A shocking image from an entertainment spectacle in Argentina has netizens expressing concern after one of the country’s top performers appeared to stick his microphone at or between his thighs for his young son to speak into.
Flavio Mendoza, 48, is a well-regarded dancer and artist in Argentina. He is most well-known for his musical spectacle Stravaganza, a live theatrical performance which involves acrobatics, dance, and other forms of entertainment by dancers wearing lavish costumes.
But on January 23, a concerning snapshot from one of Mendoza’s Stravaganza shows began to circulate on Twitter, prompting massive backlash.
While no details on the image were provided by the original poster, the snap can be traced to Mendoza’s most recent performance in Pinamar, Argentina.
In the shot, Mendoza is seen holding his sequined microphone against his upper thigh to offer to his young son. The boy, who is currently five years old, often accompanies Mendoza to the Stravaganza spectacles where he is frequently seen on stage during or after performances.
Clips uploaded to Mendoza’s Instagram show the scene from a different angle, slightly obscuring the full view of the child singing into the microphone at his father’s hips.
While the microphone is initially held away from Mendoza’s body, he then appears to place it against or between his thighs while the boy sings. As the camera pans around to the front, Mendoza pulls the microphone away, causing the fabric on the groin of his pants to flutter.
Despite the limited details, the photo prompted massive reaction from Twitter users, many of whom expressed disbelief at what they labelled an inappropriate display.
“I’m pretty sure it’s a microphone. Buuuuut…there’s no f*cking way that you hold it in that placement, to a child’s mouth, and don’t think ‘holy f*ck this is terrible positioning and I should probably not do this,'” one user said.
“I don’t think there are any words strong enough to describe the awfulness of this. Anyone who is ok with it or doesn’t want to be labeled ‘intolerant’ or ‘anti-whatever’ should take a deep look into their own soul,” user Roxanne Voorhees wrote in response.
Mendoza’s son Dionisio, who is named after the Greek God of pleasure, wine, and fertility, is often the subject of popular media attention in Argentina. The child was profiled while practicing acrobatics with his father last year during a Stravaganza rehearsal when he was just a toddler.
Dionisio has two of his own Instagram accounts, one of which is a private fan page which currently boasts over 50,000 followers, and the other which is public and has over 170,000. Mendoza also features the boy on his own Instagram, and the majority of the most recent photos and videos of the child are of him pictured shirtless at the beach, bathing, or playing at home. Some of the content doesn’t sit well with onlookers.
In one video, uploaded in 2019, Dionisio was seen smacking, squeezing, and biting a woman’s buttocks as she sunbathes on the beach. Mendoza and onlookers encouraged the child’s behavior, prompting widespread criticism from Instagram users.
Some photos of Dionisio shared widely on social media feature the child in Stravaganza costumes of his own, customized to look like his father’s.
Mendoza purchased the child through a surrogacy arrangement in 2018 with his much younger boyfriend, Waldo Gómez. The surrogate was an American woman in Orlando, Florida Mendoza chose through the Open Arms Clinic catalogue.
In an interview conducted last year, Mendoza says the boy had inquired where his mother was, to which he reportedly attempted to tell the child that he did not have a mother. The performer has said he is interested in having more children via surrogacy contract.
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