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…
1
“Each year you delay giving a phone is a big win”: child screen-time solutions from around the world (Guardian, 11/1/25)
“Because of concerns about screen time, safety and social media, countries are tackling how to handle kids and tech. Australia is banning under-16s from social media – the prime minister said he wants kids to play sports and to make sure that ‘children have a childhood’. Spain might have warning labels on digital devices about health risks. France wants kids to have smartphones after age 13 because screens ‘close children in on themselves rather than liberating them’, affecting their eyesight, sleep, physical health and concentration. Last year Italy banned smartphones and tablets in primary and lower secondary schools. In Germany some teachers are taking away mobile phones in class or during breaktimes”
TALKING POINT What are the pros and cons kids using tech? Read the article >
2
Strength Through Trauma: What We Can Learn From Gisèle Pelicot – student voice (Pi Media at UCL – University College London, 10/12/24)
“The courageous Gisèle Pelicot, who was raped over 9 years by 50 men while she was unconscious, has reversed the script around shaming victims of rape. By refusing a closed-door trial, she made her case historic and invited the world to be her witness. Seeking accountability and justice, she dedicated her fight to ‘all the women and men who have been victims of sexual violence’. Gisèle has shown that rapists are not ‘monsters lurking in the dark’ but ‘ordinary men’. Her trial has sparked debates about rape culture and consent – and it is a reminder that we should not have to protect our daughters but educate our sons”
TALKING POINT What does Gisèle Pelicot’s case make people discuss? Read the article >
3
“Why are my biceps so small?” The boys and young men turning to steroids (Guardian, 27/12/24)
“There’s a growing social pressure for boys and men to be muscular – the opposite of pressures on girls and women to be thin. In Australia 2.3% of young people aged 12 to 17 have taken PIEDs – performance and image-enhancing drugs. Part of a body-image focused culture and promoted by fitness influencers, PIEDs are often found in suburban gyms and youth sports teams and on teenagers’ TikTok feeds. Videos and hashtags promoting steroid-like drugs have increased, with higher use among teen boys and young men who follow appearance-related social media. There are troubling physical and psychological side effects for young people, who are still in a fragile developmental stage”
TALKING POINT What can young men do about feelig these pressures? Read the piece >
4
The most iconic LGBTQ+ moments at the 2025 Golden Globes – including Jeff Goldblum saying “zaddy” (PinkNews, 6/1/25)
“1) The trans star of the film Emilia Pérez, Karla Sofía Gascón honoured the trans community, saying: ‘Light always wins over darkness’ and ‘I am who I am’ 2) Stars of the movie Wicked Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum ‘brought queer joy’ by using LGBT+ words 3) The bisexual creator and star of Baby Reindeer, Richard Gadd said fans’ support ‘means the world’ to him 4) The actor Jodie Foster dedicated her award to her 2 sons and her wife, ‘the love of my life’ 5) The bearded Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness showed up in a stunning green gown. Also Andrew Garfield created a stir by adjusting the neckline of his shirt, and Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley had a ‘significantly camp’ and funny moment”
TALKING POINT Does visibility normalise LGBT+ people and issues? Read the article >
5
Mark Zuckerberg is wrong – “masculine energy” is the last thing we need more of in the workplace (Stylist, 14/1/25)
“Meta founder and tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg says that workplaces need to embrace ‘masculine energy’ and ‘celebrate aggression’. Martial arts helped him ‘redefine his relationship with masculinity, and hanging out with male friends while they beat each other has been positive’. Meta will no longer use fact checkers and it has scrapped DEI (diversity equity & inclusion) policies for being preferential to some groups. His ‘move fast and break things’ motto and manosphere views are reflected by misogynist influencer Andrew Tate wanting to start a political party, BRUV (Britain Restoring Underlying Values). Meanwhile worldwide 1 woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes by a partner or family member, there is a widening gender pay gap and gender equality does not yet exist”
TALKING POINT What is masculine energy, and is it good and bad? Read the article >
And finally: to discuss…
Brooke Shields Got a “Bonus” Labia Rejuvenation Without Her Consent: “Why Can’t Everybody Just Leave My Vagina Alone” (People, 10/1/25)
Actor & former child model BROOKE SHIELDS, age 59, writes in her book Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed To Get Old…
“My gynaecologist asked if I felt discomfort because of my labia. I said: ‘Only in tight jeans, spin classes and every romantic moment ever.’
(I apologise if this is too graphic or TMI. I’d be lying if I said I’m not embarrassed to share this very intimate information. But if we are to change the way we approach women’s health, we need to bring up uncomfortable but very real issues. Shame is not an option.)
My labia had been an issue since high school and one I’d been ashamed of forever. I joked with my best friend: ‘It’s like you’re in a boxing gym and you have 2 little speed bags between your legs.’ It hurt and it was in the way.
My gynaecologist said it was very common and labial reduction procedure would decrease my discomfort.
Why should that be reduced to a cosmetic choice, as if I wanted a more photogenic labia so I could be in adult films? Like many important procedures for women, it wasn’t covered by insurance.
Afterwards the doctor said: ‘I tightened you up! Gave you a little rejuvenation!’
Wait, what?? I was shocked, speechless.‘After 2 kids, everything is looser,’ he said. But I had C-sections and a scarred, more restricted cervix, I replied. I had never asked to be ‘tightened’ or ‘rejuvenated’ (translation: given a younger vagina). I felt numb.
This man surgically altered my body without my consent but I didn’t want talk of my lady parts on the front page of every paper. The most intimate parts of my body had been a public focal point already. All I could think was: ‘Why can’t everybody just leave my vagina alone?’ (This will be the bit that makes headlines. Whatever. Women deserve all the information.)
I noticed a difference in my body – not a good one. My sex drive is pretty typical for my age: I like intimacy but don’t need it every day. And the procedure definitely did not enhance my pleasure.
Fuck that guy! He had no right to do what he did. If it happened to me now I’d make my own blaring headline and blast it everywhere”
TALKING POINTS Is it shocking that a celebrity writes or talks about her labia? Would it be shocking if a teacher, a doctor, a family member or a friend talked used the word labia or talked about something vulva-, vagina- or labia-related, such as labiaplasty (surgery to reduce the size of the labia minora – the flaps of skin on either side of the vaginal opening)? Could you joke with a friend about a a private body part? What do you think of the surgeon’s attitudes and actions? Why would Shields now be more outspoken about what happened to her?