Disney has announced that team member working at its Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutiques will now be known as ‘Fairy Godmother’s Apprentices’ rather than the former title of ‘Fairy Godmothers in Training’.
The slight change will allow male staff to work in the facility at Disney’s theme parks which transform young children into Disney princess and knights. The new titles come into action as the boutiques re-open after being shuttered during Covid.
While the change simply allows staff of both genders to work in the space, it has widely been misreported that Disney was changing the character of Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother to be gender neutral.
The change has set off conservative commentators around the globe who have declared the move “too woke” and “political correctness gone mad”.
YouTuber Dave Shapiro fired off, suggesting that in the future Mary Poppins would be “played by a dude” who would use the title Mx. While a story from the New York Post declaring that the company was pushing a “woke” agenda was republished around the world in Murdoch owned newspapers including The Daily Telegraph.
Here in Australia Sky News commentator Gemma Tognini voiced her opposition to the move during an appearance on the Chris Kenny Show.
Stand in host Jenna Clarke introduced the segment saying the character of Fairy Godmother was now gender-neutral and declaring “I don’t know what pronouns to use.”
“What’s wrong with these people?” asked Tognini “Why do they have to ruin everything? That’s what they’re doing, ruining everything. These are fairy tales. These are time honoured stories that we tell our kids. The Disney agenda has been exposed – that’s now clear.”
Tognini continued on saying people were free to choose whether or not they watched content created by Disney, but she felt it was filled with “woke garbage”.
“What is wrong with these people! I mean this is just something pure. I am a Godmother, I’m not a God-person, I’m not a God-birthing-person, I’m a Godmother and the rest of them can go and take a long leisurely walk off a very short cliff if they try to change that.
“They can refer to themselves however they want, they can live their lives in peace and do not harm but don’t try and change everything else to suit their own agenda.” Tognini said.
Continuing on Gemma Tognini said the recent decision by Government Services Minister Bill Shorten to remove a form including gender neutral language, and the outrage over the name change at Disney, was a sign that people were fed up with gender neutral titles and society had reached a tipping point.
By Saturday a spokesperson for Disney had confirmed that they never said the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella was turning gender neutral, and previously only women were allowed to work in the boutique facility. The change, while embracing diversity, simply allows male team members to be part of the magic too.
It’s not the first time this year Sky News has aired claims that don’t stack up on closer inspection, the Outsiders program claimed a Brisbane school had students who identified as felines.
OUTinPerth reached out to Jenna Clark about the segment. Clarke said that the Friday afternoon segment might have been a little rushed, and at the time it aired the full details of the Disney plan weren’t known.
Graeme Watson
Gemma Tognini was approached for comment.
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