Videos of Eastern European ballroom dancing are the newest culture war meme, as posters sharing them claim the traditional gender roles exemplified are disturbing to progressives.
In a tweet posted on Jan. 9, far-right activist Jack Posobiec shared a video of Belarusian people ballroom dancing. The men shown in the video don tuxedos and military outfits and the women are wearing ball gowns. Originally posted by Nicholas Franklin, the video shows guests at the first Republican New Year’s ball for youth at the Palace of Independence dancing the Waltz.
“The shocking images now emerging out of Belarus are disturbing and unsettling to we in the progressive West,” Posobiec tweeted. “I advise absolute viewer discretion.”
The phrasing parodies that of warnings often posted alongside offensive or particularly violent videos. The language juxtaposing the relatively benign video implies that hardcore leftist might find the video disturbing because it shows men and women dancing together, a concept of traditional gender roles that those on the right believe liberals have whole-heartedly abandoned.
Individuals who replied to the viral tweet were in on the joke: “Class and decency are way too much for the progressives,” one person wrote.
“Gorgeous women wearing elegant dresses and handsome men wearing nice uniforms,” another replied. “Oh the horror! It’s too beautiful for my eyes!”
Although the implication is that only heterosexual courting rituals are truly “beautiful,” the take also got thrown back at the right.
“Every 4-5 months now we get these type of posts from these so-called warriors of masculinity crying because The Cucked West isn’t doing prince and princess parties,” wrote one user.
But others, including conservative “Chief Memer” @ImMeme0, joined in on the joke, posting videos of other Eastern European countries that have become right-wing darlings for their anti-immigration stances and largely white population base.
“This shocking prom video emerging out of Poland might be very disturbing to the progressive Westerners,” they tweeted alongside a video of Polish people doing a traditional dance. “Viewer discretion advised!”
And, of course, the meme itself got meme-d.
“This shocking prom footage emerging out of Stardew Valley might be very disturbing to the progressive Westerners,” @dantespeakoil tweeted alongside a photo of Stardew Valley characters standing in pairs, set up to dance.
“Viewer discretion advised!”
