TALKING POINTS
There’s nothing like controversy and current events to kickstart conversation. Seize the day and get talking with your child about these recent news stories…
1
Photo of US-China delegation criticized over absence of women: “masculine, militarized and exclusionary” (Guardian, 14/5/26)
“A post on X viewed 11.6 million times shows the 14 May meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in China. As economics professor Gopinath posted, the photo shows ‘the end of meritocracy. A meeting of the two largest economies and not one woman at the table.’ And as Halima Kazem of Stanford University says: ‘Neither superpower thinks women belong in the room where great power politics happens. Women’s voices don’t matter in shaping the global order. This was about what kind of authority to project: masculine, militarised, exclusionary’”
TALKING POINTS What does meritocracy mean? Is the lack of women OK? Read the article >
2
MP Samantha Niblett calls for “lifelong sex education” to combat abuse (BBC, 14/4/26)
“Labour MP Samantha Niblett is calling for ‘lifelong sex education’ with the campaign Yes Sex Please, We’re British! – a play on the 1973 film title No Sex Please, We’re British. Focusing on consent, respect and healthy relationships in order to prevent abuse and violence, it aims to, as Niblett says, ‘take the shame, embarrassment and guilt out of talking about sex. We need to educate on what is beautiful and normal about real sex and love in real life. If we can’t talk about good sex, how can we expect people to talk about bad sex and keep safe? Sex is a significant part of most people’s lives – there should be no shame associated with it’”
TALKING POINTS Will most people agree with Niblett’s ideas? Do you? Read the article >
3
15 Rule-Breaking Naked Dresses to Appear on the Cannes Film Festival Red Carpet (InStyle, 12/5/26)
“Last year the Cannes Film Festival banned nudity on the red carpet in the name of ‘decency’. Over time celebrities have worn see-through ‘naked dresses’ or outfits that have included a woman baring her breasts, belly and thighs, or women wearing a top made of glass; a draped look made of glittering chains which left little to the imagination; a gown that was sheer save for metallic beading front and back; strategically placed ruffles providing some (limited) coverage; a gladiator-inspired look with a grid of roses placed strategically over the torso; strategically placed beading, and a gown with a thigh-high slit and midriff cutouts. One
woman went full sheer and donned underwear and a pair of sunnies to complete the look”
TALKING POINT What views of women do the article’s descriptions express? Read the article >
4
The 2026 Met Gala Was a Celebration of Artsy Nipples (Fashionista, 4/5/26)
“With this year’s Met Gala theme, Fashion Is Art, designers explored the female form by going for the exposed-nipple trend – not actual nipples but fake versions stitched onto clothes. This included nipples that were trompe l’oeil (meaning: it fools your eyes), nipple covers beneath a sheer look, moulded busts, a visual reference to a ‘nipple bra’ that came out in 2023, a metallic bra and a sculpted bodice with 2 pointy darts that drew the eye to the nipple area. If you, like us, are thinking: ‘Where is the celebration of the male form? Why are only women daring to emphasise their nips?’, see Jeremy Pope, who came through for us in a jacket covered with pearls sewn on in a pattern suggesting a nude male chest”
TALKING POINT What do you think of this focus on women’s nipples? Read the article >
5
Scientists Just Made the Most Complete Map of the Clitoris’s Sensory Nerve Network. Here’s What They Found (Smithsonian Magazine, 15/4/26)
“One of the human body’s least studied organs, the clitoris, is finally getting attention. It is
a sensitive part of the female body near the vagina that, when stimulated, can cause sexual arousal and orgasm. Many people are familiar with the clitoris’s external portion, the clitoral glans – it’s a bump located near the pee hole (urethra). But the entire pleasure organ is bigger than what appears on the surface. While the penis’s sensory nerves were charted 30 years ago, scientists only now just starting to understand the clitoris. It is at least 6 times more densely innervated (meaning supplied with nerves) than the penis. Neuroanatomist Ju Young Lee, who created this new digital 3D map of the clitoris, says: ‘There is a societal taboo attached to female sexuality, and this is an obstacle to conducting scientific investigation’”
TALKING POINT What can we do about the taboo about female sexuality? Read the article >
And finally: to discuss…
Billie Eilish Explains Why She Won’t Get Any Cosmetic Surgeries: “Excited to Age” (US Weekly, 6/5/26)
Singer BILLIE EILISH, age 24, says she doesn’t see herself getting work done – meaning having cosmetic surgery – adding: ‘I am so excited to age. And I’m so excited for my face to age and my body to age, and not change it.’
In the future, she says: ‘I want my kids to look at me and have my face look like their face and not be some botched version of whatever the fuck is going on out there right now.’
At age 18 Eilish had said: ‘The older I get, the more I experience things. I just think: “What am I going to do when my kid thinks that this is the right thing to do and I’m like: no, it’s not!” And they won’t listen to me.’
Eilish has spoken candidly about her body image over time, recently saying: ‘I had a really, really toxic relationship with my body. I had a lot of eating issues. I remember putting on, like, a big shirt and the relief that I felt. At the same time, it was my love for hip-hop culture and wanting to be a man.
This is the misogyny – meaning hatred of women – that we all have within us… which is that I didn’t want to be seen as feminine and therefore weak. It’s not right. I’ve found a good way of not feeling like that’”
TALKING POINTS What does the phrase “getting work done” mean? What do you think of it? Why do people not want to look as if they have aged? What happens to people in our society when they get older in terms of how they are viewed or treated by other people? Is it good or bad when a celebrity like Eilish speaks out about having had eating issues? Why did Eilish feel relief when she wore a big shirt? Has wearing an item of clothing ever given you a big emotional reaction? Do you notice misogyny on TV or in books, films or your own life?