AISD Pride Week: The Intersection of Svengali, Jim Jones, and Mao

During Austin ISD’s week-long celebration of Pride Week, one of the high schools scheduled time for painting nails while watching the TV show Queer Eye.

Some Twitter users responded that this activity was just painting nails. No big deal. Eye roll.

But it is a big deal. And here’s why.

The issue isn’t whether a boy wears nail polish. The posters are right. Painted nails. Big deal.
Painted nails. Blue hair. Ponytail. Even a dress. Don’t care.

Teenagers pushing boundaries. Being transgressive. Flouting norms. Trying to shock. Disrupting.
All normal. Again, don’t care.

But that’s not what’s going on here. It’s not teenagers figuring it out on their own.

It’s the adults pushing them.
It’s the adults pushing them to break gender norms.
It’s the adults taking delight in pushing kids to break gender norms.

Adults taking delight in
being titillated by
getting off on pushing kids to break gender norms.

That’s creepy.

And it is, in fact, the behavior of a groomer. Get a kid to do just a little thing means eventually you can get a kid to do a big thing.

Now I don’t think all these high-school teachers are groomers.

But they are profoundly tone deaf. Can’t see what they’re doing. Can’t see what it looks like they’re doing. They don’t have the good sense to recognize how disgusting and groom-y their behavior is.

And they’re also profoundly immature. Arrested development, really. These teachers just delight in getting some kids to break gender norms. These adults delight in pushing the kids to break boundaries. Be transgressive. Flout norms. Try to shock. Disrupt.

These adults are living out their extended teenage fantasies through their students. They are titillated by getting the kids to make their old fuddy-duddy parents uncomfortable.

Again it’s just creepy. These are not the behaviors of well-adjusted adults.

But then there’s one more aspect that’s not right. Think back to your high-school years. Can you imagine all the teachers coming together to get the boys to paint their nails? Teachers encouraging boys to paint their nails? Again, not the boys thinking it up themselves. To that, who cares. But you know that it’s weird that all the teachers in a high school would come together to encourage boys to paint their nails. You know it’s creepy.

So you say it out loud to the school: “Hey, adults, your behavior is weird and creepy and groomer-esque.”

And are they chastened? No, not even a little.

They’re emboldened by your reaction.
They delight in it.
Are titillated by it.
Get off on it.

And they look you up & down and sneer. They try to gaslight you by telling you it’s no big deal.

Then they turn to your kids. And with all the disdain they can muster, they say to your kids, “God, your parents are square. It’s just painting nails. What’s the big deal? Eye roll.”

And there it is.
That’s the wedge.
That’s the alienation.
That’s the Cultural Revolution.

They’ve gotten your kids to do a little thing politically…which means eventually they can get your kids to do big things.

So, yeah, a high school full of teachers pushing boys to paint their nails. It’s a big deal.