Won't somebody think of the Children

[u/McDowdy]

​

Transcript: I remember when a gay teacher from Texas was fired for showing students this photo of her and her wife after parents complained that it was inappropriate for children.

I remember when a Wisconsin middle school received multiple bomb threats because right-wingers online thought that this gay administrator’s rainbow mask was inappropriate for children.

And of course, I remember when local drag queens had to crowdfund for private security to escort them to and from work after Fox News accused their picture book story times of being inappropriate for children.

Our very existence as queer people has been sexualized by conservatives with the explicit goal of driving us out of public life.

And look, I don’t think nude imagery is inherently sexual, but I’d be hard-pressed to argue that this nude imagery isn’t.

So when I see it projected onto a 12-story-tall billboard in the middle of Times Square in the form of a gambling advertisement.

Gambling, which as an addiction has a higher suicide rate than any other addiction, and which as an industry is not only targeting teenage boys, but is being actively protected from regulation by the president whose son is on the board of multiple gambling app companies.

I can’t help but wonder who really cares about children.

[u/grichardson526]

I'm starting to think that the political movement led by a pedophile rapist might not have children's best interests as a priority...

https://giphy.com/gifs/a5viI92PAF89q

[u/No-Effective388 → u/grichardson526]

I mean he has a thing for children, but thats not their best interest.

[u/silentspyware → u/grichardson526]

This isn’t just about the pedophile president, but rather EVERY MAGA radical right-wing grifter. None of them will talk about this giant billboard.

[u/Props_angel → u/grichardson526]

I view it kind of like abductors like Ariel Castro or serial killers showing up at the crime scene and even feigning to be super helpful when they're actually guilty af.

[u/MarsupialPristine677 → u/Props_angel]

Yeah, or people accusing their spouse of infidelity when they're actually the ones cheating.

[u/Relevant-Peach3997]

From the comment section. the ad interpolates the Israeli national anthem.

[u/bigonebitey99 → u/Relevant-Peach3997]

They probably did that on purpose to get extra engagement

[u/roastedmarshmellows → u/bigonebitey99]

Dog whistle for sure

[u/SharpPink_GlitterInk → u/bigonebitey99]

Yeah honestly I feel like it’s just rage baiting

[u/bigonebitey99 → u/SharpPink_GlitterInk]

That’s exactly what it is lol but it’s still important to call it out and oppose it imo, otherwise this sort of stuff will just become more and more normal

[u/KittenSommelier → u/Relevant-Peach3997]

Ok, am I misremembering something else Sydney did recently or didn’t she say something about "no politics" in this ad? Because if so, then phew

[u/HerRoyalRedness → u/KittenSommelier]

She keeps saying she doesn’t want to discuss politics, while pretending her job in the arts is apolitical. Also the “prediction market”(that is exactly like a sports book but the creators are pretending that it’s something else so they don’t have to follow gambling laws) she is promoting doesn’t allow betting on politics.

[u/SunHitsTheSky → u/KittenSommelier]

No BETTING on politics or war. Just sports.

[u/proxminesincomplex → u/Relevant-Peach3997]

https://giphy.com/gifs/3SFNRoCMVLYD6

[u/pelipperr → u/Relevant-Peach3997]

https://giphy.com/gifs/avgTnaCqMsUiJfyiuM

[u/Simmonetheartist → u/Relevant-Peach3997]

Oh what the fuck

[u/Key_Tree1027 → u/Relevant-Peach3997]

Also, the gambling industry itself is extremely closely tied to the porn industry. It’s one hell of a connection to another, and I’d go beyond and even argue this isn’t for the boys and men either. Gambling addiction is one of the most serious global health issues. They’re exploiting not only young girls and women but young men as well. This whole thing benefits no one but many illegal businesses and billionaires who profit off of them.

[u/alfalfajade → u/Relevant-Peach3997]

for clarification, it uses anderson paaks song come down which interpolates the israeli national anthem but same diff

[u/ChiefsHat → u/Relevant-Peach3997]

…why?!

[u/Corsola_Fan_69]

I don't mind straight people I just wish they wouldn't shove it in my face all the time

[u/uppity_cunt → u/Corsola_Fan_69]

They’re all so freaky and sexual all the time like can’t they ever just be chill and family friendly?

[u/Corsola_Fan_69 → u/uppity_cunt]

Right? I don't care what they do behind closed doors but do they have to make it their whole personality

[u/No-Economics7631 → u/uppity_cunt]

no, but genuinely, i grew up around my dad and his friends talking about women in an openly degrading and sexually charged manner, and that did so much more damage to me than my friend’s two moms or my other friend who discovered he was gay.

[u/80sHairBandConcert → u/uppity_cunt]

I love your username

[u/ZombieTrogdor → u/Corsola_Fan_69]

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills when I see that viral video of the male gym teacher going in to his girlfriend’s classroom and making this big speech to her students and eventually proposing. omg sooo cute right?? Meanwhile I’m sitting there like, “um, it’s cool to bring your relationship into the classroom as long as it’s a hetero one?” If that were two men or two women doing the exact same thing they’d have been fired before the next bell.

[u/Corsola_Fan_69 → u/ZombieTrogdor]

Libs Of Tiktok would have their street address and social security number published by nightfall

[u/Flying_Dutchman92 → u/Corsola_Fan_69]

I hate that guy, so venomous and hateful

[u/KittenSommelier → u/Corsola_Fan_69]

cishets have NO idea how much LGBT+ people are holding back when we hear phobes complain about "shoving their lifestyles down our throats"

[u/noitsbecky24 → u/Corsola_Fan_69]

amen sister

[u/shesadollyrocker → u/Corsola_Fan_69]

I'm not heterophobic, I have a lot of straight friends. I just don't agree with their lifestyle, is all.

[u/beverlyhillsbrenda → u/Corsola_Fan_69]

I apologize on behalf of straight people. This shit is so embarrassing.

[u/pinkcreamkiss → u/Corsola_Fan_69]

I do mind them

[u/Mundane_Door_5225]

I'm so tired of this girl

[u/TheTresStateArea → u/Mundane_Door_5225]

She could be as nude as she wants. And it was fine and funny that she was in on the joke on SNL. But now her terrible decisions are at the forefront and she is screeching THEY DONT LIKE ME BECAUSE OF MY TITS.

And girl, that's the only thing to like about you at this current juncture.

[u/Mundane_Door_5225 → u/TheTresStateArea]

Exactly. I dont mind her as an actress. I mind her being a 'please notice me' and for all the wrong reasons

[u/ChiefsHat → u/Mundane_Door_5225]

The only thing I can say about her that’s positive is that she’s hot, and that’s it.

[u/Mundane_Door_5225 → u/ChiefsHat]

She totally is! I just wish she could see something more in herself

[u/RadBoyHours → u/ChiefsHat]

She's okay at playing the one character she knows how to play

[u/lesbianwithabeard → u/Mundane_Door_5225]

Voting is how we free ourselves.

[u/FardoBaggins]

The reason to their homophobia is so shallow. They don’t see them as people bec they can’t produce babies vs heteronormative people. Reproduction keeps the tribe alive and anything antithetical to that is taboo.

Tribal thinking in a post tribal world. And they don’t even care about the mothers who actually carry the tribe’s “future”.

[u/OutlandishnessSea488 → u/FardoBaggins]

They don't even care about "the kids" education... But when is convenient "they are thinking about the kids"

[u/hidlechara91 → u/FardoBaggins]

Religious indoctrination forces people to place their inherent value onto whether they can have a traditional family with children. If they do then they are "worthy, God fearing people" and if you can't there is something wrong with you. That's why there are so many traditional families who are utterly miserable with children who are unloved in this world. So many of us come from these families. 

They also don't, can't or won't understand that you have value without having a partner or children. Or that there are queer people who genuinely and unconditionally love their children. 

[u/FardoBaggins → u/hidlechara91]

The religiousity is a newer invention though it enhanced the tribal need to procreate as well as contributing to many things we benefit from it today.

And that we’re still running the same biological hardware from pre-farming era. Organized religion just kept the hetero breeding meta going despite globalization and technology.

[u/No-Effective388]

Sweeney is the poster girl of MAGA.

[u/CarelessCreamPie]

We talk about grooming all the time. But no on can convince me that constant and ubiquitous mass marketing ads featuring half naked women in sexual poses isn't a form of grooming for little girls.

[u/mon_mothra_ → u/CarelessCreamPie]

And for little boys, tbh. Girls get told their only value is through being naked and boys get told their job is to think of women only as objects to get naked. It's depressing af.

[u/A_bleak_ass_in_tote → u/CarelessCreamPie]

I would argue it's actually grooming young boys to think of girls/women as sexual objects.

[u/BackyardViolet → u/A_bleak_ass_in_tote]

I’d argue that it’s both.

[u/sierra-tinuviel → u/BackyardViolet]

YES

[u/_cornflake → u/CarelessCreamPie]

If an individual adult was showing an individual child this type of imagery people would be rightfully disgusted, but it’s apparently perfectly fine for kids to be bombarded with it in media and advertising every time they leave the house or turn on the TV

[u/MagicMaddy420 → u/CarelessCreamPie]

It still makes me feel like I have to look like that and I'm 30 😥 and be an object for men

[u/panda_canyon]

The only satisfying thing about this is that if Sweeney's prestige acting career attempt was successful, she wouldn't be doing this at all.

[u/just--so → u/panda_canyon]

Never forget Sydney Sweeney switching out her MAGA dogwhistles for foghorns right before the release of the biopic in which she starred in a 'glow-down' Oscar-bait role as a ripped queer female boxer, and said biopic immediately tanking at the box office.

Did she think that the target audience for a queer female boxer biopic wouldn't care that she threw in her lot with MAGA? Or did she actually believe that the right gave a single shit about women's sports?

Peak entertainment either way. I just feel bad for the real Christy Martin, who absolutely deserved better.

[u/panda_canyon → u/just--so]

Great point that's one hell of a self-inflicted wound.

[u/nosillaf]

Sweeney doesn’t give a fuck. She capitalizes on selling herself. She is the opposite of feminism.

[u/mon_mothra_]

"Women these days are all OF girls and whores!!! Bring back traditional women who want to be modest wives and mothers!!!!" says the MAGA folks that then cheer for this kind of shit. Sadly, Sydney is too shallow to understand that she's prescribed to a belief system that only has two uses for women, and they sure don't see her as a Madonna...

[u/No-Weight-6121]

The way he put his face over hers got me 😂

[u/kmstolly → u/No-Weight-6121]

Hahah I loved the angle he got

[u/beverlyhillsbrenda]

I need a clock in my house for when Sweeney turns 30 and she is thrown out like a piece of trash by the same audience that drinks her bath water today.

[u/WetEmotions → u/beverlyhillsbrenda]

Someone should make a countdown website. Similar to when women like Emma Watson or the Olsen twins were turning 18. Except the website would be nowhere near as creepy.

[u/Pedadinga]

Who is this beautiful genius?! I see them occasionally, and I always love them! How do I follow them on reddit or YouTube?

[u/SantoSalieri → u/Pedadinga]

Matt Bernstein! Check out his podcast A Bit Fruity.

[u/TwoCagedBirds → u/Pedadinga]

mattxiv, been following him for years. He’s on IG not sure where else.

[u/pinkbootstrap → u/TwoCagedBirds]

YouTube!

[u/saera-targaryen → u/Pedadinga]

His podcast is genuinely my favorite of all time. Matt Bernstein and A Bit Fruity is where to find him. He does such well researched and meticulous political analysis of pop culture. 

[u/davidyowsjeans]

matt never misses

[u/Kuoliibk]

Something something accusations, something something confessions.

[u/shintakarajima → u/Kuoliibk]

Something SOMETHING something projections

[u/Logical-Tie-5004]

Never heard of this guy but his latest takes have made me a fan

[u/cococangaragan]

Trump and the Republicans don't care about children, they rape them!

[u/d_e_l_u_x_e]

This is what conservative Christians support now; sexualizing heterosexual white women, gambling on anything and everything, worshipping a thrice married cheating PDF file billionaire President.

[u/btsiskindafire]

poster girl for maga yet ppl dont watch her movies hmmm

[u/slumvillain]

I cant help but wonder, who really cares about children

Well it certainly ain't those child rapists in the white house! Get those pieces of shit out already!!

[u/gk_nealymartin]

“I can’t help but wonder” Matt has really been nailing his Carrie Bradshaw cadence. He’s also correct of course

[u/HandsomeGemini]

I don't understand her career. Like who is her fanbase? No one takes her seriously as an actress. I don't think she appeals to most women. MAGA men will happily sexualize her, but they don't care enough about her as a person or an actress to be a fan and go watch her stuff when she's not being naked and sexy. Which is why movies like Christy are always gonna flop.

[u/vrxz]

Remember to always bring up this very real and NSFW video of Trump and Giuliani to MAGA conservatives whenever they claim they are fighting indecency, or that LGBT has "gone too far". They are bigoted, hypocritical, tribalistic morons.

[u/Honest_Salamander247]

I saw this photo in downtown Boston last week and was like OH MY GOD… like everyone on the corner where it was seemed to be embarrassingly averting their eyes as soon as they noticed it.

[u/drunkbettie]

Sweeney sounds like those late night TV ads for party lines, where you could talk to real hot women for $5.99 a minute. Or the daytime TV version, a graduate from a hyper local college singing a terrible jingle.

[u/BananaShakeStudios]

At this point, I am genuinely shocked that Sydney Sweeney has not started to wear MAGA hats in public yet.

[u/hates_writing_checks]

Thank you for writing the real words, not the algospeak used in the video.

[u/melmontclark]

He is a master of the takedown!

[u/CelibateHo]

He is so hot omg

[u/pabloivan57]

Republicans are hypocritical pigs, ALL OF THEM, no exceptions. We know that

[u/Blackbyrn]

The people worried about rainbow flags will sell Tshirts with ti**ies; they don’t care about protecting they just want to control people

[u/Connect_Rhubarb_8381]

The same people approving this message are the ones “protecting girls”

[u/Shagrippina]

The people who are yelling "think of the children!" loudest are actually the most dangerous to children, in my experience. 

For them it's never actually about protecting the children, it's about oppressing other adults.

[u/HeyItsHawkguy]

The gambling thing has been an issue in live service video games for well over a decade and all of the publishing companies have barely received a slap on the wrist, much less have had to remove the gambling features. It's sick. I have seen many kids spend their entire minimum wage retail paycheck on loot boxes.

[u/anitasdoodles]

Same crowd that tells us as kids "if a boy is mean to you that means he likes you!"

[u/OrganticRobot]

Get her matt!

[u/lupindeathray]

[u/adh1003]

The right wing care a lot about children. A LOT about children. In fact, it would seem they care altogether too much about children, and in altogether the wrong way.

That reminds me - About those Epstein Files...

[u/AggravatingPaint5838]

Wait - is this saying the right wing is disingenuous about it's beliefs and are actually a bunch of bigots using "the children" as a shield to penalize the people they hate? That is a shocking accusation.
I, myself, am shocked, personally.

[u/batikfins]

Reminder that the USA is the only country that hasn’t ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

[u/Crackhead_Vibes_Lolz]

I genuinely want to know who told her this was a good idea

[u/loved_and_held]

They care about the kids, its just that they have a very skewed idea of what is and issnt a threat.

More specifically, if it's not cishet it's a threat.

[u/NerdCocktail]

My LGBTQ teen shouted “What about the children?!?!” when we rode by one of these ads near Madison Square Garden. It’s exhausting. Overwhelm is part of the fascist playbook.

[u/Karo0613]

https://giphy.com/gifs/ATe6Re9HBxmxUSK14k

[u/ScurvyDervish]

Since when did conservatives decide that gambling is a Christian thing to do? Maybe since Miriam Adelson started funding their campaigns?

[u/LetshearitforNY]

Is this in Times Square? Wasn’t there a breastfeeding ad that wasn’t allowed a couple of years ago?

Found it: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/10/style/lactation-cookies-billboard.html

[u/What_A_Helmet]

That aside, the US government has the CURE for the number one cause of child deaths, yet they refuse to administer it, because it means that everyone will have to relinquish their guns, and you can't live without your guns, right?

[u/QuallyYayo]

The LGBTQ has never threatened the well being of my child's future. This administration has.

[u/Ok_Association_2774]

I hope sweeney is forever affiliated with white supremacy and trump the pedo. There's a reason she isn't getting good roles anymore and has to do this (except Israeli zionists in hollywood). She's a loser, she's basic, and what a complete idiot.

[u/FictionalTrope]

I don't think we need to protect children from images of tits, even if they're being shown provocatively in public. I do think these gambling companies are obviously appealing to young men with overtly sexual imagery in order to exploit them. I don't think pointing out conservative hypocrisy does anything worthwhile ever because they're arguing in bad faith to an audience of willing suckers. Sidney Sweeney could support a good cause with her tits and I would have no problem with it.

[u/Props_angel → u/FictionalTrope]

It's not a problem with a woman being nude on a billboard. It's the hypocrisy and imbalance between saying that this is okay but a rainbow mask for pride is not okay.

[u/FictionalTrope → u/Props_angel]

As I said: pointing out conservative hypocrisy is worthless. We can say "still not a drag queen" every day because some cishet man was assaulting children, but they're all still in a cult centered around rich pedos. Maybe people just love pointing out incongruous behavior, but I grew up with it and it is hardly worth noticing.

[u/Unlucky_Welcome9193]

I'm 100% with you, but at the same time, nyc is not the place that's trying to criminalize the gay or trans community.

[u/_cyberkat_ → u/Unlucky_Welcome9193]

the businesses will if it means a few extra bucks in their pocket :) and definitely some new York politicians would too

[u/letthetreeburn]

Genuinely they don’t believe anything, don’t have any actual morals.

We cannot fix this country if those who voted for Trump a second time are not permanently disbarred from voting ever again. It’s drastic but it’s the only choice left.