TALKING POINTS
There’s nothing like controversy and current events to kickstart conversation. Seize the day and get talking with your kids about these recent news stories…
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Toddlers in mascara? Dance teachers and parents rethink stage makeup (Guardian, 21/2/26)
“A mum writes: I was excited to see my daughter doing ballet. But her dad was horrified about the pressure, body image, gender stereotypes and makeup. The question of whether preteens should wear makeup for ballet is pressing on parents and dance teachers. Some studios now don’t require uniforms, hair in buns or makeup. A teacher says: ‘Dance in the early years is about joy, movement, self-expression and belonging rather than appearance.’ Melbourne’s National Ballet and Drama School director says: ‘Makeup exists so the audience can identify the performer onstage.’ A dancer says: ‘We wore fake eyelashes. It was part of the magic. It wasn’t about beauty standards; it was about becoming a character. Onstage you were a rat in The Nutcracker. Then you were back to being a 7-year-old.’ But dance can be an early introduction to gendered beauty expectations that kids may grapple with for years”
TALKING POINT Is makeup for kids doing ballet, and outside ballet, OK? Read the article >
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Pixar boss slammed for response to Elio’s queer themes being cut: “Unbelievably grim” (Pink News, 9/3/26) 🌈
“In the animation Elio, small nods to Elio being ‘queer coded’ – such as him using a pink bike, turning rubbish into a pink tank top and having photos of his male crush in his room – were cut. An ex Pixar artist said Elio had become ‘more masculine’. Pixar’s chief creative officer Pete Docter said some parents did not want a film to force them into conversations they weren’t ready to have with their kids. ‘We’re making a movie, not hundreds of millions of dollars of therapy,’ he said. That seems hypocritical, because Docter wrote and directed Inside Out, which focuses on the emotions and thoughts of Riley (based loosely on his daughter). A 2022 letter from LGBT+ Pixar employees said: ‘Nearly every moment of overtly gay affection is cut’”
TALKING POINT What do you think about deleting LGBT+ scenes in films? Read the article >
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Children in England “bombarded” with online ads for harmful products (Guardian, 10/2/26)
“A study has found that kids are being ‘bombarded’ with harmful products – including weight-loss drugs, steroids for building muscle mass and skin-whitening creams – on social media and in video games and apps. The Children’s Commissioner Rachel de Souza says that dangerous, illegal or age-restricted products are ‘being normalised to children through advertising, influencer culture and online posts. We cannot accept an online world that profits from their insecurities and tells them they need to change.’ Over 50% of kids have seen ads for food and drinks claiming to aid weight loss, as well as exercise and diet plans. Over 75% said being exposed to harmful products had a negative effect on their self-esteem. A previous Children’s Commissioner report found just 40% of UK girls and 60% of boys are happy with their looks”
TALKING POINT Have you come across ads like these? How did you react? Read the article >
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Missiles, Memes and Masculinity: When the White House Turns War Into Entertainment
(Ms Magazine, 10/3/26)
“Short videos from the US government about its war on Iran have spliced footage of missile strikes with scenes from Top Gun, Gladiator, Iron Man, John Wick and even SpongeBob SquarePants. Critics mock the videos for reflecting the militaristic fantasies of teenage boys. Actor Ben Stiller demanded the removal of a Tropic Thunder clip, saying: ‘War is not a movie.’ But war has become clickable content. With its ’meme war‘ blending Hollywood imagery and gaming culture with lethal military action, the White House equates masculinity with domination and force, which is how boys are socialised to see manhood. Empathy is viewed as soft. Psychologist Mary L Trump, president Donald Trump’s niece, says in their family vulnerability was treated as weakness. Most violence worldwide – from mass shootings and domestic abuse to war – is committed by men. When political leaders celebrate violence through hypermasculinity, what message does this send to boys?”
TALKING POINT What feelings might viewers have watching these videos? Read the article >
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“Sends The Wrong Message To Young Women”: Emma Stone’s Look At 2026 BAFTAs Worries Many (Bored Panda, 23/2/26)
“Actor Emma Stone, age 37, ‘sparked health concerns’ about her being underweight after she posed at an event in a revealing dress that highlighted her visible collarbone, sunken cheeks and slender frame. A social media user posted: ‘She looks cadaverous. The effect of that extreme thinness on teenage girls’ minds is a tragedy’. In 2012 Stone said she struggled with self-confidence and sometimes felt ‘disgusted’ with her body, adding that she has body image issues ‘because I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t. Growing up, I saw people who had horrible issues with food. My great hope for us as young women is to start being kinder to ourselves.’ Stone said weight-related insecurities are a societal issue that especially affects women and girls: ‘We can all be super critical of ourselves and of our image in the mirror’”
TALKING POINT Why does our culture place such value on being thin? Read the article >
And finally: to discuss…
🌈 “When formerly retired hockey player MATT KENNY watched the gay hockey show Heated Rivalry, he posted on his Instagram account @matt_runs: ‘It cracked me wide open, I had a panic attack, I couldn’t breathe and 20 years of memories and trauma came back.’
At the 3rd NHL Pride Cup – for LGBT+ hockey associations in the Pacific Northwest – Kenny met a 9-year-old hockey fan and his mum who asked if they could take a picture together.
Kenny said: ‘It was the first time I actually looked into the eyes of that next generation and it hit me: this was about getting into the mind of a kid who felt something – connection, recognition or maybe… possibility. He told his mum I was his hero. For me it wasn’t just about rainbows. It was about connection, community and love of others and self.
Think about who might be watching you. Think about how you could become a hero for someone not by being extraordinary but by being honest. By telling your story’”
AND… “As closeted gay kid Kenny felt unsafe and walked away from hockey: ‘It was the fear, the joy, the secrecy of love that was never supposed to exist in daylight and, you know, internal homophobia and shame – shame that players like me wore like a second skin.’
Kenny has received hundreds of messages from athletes and parents telling him stories about kids being closeted and afraid.
The NHL has never had an openly gay hockey player and in 2023 briefly banned rainbow tape used on hockey sticks. While the league backtracked after a player defied the ban, the sport has a reputation for hypermasculinity and a locker room culture that can include homophobic slurs.
Kenny says: ‘The kid I was – terrified of everything I was and didn’t think the world could accept – is starting to realise that the world we’re currently living in might be able to do so’”
TALKING POINTS How do you think the 9-year-old boy let his mum know, maybe over time, his feelings about Matt Kenny being his hero and wanting to go to the Pride Cup event? Is your family as supportive of things you feel strongly about as this boy’s mum? What do you think it felt like for this kid to meet his hero? What did it feel like for Kenny? What do you think about how a work of art, such as a TV series, can affect people strongly in real life, the way Heated Rivalry struck Kenny?