Ahoy Shipmates!
I’ve been performing at birthdays, christenings, schools and festivals for many years now, over 500 shows to over 10,000 children!
However in the last week I’ve noticed something I’ve never seen before….
Last week on Britain’s Got Talent a little boy read out some jokes that his father wrote for him. One of which involved calling an adult woman a ‘dog’.
People laughed on the show and brushed it off, but I knew as soon as I saw it, it would be a problem…. Little ones imitate anything they see others get attention for, the little boy got attention for calling a woman a dog, so clearly that must be okay?
It’s not
Telling a young boy it’s okay to call a woman a dog is NOT okay
Within a week I’ve witnessed at least 10 young boys call girls AND moms helping put on birthday parties “dogs”. I’ve made a point of it and explained to the children that insulting a woman based on her looks to get attention is NOT an acceptable thing to do.
At least 50% of my shows these days are booked for birthday girls, because I always make a point of trying to empower women and tell them that they are as strong and capable as any pirate out their. Allowing childhood misogyny to sneak into our young buccaneers lives via the backdoor of television is ONLY a bad thing, unless we use this as an opportunity to discuss with our little lads and lasses the importance of gender equality.
Girls are allowed to like pirates
Boys are allowed to like Frozen
Girls are allowed to dress like superheroes
Boys are allowed to wear pink and sparkly things
Girls are allowed to play football
Boys are allowed to dance and sing
So have a chat with your pint sized pirate today, about being nice, about being fair, about being better than bullies and most importantly about being the best version of themselves they can be!
Till the tide brings us together again shipmates!
Captain Dan Tastic ⚓
www.CaptainDanTastic.com
