‘Don’t hate the player, hate the game.’
It’s not a term we thought we’d relate to watersports allegedly instigated by the President-Elect of the United States of America, but there you go. By now, you will no doubt be aware of the somewhat dubious stories that Donald Trump watched prostitutes perform watersports in a hotel bed that the Obamas once slept in.
The reports are not only unverified, but are being treated with a great deal of suspicion, especially as users on both 4chan and Reddit forum r/The_Donald claim to have concocted the ‘dossier’ including the salacious details of what supposedly happened at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Moscow.
But as well as the journalistic ethics and geo-political consequences of sharing the story, some people are not happy about the reaction of the general public. Quite predictably, there has been a regular flow of bawdy jokes and humorous puns on social media – most of them at Trump’s expense.
The problem is that some feel these jokes are a form of ‘kink-shaming’. That is to say that vilifying or embarrassing Trump (or anyone) for partaking/requesting a ‘golden shower’ is demeaning to people who enjoy such pastimes, and shames them for having such ‘kinks’.
To be clear, kink-shaming is the act of mocking or criticising someone’s specific sexual predilections. Such as, for instance, watching or taking part in the consensual urination for carnal gratification. Even people who dislike Trump for a whole host of reasons wanted everyone to lay off kink-shaming in particular.
The complaints were polite but to the point…
Trump sucks, but kink shaming isn't cool.
— Hughie Stone Fish (@Hughiestonefish) January 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/vonny_bravo/status/819085173765664769
https://twitter.com/nickmullen/status/818995449105412098
https://twitter.com/aaron_con_leche/status/818996491499012097
Still wrong to kink-shame people. Even the bad ones.
— ML Kennedy, fretful porpentine (@WBXylo) January 11, 2017
Whether this is true or not, please no kink-shaming
— Sue Tortolani (@HoodilySue) January 11, 2017
I beyond tired of the kink-shaming pee jokes friends. Knock it off. Attack what matters and isn't acceptable – DT's evil nature
— Grayson (he/him) (@GraysonGoal) January 11, 2017
That said, there were many who felt that some chagrin was worthy of mockery in itself:
https://twitter.com/stuheritage/status/819121805243928581
https://twitter.com/joeldownings/status/819200070117720064
my kink: kink shaming the president
— 🧨 (@aIexkryceks) January 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/enjoyyourbunny/status/819194243524816898
