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Curiosities t1_j29ys33 wrote

Reply to comment by Wowzlul in 'Drag Story Hour' protest draws passionate crowds outside Queens library by seejordan3

Exactly. These are people playing characters but they know they are performing those characters for children. All performers know the audience that will be there that day. Children generally love larger than life, colorful, silly characters. They're not getting a history of drag or an adult performance. They are getting colorful, over the top characters reading to them. Making the normal story time into a show. Extra.

As someone that occasionally volunteered with organizations that involved reading to kids and helping them to find books to go home with, I'm a warm, soft, and playful woman, but I know some kids would've been much more engaged with a drag performer doing the reading.

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Vilnius_Nastavnik t1_j2a5mve wrote

Depending on the ages of the kids it's practically compulsory to add in some sort of visual element to hold their attention. They've got bottomless reserves of stimulating content at their fingertips and many of them have been playing with smartphones and tablets since before they could talk. Child literacy rates are falling and we need to be open to anything that gets them reading.

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