Clementine Ford has been allowed out on day release again.
My friend’s son is banned from wearing a tutu in his ballet class.
A friend of mine moved to Queensland some time ago and enrolled her two children in a small, local ballet school. They both adore dancing, and her young son especially has embraced wearing tutus and other dance paraphernalia.
“I have a friend who encourages her son to wear girl’s clothes. Much hilarity ensues, as I will now explain“.
Recently, the school began preparing for its end of year concert. What followed was a disturbing insight into how deeply people still hold on to their assumptions and phobias about binary gender expression and the challenges this presents.
“The rest of the world has a problem. Not my friend or me, you understand, but the rest of the world“.
My friend’s son – we’ll call him “John” – was excited to join the other little dancers, wearing his tutu and dancing along with them. But apparently this didn’t accord with the teacher’s vision.
“The teacher planned a dance concert with each child playing a particular part. This involved a specific costume for each role. My friend encouraged her son to rebel and wear something else.
Because the rest of the world has a problem, not my friend and me“.
John was told that not only would he not be allowed to wear the same costume as the other dancers, he would also be performing in pants as the role of The Doctor, the character who (vomitously) gets to give all the little girls their spoonful of medicine.
Sounds like they were performing The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky.
Girls can be doctors and wear trousers too, by the way.
For the past few weeks, my friend had been locked in a battle with the coordinator of the school. She has always been a strong advocate for both of her children, allowing them to express themselves and their personalities through their clothing as they please.
“Remember, the rest of the world has a problem, not my friend“.
She had thought the issue was resolved, telling the teacher John should be supported to wear his tutu over the pants if that’s what he chose. This is what he wanted, and so he and his entire family turned up to the concert that day wearing tutus.
Sounds like one side of the discussion agreed something the other side didn’t.
Imagine my friend’s horror when she watched as the teacher forced John to the side of the stage and began to remove his clothing to take the tutu off him.
A teacher undressed your child in public? When is the court case?
Oh.
My friend tried to intervene, repeatedly telling the teacher that she was not okay with what was happening while her son stood there crying. To make things worse, the teacher then gave John lollies to stop his tears.
“The rest of the world has a problem, not my friend. This is upsetting for my friend’s child, for some reason. Also, lollies contain gelatine which isn’t vegan so is not compatible with our family diet“.
Bill’s Opinion
If you’re looking for a fight, telling a dance school owner that your child isn’t going to wear the costume for the role they have been allocated for the end of term concert is a great way to start one.
One wonders what the dance school owner’s version of this story would read like?
“Organising an end of term concert is a nightmare, with 60 kids to train in specific parts and then to sort out the costumes for each. It only takes one or two awkward parents or kids and the whole event becomes a complete pain in the arse.
I should have known that the blue-haired lesbo and her misbehaved kids would cause a problem.
I tried to tell her when she ranted at me a couple of weeks ago that each kid gets a part to play and we allocate the costumes out based on size and fit.
She’s pulled her kids from the school now. Thank fuck.”
There needs to be a webpage warning people to the whereabouts of Clementine Ford so they can take precautions should she come within range.