Please stop laughing at Theresa May’s dancing.
It isn’t funny, and it’s not her the mockery is hurting.

We all know by now that when Theresa May attempts traditional African dance, she looks like a clockwork toy, wound up and set loose.
It’s been dubbed “the Maybot” and the Internet is loving it.
Look, I have many, many problems with Theresa May, and her politics, but this?
- She’s making an effort to respect the traditions of the countries she’s visiting. You can see them teaching her the moves – they’ve invited her to do this. And she’s a newbie at it. She’s going to suck.
- MORE IMPORTANTLY, she looks like she’s enjoying herself.
Mocking people for looking silly or a bit awkward when they’re have fun is distinctly Not Cool.
Here’s the thing.
I was in my late 20s before I had the confidence to dance in front of people, because I know I have no rhythm, no style, no panache.
Before I found the nerve to ignore onlookers, I spent so many nights loitering at the edge of a dancefloor, wishing I could strut my stuff to the music I loved, but I never did, because I was too self-conscious and socially anxious.
Even now, at the age of 31, I avoid ~popular clubs~ in favour of an alternative/goth night that’s run by people I know, where I know it’ll be safe for me to do, as termed by a friend, “goth-wavey-arms”.
It took me a really long time to stop caring about what other people thought about my dancing skills, and to just feel the music that I love listening to, and to feel confident enough to just move my body in a way that I find fun.

What’s this got to do with Theresa May?
Everything. Because when you mock a public figure for moving their body in an awkward way, you are not just mocking that public figure.
You aren’t mocking Theresa May; you’re mocking every single person who dances awkwardly, or who can’t dance at all.
You’re mocking everyone with no intuitive sense of rhythm.
You’re mocking everyone with conditions that affect their movement, like dyspraxia.
You’re mocking people with dystonic muscles and spasms, whose bodies simply don’t do what they want to do, when they want to do it.
You’re mocking everyone with poor proprioception, whose sense of where their body parts are in time and space is limited.
You’re mocking people with limited balance – which could be caused by hearing problems or deafness.
You’re even mocking people who simply lack the confidence to dance freely.
I’m not saying don’t criticise Theresa May.
Do criticise her. But not for her dancing, or for trying to participate in the cultures and traditions she has been clearly invited to join by those she is visiting.
Instead of her robotic dance moves, criticise the way her party’s policies have actually contributed to deaths of disabled and working class people.
Criticise her views on immigration and the “go home vans” she sent out when she worked in the Home Office.
Criticise her choice of cabinet ministers and the way they have (or haven’t) done their jobs under her supervision.
Criticise the way she’s handled Brexit.
Criticise the fact that she called a snap election that she promised she wouldn’t call.
But please, do not criticise the way she dances.
I’m not trying to save her self-esteem here; this is about protecting the young impressionable people like me out there, who see her being mocked, and are then too afraid to have fun, too afraid to live in the moment, too afraid to express themselves.
Don’t mock and criticise Theresa May for dancing, for one simple reason: it’s not her you’re hurting. It’s socially awkward people, of all ages and generations – in their teens, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s… who won’t dance and won’t have fun for fear of judgment.
Is a quick laugh at the expense of the PM worth the dignity of ordinary people like you and me?
I don’t think it is.
