view of childhood. Portraying themselves as vulnerable. That's 'fun' right? Harming no one right? And some find that attractive and are attracted to it. It's not just about delayed development or not child-rearing or home ownership. It's almost total rejection of how life was 'done' before. It was some people who could be coddled, when others had to juggle the harsh realities of life from a very young age (way before 18). That's how older and younger generations seem so alien to each other. So that's the gap this ideology feasted upon - the do what you like, there are no rules or obligations, make your own rules versus don't waste money on coffee/avocado toast on the other. Rather than feeling a shame (why should you), there's an overcorrection to the other extreme - people are embracing this as their identity. Which is part of this identity politics mess.
There was also the growth of 'play' within the professions and how adults 'should' think in a different way, to break free of narrow or 'traditional' viewpoints. This crept in everywhere, this 'disruption' about the same time as the gender ideology. Having to sit in a room full of adults whose job was serious - infrastructure, law, engineering, health or safety, but then have consultants or professors come and tell us to 'relax' and 'play' and 'be like children' being 'creative' and using our imaginations. Like we didn't use them already? Sure. Forget the rules of physics and reality. Er, oh and totally undeveloped brains, zero life-experience, no training, sheer ignorance and no knowledge? Sure, get them to build a bridge or run a health service or a University. But but why do we need a bridge, why don't we do different jobs like influencer, wouldn't that be cool right? Hey great idea! And we NEED to include EVERYONE and ALL THE TIME so we will spend the next hour of this weekly meeting discussing pronouns and which flags need to be produced, and where, on what pillar in a London rail station, or reception hall of a hospital...and they are nice and bright and welcoming right? Everyone agree? Yes, excellent!! Anyone who said no or asked questions wasn't toeing the party line.
BEAUTIFULLY put. Totally agree with you.
Excellent comments, yours and others here. Thank you! And thanks to Glinner for this article. I totally agree, especially to the infantilizing aspect. Some adults refuse to grow up and they make the rest of society pay the price, and they're getting away with it! Also I see the broad influence (in the US anyway) of consumer porn culture rotting adults' (especially men's) brains in relation to their truly natural role as carers/protectors of children and women, not exploiters. It's so cynical, makes me livid to think how porn and other noxious things like gender ideology, etc., have been taking over society and all the harm they've caused, and all the poor fools of people who don't want to see it. And children, who can't possibly know better, or protect themselves from it (they're children, FFS!) are being swept up in it. Heaven (if there is one) help us all.
The truth will out eventually.
Wolf in sheep's clothing.
Literally. I know everyone seems to sprinkle the word 'literally' literally in every second breath now. But this is some Aesop's fable come to life in some performing arts group sent out to teach everyone not to be so feckin naive. Or just a bunch of disturbed men with fetishes. And zero social skills. Not metaphorically but literally.
Groomers
It could be that. I'm careful about suspecting them to be with so little info. I just wrote a lengthier post here why the incident is somewhat worrying even if all of that was perfectly legitimate.
This is really hard to express, but I'll give it a go. We (mainly women) are socially trained to accept this, and particularly to feel a bit sorry for men who are a bit weird, or hesitant and socially awkward. We are encouraged to be compassionate, to take pity and feel a bit sorry for them. It's the reason many of these men have learned to push, push, push at our boundaries. We are taught to ignore instincts and 'be kind'. I have been cautioned to be nicer, less assertive and to capitulate to the needs of others, sometimes putting my own needs second.
It's also a tactic some men use - it's social conditioning and means men have got into fairly secure events but conning their way in. Like those who wear hi-vis, or black tie to get into events. You can easily con your way into buildings and passed security or residents of other flats by acting if you have a legitimate reason to be there.
If I was those men, who for whatever reason, decided to meet up maybe by arrangement, or just turn up, then go specifically to a children's play park, I would wonder why? How would members of the public view me? They are doing it to attract attention. And the attention of small children. And why are they filming? So they can share? With? Go back home, alone, and replay the footage and look at the images? Why? Does that not set off any alarm bells at all for you?
What is their purpose in dressing up and doing this activity in this place? What and who is that for? Who benefits?
Oh, not asking you to feel sorry for anyone here.
I'm just taking a very cautious approach and try not to suspect the worst in people on rather fragmentary info. I've found it to be better for my mental health.
But essentially, this is why we need and in most areas still have safeguards when it comes to children. In order to film at locations where there is a lot of children you generally need a permit in every advanced jurisdiction. And furthermore, you generally need the consent of parents or (pro temp) guardians of the children. I. e. it's rather illegal in every industrialized nation to just hop on to a playground and start filming the kids - for a number of reasons, not just because of predators.
Here, these safeguards failed miserably. No one challenged these men, at least not according to the somewhat incomplete info we got. No one seems to have called the police. And that's about as worrying as these guys turning up and filming away.
Chris. I too take a very cautious approach. I also try not to suspect the worst in people on fragmentary info. Also for my mental health. On that we agree. And I am not deluded or refusing to look. I have to believe and trust in people and also be very pragmatic and realistic. It really isn't worth the risk as when harm happens it's catastrophic. So on balance I am cautious, but in the opposite way to you - you give the benefit of the doubt to the men here showing potentially dangerous behaviours. Then actually overtly dangerous behaviours - they are in a place not designed for them, they are breaking age and cultural, social norms, they are not accompanying children themselves and then they are videoing without consent or knowledge. I am applying logic here, it's not just men who do that.
I wonder why you think these men professional, or that their behaviour wasn't professional? Why would you expect them to be? They are members of the public. Are you projecting your own views and profession on those men? It's good that you are empathetic, but the endless need to show evidence, then more and more and more evidence is really wearying when it's all out there. Some and many people seem to be given the benefit of the doubt despite growing piles of evidence. Men often give men that, women often given women the benefit of the doubt. Why is it an instinct to provide rationalisations for these men? Then they are excused and let off time and again. So a few grow bolder. I find it's often hard to discuss rape, abuse or harassment with men as sometimes they immediately say, well I'm not like that, I would never, so that slightly ends the conversation and no one is any the wiser. There is a cognitive inability, refusal or dissonance. So we're not allowed to speak and raise concerns or warnings and are dismissed as overreacting. It's like the very tiresome 'not all men' debate which I find a difficult straw man tactic. Who says that? I'm not. But it's some people, it's some and enough men. And a far higher proportion of men who do this and commit sexual and violent offences. And has been over generations, which in our gut we tend to know to do certain things to keep our vulnerable safe. Which vehicles do police pull over and why? They assess the behaviour and look at contributory factors. Call that a hunch, or years of experience and training.
Agree with you about the safeguards. But when all are arguing about what safeguards are, that's when the opportunists nip in and do what they like. When people are sitting around debating if a man in Furry outfit got on with his mother or is lonely. Or got sucked into porn online. Or needs help himself. Or his intentions are lovely really, he's just innocent. That doubt is a debate for after. We have to work on our gut instincts and much sooner to put protections in place, and not have them argued over. Most protections are societal and cultural barriers, and processes not actual physical ones. We don't have security with guns at play parks. This woman who was so disturbed by all this, took evidence and left, but was she the only one who appeared to act? The others appeared to do little. We can't shrug this off.
Hundreds of people will look around rather than act with a patent security issue in a public place, over many hours and days. Few think it's their job, even when it is their job. People will happily wave people through. This is the same.
I don't know what they wanted there. I don't have enough information about their intentions and I can't read their minds. I am neither rationalising their behavior nor making the worst assumptions about it. I'm saying: I don't know. That's a very different thing.
That being said: I think I made it plainly clear that from all info I have, they had no business being there and should have been made to leave - whether by parents or by police makes little difference in regards to quickly resolving the situation. (Police would be the better option long term because most likely it would a) quickly show what exactly they were doing there and why and b) IF their intentions were not what you and many others suspect, it would teach them a lesson.)
Whatever one's intentions: Children must be protected against random people just filming them. There are laws in place for that, and these laws are there for more than one reason. These laws should be enforced, particularly in such cases.
And I genuinely believe that in these cases it is better no to wreck our brains over what these guys were up to. It is plainly obvious that their behavior was inacceptable and inappropriate. What we should do is encourage other people to intervene in such situations by whatever means seem practicable. Here: Challenge them or call the police or both.
Even if you did have the information about their motivations it still wouldn't alter the safeguards in place. Speak to the police officers who deal with these creeps if you are so interested. Or the prison officers. Or the researchers. Or the victims of their abuse. Their motivations are of no interest to me beyond stopping them.
What you are doing is false balance and equivocation which leaves people exposed and at risk. When people are unsure, or feel they may get into trouble for making a fuss, or for 'overreacting' they don't act. They feel wary, so look the other way, and don't complain, don't speak up. That looks exactly what happened here, where no one did anything overt to approach these men, to ask what they were up to and tell them to leave.
Seriously Chris. Stop this endless guessing. We can tell by their actions, no one needs to be a mindreader. What goes through the mind of a man exposing himself and masturbating on a rail station, or at a group of girls? I didn't care, I just left and reported him. And warned friends. You are discussing this endlessly. I don't want this situation to keep happening, I want men to be taught and learn.
WE DON'T CARE WE JUST WANT THEM TO NOT DO IT.
Absolutely the best questions. I'm with you! I see nothing friendly about such men, never will.
Furverts
😆🤣
Time was, when paedophiles would turn up with cute furry puppies to attract the kids. Now they're turning up AS cute furry puppies.
Attempting imagining oneself as a gran or parent there and maybe only vaguely aware of these current depravities, maybe you’d think that these characters were from the local council’s “play team”? ‘Wonder if anyone asked them why they were there, particularly FILMING their children? Did any parents maybe post on local SM groups? Imagine four male adults, or indeed any group of adults without costumes arriving at a children’s playground, standing around watching the children and FILMING with a professional type camera?! Original sharer quite rightly left, maybe someone did ask them…
Exactly this. And social bloody media. I have had to get or give consent to be filmed or have my image used. It's taken very seriously. It's often because it's unsafe to have your image broadcast everywhere, and we should have some right to privacy and choice and depending on the purpose. I have also been filmed and photographed without my permission which is a modern curse. And stalked.
I was sitting in a café the other day when I looked up and immediately in front of me a young woman was standing outside the floor length window about a metre in front of me, as in very close, in the street, holding her phone up, then clearly filming or taking a photo. I panicked as I was front and centre and from the angle she was holding the phone I was in it. Then I mentioned it to the person I sat with as I suddenly turned away so the person filming/taking photos couldn't see my face. He was a bit slow on the uptake. Anyone with children is usually very aware now of who is around.
I watched her then come in, then queue up for a drink. Then leave. She looked away so we made no eye contact. It's a highly instagrammable place apparently, so I became part of her social media fetish with no say in it. I avoid places like that now. This happened a few weeks back and someone came and took a photo of me sitting outside another place I was waiting outside. It would be far less acceptable to take a photo inside and stick it right in the faces of people trying to have a nice, relaxing sit and chat and when she saw my reaction she lowered her phone. Who knows what she was doing. This is how we lost all our privacy and totally broke all normal rules of social convention. Ask if people mind, and be aware FFS! People are totally clueless and about boundaries and privacy. People think they 'know' each other and they don't. Total strangers can collect information about you, 'follow' you then engender a sense of familiarity as they 'know' things about you. That is partly what might be going on here, where usual human instincts have been totally eroded.
I'm on holiday in Lanzarote, doing aquaerobics at midday in the hotel's main pool with 20 other (mainly) women in bikinis, waist deep. Invariably, every day, there are male spouses there facing us from poolside, ostensibly filming their wives faffing around with foam tubes but filming me and all of us without permission, for the entire 30 minute duration of the session. Seriously? Take a photo, sure, but prolonged recording??? WTF? I have to position myself behind other women so as not to be filmed or crouch down shoulder deep when possible. It's really disconcerting. And fecking infuriating 😡
Mention to the group leader to request no filming. This should be on a notice around hotel pools anyway.
That's the downside of everybody having a camera on their phone. And no, I don't mean to downplay that.
Supply creates demand (rather than the other way round), and so always having a camera on you awakens the creep in many men. (And creates the desire in a lot of other people to film anyone and anything around them all the time, privacy be damned...) This has completey changed the rules in public space, to practically everyone's detriment. And the worst thing is: There is nothing you can do about it.
Yes, infuriating is the right word for it. And yes, I'm coming to think that cameras on phones should be banned.
But why is there a creep to awaken in many men? No excuses, please! But otherwise, I pretty much agree.
That, I'm afraid, also has to do with opportunities. In this case, the fact he can film whatever he likes whenever he likes can, in many cases, lead to an escalation. Much like excessive porn consumption can lead men into very weird fetish niches. Practically none of these fetishes would have developped without porn driven demand for ever greater excitement - and a feeling of being entitled to haveing every whim and wish fulfilled instantly, fueled by the same mechanism.
I despair, some people should not be parents. These fellas are sexually aroused in those suits and the parents are too gormless to realise.
I consider there to be only one conclusion that can be drawn.
Christ on a bike this is disturbing.
God, some parents are so stupid. Who knows where those pictures are going to end up?
The male predators are coming out in droves. Keep your children close.
I came across this statement not long ago which speaks to how parents, and mothers in particular, are failing to even see these threats:
"Mothers fail to protect their children because society fails to protect mothers."
Over 40 years ago my first red flag of many as a mother, that warned me of how society really feels about mothers, was when I was a new mother who called in sick. I had to take the day off because both my baby and me were very sick with respiratory illness. I happened to mention that my baby was coughing up blood as well. When I returned the next day, still not well, having found someone to take care of my baby, I was called into the office and given a warning that sick days were only to be used for myself, not my baby. EVEN THOUGH I WAS CLEARLY STILL SICK, I was docked a day's pay and sent off with a warning on my employee file. This was when both my husband and I were both working for salaries barely above minimum wage at the time.
This culture hates parents, but in particular it hates mothers who fail to care for and protect their children against predators despite the fact that they're doing their best in the face of overwhelming challenges. Women's natural inclination to be kind and accommodating has been weaponized against them allowing male predators to make massive inroads into their lives everywhere you look.
I despair for all women, but in particular, I despair for the children who suffer because they will be victimized by these monsters and grow up never feeling safe with anyone again, but especially men. I know. Because I'm one of them. It almost destroyed my family, my relationship with my mother and affected every woman in my circle of family and friends. All of us have been targeted by male predators from my grandmothers, aunts, mother, sisters. I've been trying desperately to protect my own children, but at 65 years old my children no longer listen to me or believe me. Older women and mothers have become relegated to the dust bin in our culture.
Thank you for all that you do, Graham. It means more than you can ever know. Somehow men's opinions matter so much more than women's.
That quote, "Mothers fail to protect their children because society fails to protect mothers." Couldn't agree more. Sorry about your experiences and so many other mothers and children. One big reason (sadly) I chose not to have my own children, many years ago. Stupid society/culture that puts women is such a predicament.
Thank you. Women simply cannot win in this culture. And it's NOT feminism's fault. We tried, as feminists, to ensure women had choices about how to live their lives. But when we made our choice, we assumed we wouldn't be punished for it - whether it was a choice to be a full-time mother or a full time career woman or both. Instead, what happened was we were expected to take on the responsibilities of both full time mom AND full time career woman. And, no, feminists aren't to blame for this predicament. Our economic system is to blame and the patriarchal system which saw no need to expect fathers to adapt to the changes women were making to live fulfilling lives. Fathers could keep doing whatever they chose, but women, as always had to pay the price if things started falling apart. All this while make predators commit heinous crimes against us and our children. I'm just so sick of it all. The trans predators, the economic system which fails mothers, the entitlement that men feel to bash feminists for daring to ask for a level playing field.
/rant over. Thank you for your comment. Have a lovely day. 😊❤
You're totally welcome. Not a rant either, IMO, just a good heartfelt comment, and I agree. Have a lovely day too! ❤️❤️
That was hard to read. I believe you. I have similar experiences and it's why breaking or creating trust is so vital. This is gripping me like a vice today. I discussed it with my own mother in the last few days, and I very firmly said I am sick of it and won't stand for it. She said she is realising it too and late. We're both in a kind of shocked ennui to be honest.
And in the last ten years I was told by an employer to not take a sick day, but use my holiday entitlement instead. I'd been headhunted for that role. And also he angrily stated that 'I didn't know you had a family when we interviewed you' and 'now you want to take time off to care for them?'. I didn't want to 'take time off' I just didn't want to commute into the office that day for no reason, when my role was agreed to be part-time and working from home as I chose. Oh, and I was already over hours that week. And my family needed me. Oh, and I was senior enough to be able to manage my time. Every time I had a meeting out of the office he would challenge me - he treated me like a small child and I was on a leash. It was a shock that he would shout and yell and acted like that in a workplace. He also cried when I tried to resign. Then when I did leave they tried to withold all remaining pay and holiday entitlement and get me to sign a non-disclosure. He failed on all counts :-)
We really still aren't taken very seriously. Then we have to prove and prove and prove it. And this gender ideology and identity shite is just a facet of it. Keep fighting, keep your chin up.
Oh my goodness, the incredible entitlement that I see everywhere in this culture. The entitlement to women's time, effort, care, attention, patience, accommodation and now the trans predators while they insult and abuse and threaten WOMEN - presumably the sex they want to EMULATE. It's absolutely crazy-making. I marvel that women haven't yet started a violent revolution in order to protect their children and all that is sacred about families. I wish my mother had the courage to protect me - and she surely did her best - but she was being raped and brutalized by my father during their entire marriage. When she finally did kick him out, with FIVE children to care for, he threatened to take her children away from her.
The saddest thing is that we found out that my father himself was raped by his grandfather, who was a pedophile. But he didn't, couldn't ask for help because men don't seek help in this culture. And so the predators continue to commit these heinous crimes generation after generation.
The park gate squeaks
And out come the freaks
Groomers and paedos
So these people now have photos of their children in the hands of strangers? This needs exposure.