This is sorta O/T but kind of related to these sexualized behaviors in children, such as this "humping tag game".
I was appalled in the 1990s and early 2000s when I would go to my daughter's dance recitals. (I was the kind of mom who was always present during every class, reading or sewing in the waiting area and making sure DD was safe and happy at the dance school. I never saw or heard about anything inappropriate occurring there.)
During the yearly recitals, the girl's routines were always well choreographed, even the jazz dances, except for once when the girls, dressed in only leotards and tights, took turns laying on the stage floor and doing a move where their legs were fully spread wide open while up in the air and facing the audience! wth?
But every single dance routine with boys included multiple aggressive pelvic thrusts. There were quite a few boys in this school, most in the 8-12 year old range, and all the teachers were female, ages 22 through 50s. This dance studio was considered the best in our area.
So year after year, we'd go to the recitals, bring the grandparents along, and continue to be mortified by the suggestive dancing the teachers were having these boys perform in front of hundreds friends and family members. Also shocking were the frequent approving hoots and catcalls from the audience while the boys were doing this.
Why have adults have come to believe this is normal? And why in the world would these teachers, the parents, and recital audience members think such actions would be appropriate for children to perform? Are the teachers getting their ideas from nightclubs? MTV?
I just don't know what to think, but if my kids ever put my future grandchildren into dance class, I'm planning to be a nightmare meddling granny and will be a whole lot more vocal about what dance moves are inappropriate and why sexually suggestive moves have no place in a child's dance recital.
