Click to viewA video of a little boy—around five or six years old—dressed in drag and dancing to Christina Aguilera‘s “Show Me How You Burlesque” has been making the rounds. Judging by various comments sections, some people are amused, some are outraged at his parents for posting a video of their child dancing in such a suggestive way with a chair, while others are outraged (which is putting it nicely, considering the names they called this poor kid) that the parents would allow a little boy to get in drag at all. The video is a weird mix of entertaining and unsettling. Because he is acting super sexual, which I suppose the song calls for, being about burlesque and all — but still he’s just a little kid, and he seems to be taking things way further than any suggestive performance I’ve ever witnessed on Toddlers & Tiaras.
At the same time though, I don’t get the impression that he’s being forced into anything. For one thing, his wrist-snap coordination has the kind of sophistication to it that one can’t really learn, but rather, is born with. Also, he seems to be improvising a lot of what he’s doing, rather than getting hung up on some kind of routine. However, his parents are totally complicit in this, working his lighting design, operating the camera, and perhaps most hilariously, helping him recreate Barbra Streisand’s look in The Owl and the Pussycat. You know, that movie where she plays a hooker.
Perhaps relying on the words of another diva gay icon could best sum up what this kid’s parents did: It’s not right, but it’s OK.