Category: The Conversation – Canada

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Darby M. Babin, PhD Candidate, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

Were you expecting Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser to peel back the curtain and provide hard-hitting truths on what really happened on the show that captivated millions in its heyday?

Well, uh, fat chance.

Instead, the three-part Netflix documentary, released mid-August, seems to traffic in some of the same problematic aspects of the show that spurred the need for an exposé in the first place.

Best of intentions?

This purported tell-all documentary — billed as exposing the truth of The Biggest Loser — is a bit of a nothing burger. There is no groundbreaking admission from the producers of the reality show that it shamelessly exploited fat people.

Instead, viewers are told the show’s creators had only the best of intentions and that it was just an unfortunate accident that things got out of hand when the trainers — Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper — took their roles too seriously.

The focus, for example, shifts to Michaels’ alleged failings, like providing contestants with banned caffeine pills. Michaels has refuted those claims and threatened legal action against Netflix.

Dr. Robert Huizenga, the show’s medical director tasked with overseeing the contestants’ health and well-being, is cast as the embodiment of concern and the voice of reason. Michaels is portrayed as the main villain while Harper gets off relatively scot-free. To elicit sympathy for him, we are reminded of his heart attack — so out of character for such a fit guy, of course.

The fatphobia problem

This is the fatphobic myth: bad health happens only to bad (see: fat) people, like the ones who auditioned to appear on The Biggest Loser. People like Harper should be safe from illness because they have lived lives worshipping at the altar of the fitness goddesses.

All the tropes about fat people lacking will power and being “lazy” (a term loaded with ableism) coalesce in this two-hour watch.

A welcome breath of fresh air is provided by Aubrey Gordon, a razor-sharp fat activist who writes under the moniker, Your Fat Friend. Her thoughtful critique is accessible to viewers who are less familiar with fat studies. And with her first appearance, she reminds us that what the show markets as its inspirational ideology differs in practice both on screen and behind when she remarks: “I’ll tell you what I think the show thinks it’s about…”

Gordon also challenges The Biggest Loser‘s overarching message by highlighting Harper’s heart attack. She says: “It sort of punctures one of the main arguments of the show, ‘If you’re fat, you’re going to die.’ And if you exercise ‘correctly,’ as determined by Bob and Jillian, all of these health outcomes will be warded off.”

Gordon’s observations are as close as the series gets to truly examining the fatphobia at the heart of the reality show.

The racism problem

Joelle Gwynn, who joined the show with friend Carla Triplett in 2009, is the only person in the documentary to openly raise concerns about race. She mulls over feeling as though the producers and fellow contestants were trying to frame her as the “angry Black woman.”

The angry Black woman trope is tied to what race, gender and class scholar Patricia Hill Collins calls “controlling images” of Black women, in particular the Sapphire, the Mammy and the Jezebel. These images are intended to demean, dehumanize and punish Black women in the name of white supremacy. The angry Black woman is the Sapphire’s contemporary, described by The Jim Crow Museum as “rude, loud, malicious, stubborn and overbearing.”

Triplett was perceived as more committed and jovial. When the pair was eliminated, Triplett was offered apologies while Gwynn faced hostility.

Indeed, as the producers confirm on the documentary, they sought out people who were downtrodden. In executive producer JD Roth’s own words: “We were not looking for people who were overweight and happy. There’s a lot of ’em. That’s fine. We were looking for people who were overweight and unhappy.”

Gwynn was too willful, unwilling to accept the treatment that the show seemed to believe she deserved by virtue of her fat, Black body. During one of her interview segments in Fit for TV, Gwynn looks directly into the camera after she shares a difficult memory of Harper berating her and says: “Fuck you, Bob Harper.” Somebody had to say it.

Of course, fatphobia and racism are deeply intertwined. As Sabrina Strings explains in her book Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia, anti-fatness emerged through chattel slavery when colonizers realized they had fat bodies in common with those they enslaved. This similarity was incompatible with their beliefs about superiority, so they mobilized chattel slavery and eugenics to tie anti-fatness to Blackness.

The misogyny problem

Perhaps the most puzzling case is that of Tracey Yukich, who made a dramatic entrance in Season 8 when she collapsed during her first running challenge and was hospitalized and diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis (an injury where muscle tissue breaks down).

Yukich explains that the reason she was willing to push herself so hard was her belief that weight-loss would improve her abusive marriage. She shares that the infidelity and abuse in her relationship felt inseparable from her weight gain and that the show was her opportunity to turn things around.

It is difficult to watch as there is no onscreen evidence to suggest Yukich ever received support from anyone at The Biggest Loser about the abuse in her marriage.

For all the talk about health in the reality show, Yukich’s mental health didn’t seem a priority. Instead, the doctor acts as counsellor and encourages Yukich to use the show as a second chance. Unable to exercise, however, she followed in the footsteps of other contestants who reduced their caloric intake to 800 or less — in other words, starvation.

The individual problem

A hyper-focus on individual responsibility is embodied in the entrepreneurial contestants who jockeyed for a spot on the show. The promise of freedom from fat is intoxicating.

The collective fascination with weight loss under the contradictory “weight” of liberalism, as critical food scholars Julie Guthman and Melanie DuPuis so aptly put it, reminds us that we live in societies that exhort us to consume more and eat less.

This, Guthman and DuPuis argue, “produces contradictory impulses such that the neoliberal subject is emotionally compelled to participate in society as both out-of-control consumer and self-controlled subject.”

The Biggest Loser reflects this neoliberal paradox of consumption and restraint: contestants were berated during exercise and told to try harder, yet given temptation challenges with desirable foods that tested their ability to resist so-called bad eating habits.

Who is the biggest loser?

More than a decade later, viewers are left to wonder, in the age of wall-to-wall weight loss drugs such as Ozempic, have we really moved the needle?

Is it surprising that when we paused viewing, a Dairy Queen ad popped up beside the cover image of the documentary? Like The Biggest Loser, it seems society and entertainment industries, bolstered by advertising, want both our self-control and our consumption.

And if we fail to appreciate that the media spectacle of weight loss is as grotesque as the profits made from weight-loss products, then maybe “the biggest loser” is us.

Darby M. Babin receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Michael Orsini receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

– ref. Is the ‘Biggest Loser’ documentary entangled in its own internalized fatphobia? – https://theconversation.com/is-the-biggest-loser-documentary-entangled-in-its-own-internalized-fatphobia-264752

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Donald Weaver, Professor of Chemistry and Senior Scientist of the Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, University of Toronto

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is on track to become one of the defining public health challenges of our time. Every three seconds, somewhere in the world, someone is diagnosed with dementia, and it’s usually Alzheimer’s disease.

Currently, approximately 50 million people worldwide have AD. By 2050, this number will exceed 130 million.

The human health and socioeconomic consequences of this are going to be immense. But perhaps it doesn’t have to be this way.

Preventing Alzheimer’s disease

A 2024 report from the influential Lancet Commission suggests that up to one-third of AD cases could be prevented simply by avoiding certain risk factors. These 14 modifiable risk factors encompass: traumatic brain injury, hypertension, depression, diabetes, smoking, obesity, high cholesterol levels, low physical activity levels, too much alcohol consumption, too little education, vision loss, hearing loss, social isolation and air pollution.

While this comprehensive list is rooted soundly in science, it’s not easy for members of the general public to monitor and manage 14 separate health targets — especially when prevention efforts need to start decades before symptoms appear.

This is a problem that needs addressing. Tackling this problem requires a prevention model that is simple and memorable — something the public can easily embrace, understand and follow.

There are successful examples that can serve as a template. Stroke prevention associations, for instance, have successfully adopted the FAST (Face, Arm, Speech, Time) mnemonic to teach stroke warning signs. AD prevention needs a FAST equivalent.

SHIELD (Sleep, Head Injury prevention, Exercise, Learning and Diet) may fill that role. SHIELD brings together the most significant, overlapping dementia risk factors into five core pillars, offering a clear and effective strategy for prevention.

Sleep

Sleep is a foundational element of SHIELD. Maintaining healthy sleep habits is a key protective factor against dementia. Adequate sleep supports brain function, memory, mood and learning.

Insufficient (less than five hours per night) or poor-quality sleep (frequent awakenings), especially in midlife, increases the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. Chronic poor sleep leads to build-up in the brain of amyloid-beta protein, which is implicated in the development of AD.

Poor sleep also increases the likelihood of obesity, high blood pressure and depression, all risk factors for AD. If you’re currently sleeping four to five hours per night, consider changing this habit to avoid increasing your risk for developing dementia in later life. Sleep is a vital tool for brain protection and AD prevention.

Head injury

Head injury prevention is, rather surprisingly, often overlooked in conversations about dementia. There are strong links between traumatic brain injuries, including concussions, and higher AD risk.

Such head injuries can occur in a wide variety of settings, not just professional sports. Intimate partner violence, for example, is unfortunately common in our society and is a frequent, but neglected, cause of head trauma.

Head injury prevention should start early and continue throughout life, as damage can accumulate over time. Broader safety measures (such as improved helmet designs, stronger concussion protocols in youth and adult sports and efforts to prevent head injuries in all settings) can play a significant role in protecting long-term brain health and avoiding AD.

Exercise

Exercise is perhaps the most powerful lifestyle habit for reducing the risk of AD. Exercise directly addresses multiple major risk factors, including obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and depression. It also supports the growth of brain cells, memory and emotional health.

Despite this, physical inactivity remains common, especially in high-income countries, where it may contribute to as many as one in five AD cases. Exercise is not just “heart medicine,” but “brain medicine” too. Regular movement, even in small amounts, enables better brain aging and can help avoid AD.

Learning

Learning, both in and out of school, remains one of the strongest protective factors against dementia. Lower educational levels, such as not finishing secondary school, are linked to a significantly increased risk for dementia. Learning contributes to the brain’s “cognitive reserve,” which is the brain’s ability to function well despite damage or disease.

Individuals with AD maintained better mental function if they had continued learning throughout life. Public health messaging should promote life-long learning in all forms — from reading and language learning to engaging hobbies that keep the brain active. It’s never too early (or too late) to learn another language or to challenge your brain. Boosting your cognitive reserve boosts your brain against AD.

Diet

Diet also plays a major role in brain health and dementia prevention. No single food prevents dementia. Rather, a combination of nutrient-rich foods supports overall brain health. A healthy diet can lower dementia risk by emphasizing whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and fish, while restricting processed foods, red meat and sweets.

Adhering to dietary patterns like the Mediterranean diet has shown promising results in protecting against cognitive decline. The Mediterranean diet is a brain/heart-healthy eating style inspired by the traditional diets of people in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. It emphasizes plant-based foods with olive oil as the primary fat source, while limiting red meat, processed foods and added sugars.

What we eat influences brain inflammation and brain vascular health — all of which are increasingly tied to AD. A healthy diet shouldn’t feel restrictive or like a punishment for trying to improve brain health. Instead, it can be framed as a positive investment in long-term independence, clarity and energy.

By simplifying the science, the SHIELD framework offers a realistic and research-backed approach to brain health. Until a cure is discovered, prevention is the strongest tool. Concepts like SHIELD provide a starting point for achievable prevention.

Alzheimer’s disease should not be seen as inevitable. The statistic that there will be more than 130 million people with AD by 2050 must not be accepted as predestined. With the right decisions and actions, we can work towards AD prevention by protecting the minds and memories of millions.

Emma Twiss, a fourth year undergraduate student in Life Sciences at Queen’s University, co-authored this story.

Donald Weaver does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. SHIELD: A simple, memorable model to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease and dementia – https://theconversation.com/shield-a-simple-memorable-model-to-help-prevent-alzheimers-disease-and-dementia-265053

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Chris Arsenault, Chair of the Master of Media in Journalism and Communication Program (MMJC) and assistant professor of journalism, Western University

As climate change intensifies, companies and countries are attempting to build new low-carbon supply chains. From electric vehicles to solar panels and wind turbines, these technologies require vast amounts of critical minerals.

These are commodities such as cobalt, lithium and nickel, and also include a smaller set of 17 rare earth elements like dysprosium, neodymium, praseodymium and terbium.

Canada’s federal government, and provincial officials in Ontario, have pledged some of the biggest public subsidies to private companies in a generation — more than $43 billion — to create this new supply chain.

Plans for new mines in Northern Ontario’s “Ring of Fire” to extract critical minerals parallel billions in production subsidies to EV producers and related manufacturers in the province’s southern manufacturing heartland.

The idea is to supply southern factories with northern minerals. Instead of only exporting unrefined primary commodities like oil, copper or lumber, Canadian industry would also export high-value, renewable technology-related products.

In addition to promises around jobs, innovative industries and fighting climate change, politicians, business executives and military analysts frame the country’s critical minerals strategy around countering China’s dominance.

However, our new study identified several challenges to subsidizing supply chain integration in Canada.

Based on 20 interviews with government officials and industry leaders in Ontario’s critical minerals sector, and a review of existing literature, we identified challenges including: opposition to new mining and infrastructure projects, particularly from some Indigenous communities; some policymakers lacking understanding of the complexity of supply chains; slowing global EV demand and regional trade barriers at a time of uncertainty for the sector.

Processing: The weak link

First, there is a weak link in the planned supply chain: processing. Policymakers and average Canadian can picture a mine or an EV factory, business leaders said.

Understanding how to separate terbium, a rare earth element used to make stronger alloys for EVs, from mined stock is a more difficult process conducted in unassuming industrial parks. It doesn’t necessarily excite the public imagination.

This is not merely complicated chemistry. Processing and refining critical minerals is where China dominates, controlling about 90 per cent of the industry. Under the current plan, even if mines are built in Northern Ontario, the minerals would likely be sent to China to be processed and then shipped back, leaving manufacturers dependent on the Chinese.

As one long-time chemical processing executive said: “Governments have convoluted the resource sector, the stuff in the ground, the product in the end (EVs and related technologies) and forgotten this middle section” before adding “infrastructure isn’t sexy and [processing facilities] are weirdo infrastructure nobody sees.”

Companies in Canada or the United States, the executive said, don’t want to pay a premium for rare earths processed in Canada. China can do the work more cheaply.

Investments suspended and delayed

Second, many high-profile manufacturing projects have been shelved or suspended, despite billions in promised subsidies. Of eight major EV manufacturing plants in Ontario selected to receive a combined $43.6 billion in subsidies, five have suspended or delayed their activities, including the European firm Umicore’s planned $2.7 billion battery plant near Kingston, Stellantis’ EV jeep production in Brampton and GM’s EV van plant in Ingersoll, which halted then reduced production earlier this year.

Subsidies promised to these firms are far higher than what the companies themselves pledged to invest. Our analysis suggests pledged public subsidies for the eight renewable manufacturing projects, including money from the federal government and Ontario, are more than 13 per cent higher than what the companies themselves promised to spend from their own coffers.

This doesn’t seem like a good use of the public purse. Subsidies can certainly help spur growth in new industries if leveraged effectively: South Korea and Taiwan’s development from the 1960s illustrates this. But spending more public money than private companies themselves are willing to invest does not seem wise in the current trade climate, especially considering government deficits and the costs of financing them given high interest rates.

In fairness to provincial and federal officials, much of the pledged money has not left the treasury. A substantial portion of the promised funds are production subsidies for each car or battery produced.

The cancelled projects, and uncertainty over access to U.S. markets and EV sales in North America, are making companies skittish, subsidies be damned. Canada this month suspended its own planned EV mandate which would have required 20 per cent of all new vehicles sold here to be electric by next year.

Subsidies and the new mercantalism

Recent problems in the EV industry notwithstanding, the broader subsidy race to build out renewable energy supply chains, and the geopolitical scramble to control critical minerals, has a distinctly 19th century, neo-mercantalist vibe.

Hearkening back to the days of the British East India Company and gunboat diplomacy, corporations are working arm-in-arm with governments to advance commercial and military objectives. U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded Ukraine give American companies preferential access to the country’s vast critical minerals deposits in exchange for continued military aid amid the war with Russia.

China currently mines roughly 70 per cent of the world’s rare Earth elements, according to Canadian government data. More importantly, it processes nearly 90 per cent of the strategic commodities and also holds near processing monopolies for graphite (95 per cent), manganese (91 per cent), and cobalt (78 per cent).

China is not afraid to weaponize its control of rare earths, limiting access for U.S. companies following Trump’s tariff threats or temporarily cutting them off to Japan following a dispute over fishing and territorial rights in 2010.

“If China embargoed rare earths right now, that would put us out of business,” said one senior Ontario government official we interviewed. “They are a critical part of the supply chain.”

Against that backdrop, and threats against Canada from the Trump government, there is value in building coherent public policy around critical minerals.

However, following billions in pledged subsidies delivering mixed results, federal and provincial governments need to focus their limited financial firepower on what’s actually achievable. Developing the means to refine and process critical minerals extracted here would be a good first step.

Chris Arsenault has received funding from the Michener Awards Foundation under the 2025 Michener-L. Richard O’Hagan Fellowship for Journalism Education. His journalism has also been supported by The Pulitzer Center.

Philippe Le Billon receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Raphael Deberdt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Canada’s $43-billion subsidy scheme for critical minerals misses supply chain steps – https://theconversation.com/canadas-43-billion-subsidy-scheme-for-critical-minerals-misses-supply-chain-steps-264742

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By James Horncastle, Assistant Professor and Edward and Emily McWhinney Professor in International Relations, Simon Fraser University

Russian drones recently violated Polish and Romanian airspace.

These intrusions, whether intentional or not, caused Poland to shut down airports and both Polish and Romanian officials deployed their air forces. The Polish air force, ultimately, succeeded in downing 19 drones while Romania monitored but did not engage for fear of collateral damage.

The media focus in the aftermath of these incursions is on the political ramifications. Both Poland and Romania are NATO members, and Poland has invoked Article 4 of the NATO treaty. It’s one of only eight times a country has invoked it.

Article 4, the shortest of the NATO treaty’s 14 articles, states that:

“The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.”

‘Here we go!’

American President Donald Trump wrote about the incursions on social media: “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!”

This statement stoked hopes among Ukraine’s supporters that Trump would increase either his support for Ukraine or boost sanctions on Russia. Besides stating that he would impose harsh sanctions if NATO countries stop importing Russian oil, Trump has so far done nothing.

The political ramifications are important. Noted war theorist Carl von Clausewitz, after all, defined war as a political act.

What’s missing from recent analyses, however, is how Ukraine’s struggle over the last three years has yielded valuable lessons for Europe’s defence.

An ongoing peace

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in the aftermath of the intrusion, declared in parliament that “this situation brings us the closest we have been to open conflict since World War Two.” Tusk’s statement highlighted the political significance of Russia’s actions and underscored the seriousness of the incident.

It also highlights how many European countries have had little engagement with direct conflict since the Second World War. There are notable exceptions to this point, specifically for the United Kingdom and France, but for many European countries, their engagement with war has been more theoretical and less practical.

Even in the case of the U.K. and France, military operations they’ve engaged in are not similar to those Ukraine faces against Russia. France and Britain have fought either insurgency campaigns or in wars against states that lacked their military capabilities, like Iraq.

These actions, while useful from a military standpoint, could be distorting perceptions about their capabilities when it comes to engaging against a competitor with similar military strength.

Fighting the ‘last war’

Militaries face a constant problem in their preparations as they determine what tools will be needed for the next war. This question is complex.

The interaction between new technologies and human beings can create unique dynamics that can alter the balance of warfare. Germany’s ability to combine radio, mobility and mission tactics in the form of the Panzer tank, for example, initially shifted the balance of the Second World War.

Some technologies, however, can end up being a proverbial dead end and cost a state significantly for no appreciable gain. Admiral John Fisher, the First Sea Lord of the British Royal Navy at the start of the 20th century, believed a vessel known as the battle cruiser would revolutionize warfare. Battle cruisers were ships with the weapons of a battleship and the armour and speed of a cruiser.

The concept of the battle cruiser, one that would outrun a battleship and destroy any lesser ship, was sound. Human nature and a lack of creativity, however, meant that British admirals frequently used them against battleships. Deploying battle cruisers against targets they were not designed to fight ended in tragedy.

The result of such deployments was disaster at the Battle of Jutland off the coast of Denmark in the First World War, and further calamity when the German battleship Bismarck sank the British battle cruiser HMS Hood during the Second World War.

In other words, armed forces can spend large sums of money on technological innovations and end up with no appreciable gain. In fact, a country can place itself at a distinct disadvantage if it invests incorrectly.

Finding the right tools and practices

Russia’s incursion into Polish and Romanian airspace has the potential to expose the vulnerability of both countries, and more broadly NATO as well. Although Poland succeeded in eliminating the drones, it needed to employ aircraft to do so. Ukraine’s experience demonstrates there are much cheaper and more efficient ways of eliminating enemy drones than employing expensive aircraft.

Ukraine continues to develop a multi-layered air defence system to protect its soldiers and civilians from Russia’s nightly drone bombardment.

These methods range from interceptor drones to electronic warfare jammers.

In the aftermath of Russia’s incursion into Poland, in fact, European nations are looking for guidance from Ukraine on practices and technology to combat drone attacks.

Dealing with drones in contemporary warfare is just one facet of what observers can learn from the enduring war in Ukraine. But there are other lessons that could have an even greater impact on what European countries should consider in their defence policies.

Learning from Ukraine

First among them is the importance of mass armies. Western military doctrine seeks to overcome the question of mass through technological innovations that promote manoeuvre on the battlefield to overcome larger armies.

But unfortunately, technological innovations in the war in Ukraine — whether they’ve involved drones or advanced sensors — have reinforced attrition versus the manoeuvre tactics favoured by western countries. In such a war the size of one’s army, and its capacity to produce munitions, are of paramount importance.

Second, the western experience of peace has distorted collective perceptions of war. Ukraine has shown us that disinformation campaigns, often considered a form of warfare by the West, are simply not on par with the destruction and harm a conventional war inflicts on people.

Western countries have spent too much energy preparing for disinformation campaigns and other forms of hybrid warfare versus the traditional-style war Ukraine faces against Russia.

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Read more:
Russian propaganda is making inroads with right-wing Canadians

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This distortion has contributed to the West’s slow response time in Ukraine. European states, three years after the current phase of the conflict, are still coming up short. Armaments production in the European Union is not sufficient to support Ukraine, let alone the continent’s needs.

Throughout its war with Russia, Ukraine is providing a formula: large armies and certain new technologies are what European and other states require for a contemporary war. The question remains, however, if these states will heed these lessons.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. What NATO could learn from Ukraine as it navigates Russian threats to European security – https://theconversation.com/what-nato-could-learn-from-ukraine-as-it-navigates-russian-threats-to-european-security-265347

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Elizabeth A. Marshall, Professor of Education, Simon Fraser University

The Pitt, HBO Max’s Emmy-winning television medical drama, is a breakout hit.

Medical professionals and critics alike laud the show for its realistic portrayal of an emergency room.

That the show is also a master class in teaching has largely escaped notice.

As a critic and scholar who writes about representations of teachers in popular media,
I hadn’t expected to think about teaching when tuning in for a fictional show about Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital.

Popular media: education and escape

Philosopher of education Adam Greteman and K.J. Burke, an expert in teacher education, highlight how popular media serves as an educational space. Lessons about schooling can appear as a pleasurable escape from reality, both reflecting and sometimes distorting the full scope of people’s lived experiences.

Television, film and even children’s picture books shape public perceptions of the teaching profession — and so does The Pitt.

Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle) mentors a team of nurses and doctors at a teaching hospital. The ER may not be a formal classroom, but what makes The Pitt so intriguing as a case study about education is its setting outside the classroom. Interns learn on the go in a hands-on setting with real-world consequences and problems.

While I cannot comment specifically about the show’s depictions of what may be needed for best-practice ER infrastructure and education, I’m interested in how the show offers compelling insights around what it means to teach with and through trauma that are relevant for education in schools and at post-secondary levels at large.

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Living to tell the story: Lawsuit accuses ER doctor of anti-Indigenous racism

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The COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic looms large in The Pitt, and flashbacks to one particularly awful day intrude into Dr. Robby’s mind throughout the episodes. Like doctors and nurses, educators were on the front lines during the pandemic.

A recent study highlights the pandemic’s lingering adverse effect on teacher recruitment and retention. Likewise, in a 2022 study, researchers in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine found that the stressors on K-12 educators led to burnout and other mental health challenges. Attending to the mental health of both students and teachers as part of, rather than outside of, teacher training is a start.

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Teachers lack resources to meet classroom needs, and absences shouldn’t surprise us

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Stereotypes of male educators

To fully understand Dr. Robby, it is essential to recognize how his character transcends familiar stereotypes of male educators in popular culture. Familiar tropes include the buffoon (Mr. D. in the show of the same name), the burnout (the teacher in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), the disciplinarian (the assistant principal in The Breakfast Club), the maverick (Dewey Finn in School of Rock, John Keating in Dead Poet’s Society), the villain (Severus Snape in Harry Potter) and the wise mentor (Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter).

The Pitt’s Dr. Robby doesn’t fit neatly into any of these categories. Specifically, he embraces vulnerability and compassion that expand previous representations of teaching in popular culture.

Dr. Robby has more in common with characters like the teacher Justine Gandy in the 2025 film Weapons or Dan Dunne in the 2006 Half Nelson; deeply flawed, yet highly empathetic — super feelers who connect with the people they teach.

Compassionate teaching methods

Struggling with PTSD from the pandemic and the loss of his mentor, Dr. Robby suffers a panic attack in Episode 13. This background informs Dr. Robby’s compassionate teaching methods, which align with current calls for trauma-informed approaches in education.

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Hard choices put health workers at risk of mental anguish, PTSD during coronavirus

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Dr. Robby leans into trauma on both a social (the pandemic and its aftermath; an epidemic of drug overdoses) and an individual level (the loss of his own mentor to COVID-19 under his watch) as the starting point for instruction.

After 15 years of university teaching, I, too, begin with the assumption that most students are merely holding it together for class as they deal with a range of experiences like personal depression, anxiety, grief and abuse, as well as collective distress about wildfires, war and increasing authoritarianism across the globe.

Cultural diversity

The Pitt’s diverse cast speaks multiple languages and brings different cultural perspectives to the ER. Dr. Robby’s ability to build on the differences of the interns, doctors and staff endorses equity and inclusion as essential to the art of teaching, especially as DEI initiatives are being dismantled or rebranded across North America.

While classrooms in the United States and Canada are increasingly ethnically and linguistically diverse, the teachers are not. The ER is stronger because of the differences that the interns bring.

Violence

In Episode 12, “6:00 p.m.,” a mass shooting at a music festival fills the hospital with victims who need to be triaged.

Not only in the U.S., but also in Canada, educational systems advise lockdown drills. The Aug. 27, 2025, Annunciation Catholic Church shooting in the U.S. is just one example of how teachers in the U.S. live with the reality and fear of threats from guns. Such threats are not as present across Canadian educational spaces, but still a reality.

And in both health care and schools, such stark eruptions point to wider systemic problems that need to be addressed across society, not only when they become crises.

Dr. Robby receives constant pressure to prioritize profits over patient care. Likewise, as post-secondary institutions struggle with financial constraints as they navigate the pandemic’s fallout, The Pitt teaches us that now, more than ever, we need to value face-to-face interaction.

Across disciplines, institutions need to provide supports for educators to shape emergent curricula co-built with and for the students who show up in our classrooms. Students need opportunities in their own communities to work side by side with an experienced mentor, like Dr. Robby, in hands-on, real-world spaces outside of the formal classroom.

The teacher we need

Dr. Robby is no John Keating of Dead Poets Society, and that’s a refreshing break from romanticized ideas about individual teachers saving the day.

The Pitt offers us instead a vulnerable yet compassionate male teacher with fears and flaws like his interns and patients. Dr. Robby is the teacher we all need right now.

Elizabeth A. Marshall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Emmy-winning ER drama ‘The Pitt’ shines a light on compassionate teaching – https://theconversation.com/emmy-winning-er-drama-the-pitt-shines-a-light-on-compassionate-teaching-265429

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Addisu Lashitew, Assistant Professor, DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University

In October 2024, Canada imposed a 100 per cent tariff on all electric vehicle (EV) imports from China, effectively barring consumers from accessing some of the world’s most innovative, affordable models. These tariffs are deepening the country’s dependence on the United States and undermining its climate goals.

Canada’s unusually prohibitive tariff mirrored the strategy of the U.S., which imposed a 100 per cent duty on Chinese EVs in September 2024.

The government justified its “tariff fortress” by pointing to China’s extensive industrial policy, such as subsidies, that artificially lower production costs. The tariffs were claimed to protect domestic producers by offsetting the cost advantage enjoyed by Chinese EV manufacturers.

While this rationale has some basis, it is highly overstated. The European Union’s in-depth investigation into Chinese support for the EV industry revealed company-specific subsidy levels, ranging from 7.8 per cent for Tesla Shanghai to 35.3 per cent for the SAIC Group, which subsequently became the basis for imposing countervailing duties.

Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald recently said the government is considering scrapping the tariffs — a recognition that the policy may now be outdated.

A year ago, co-ordinating with the U.S. against China’s growing EV industry might have seemed defensible, but today, it leaves Canada in a weakened position in its ongoing trade war with the U.S.

This policy is misaligned with Canada’s long-term interests. It weakens economic independence, slows decarbonization and forces Canadians to pay more for EVs.

Tariffs are distorting Canada’s EV market

In July 2025, Tesla sales in the EU fell by 40 per cent even as overall EV sales rose by 39 per cent. BYD, China’s biggest EV manufacturer and a rival to Tesla, tripled its sales and moved ahead of Tesla in market share.

In Canada, too, Tesla’s sales are falling. Its market share is now a fraction of what it used to be and General Motors has recently taken first place in Canadian EV sales.

Still, Canadians continue to buy thousands of Teslas each year, while plans to sell BYD and other Chinese EVs have come to a grinding halt.

The reason why BYD has risen to the top in the EU but American automakers dominate in Canada is an outcome of Canada’s trade policy toward China, which has had the unintended effect of propping up U.S. automakers.

Canada’s auto market is already heavily dependent on American manufacturers. Tariffs that deepen this dependence further narrow consumer choice and expose Canadian EV buyers to unpredictable policy shifts in the U.S. It’s clear Canada needs a new approach.

A more nuanced strategy

Canada should adopt a more nuanced strategy that safeguards national priorities without stifling competition or limiting consumer choice. Instead of erecting tariff walls that shut out rivals, Canada should gradually open its market to prepare for the inevitable competition from China and beyond.

At the same time, it should offer targeted incentives for top Chinese EV firms to set up plants locally, transfer advanced technology and share technical know-how.

Such a policy would help stabilize car prices for Canadians, who have been hit hard amid U.S.–Canada trade tensions.

Although Ottawa recently suspended most counter-tariffs ahead of trade talks, levies on autos, steel and aluminum remain in place, keeping costs elevated. These retaliatory measures, while necessary, have burdened Canadian households, for whom vehicle purchases are the third-largest expense.

A freer trade regime with China would substantially broaden the range of affordable EVs available to Canadians, who are currently limited to costly U.S. brands averaging more than US$55,000. By contrast, Chinese manufacturers offer numerous models priced near US$25,000, a factor that would likely spur a substantial increase in EV adoption.

Second, access to Chinese EVs would help Canada meet its ambitious target of 100 per cent zero-emission new vehicle sales by 2035. Since Canada’s electricity grid is largely powered by renewable hydro and nuclear power, a faster uptake of EVs would significantly reduce emissions.

Third, lowering the tariff would support Canada’s pursuit of greater economic autonomy from the U.S.

A moderate tariff, combined with targeted incentives to attract foreign investment from Chinese EV makers, could enhance the global competitiveness of Canada’s auto industry. This also aligns with the country’s long-term strategy of incentivizing leading foreign EV producers to set up local operations.

Canada cannot hope to lead in a vital global industry by shutting itself off from competition. It must dismantle tariff walls, welcome world-class rivals and attract new investment. Only by diversifying its EV supply chain and fostering innovation can Canada secure a key position in the emerging EV economy.

Addisu Lashitew has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He is a Nonresident Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

– ref. Canada’s tariff wall on Chinese electric vehicles is deepening dependence on the U.S. – https://theconversation.com/canadas-tariff-wall-on-chinese-electric-vehicles-is-deepening-dependence-on-the-u-s-264868

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Aidan Moir, Sessional Instructor, University of Windsor

Valued at more than US$250 billion, the influencer industry is the centre of the digital economy.

Popular haul videos, where influencers display and discuss a recent collection of purchases, and unboxings — videos where content makers open, showcase and review new products — have long been promoting endless streams of consumer goods that can be purchased with an easy click.

But what happens to influencer culture and popular consumption practices when many are worried about their financial futures?

Social media feeds become full of content-makers encouraging us to save our money — influencers telling us not to buy trendy, perhaps unnecessary, goods, like tons of Halloween decor or luxury skincare products.

This comes as American tariffs wreak havoc on the global economy and youth unemployment soars, and points to growing economic uncertainty. Consumption, the social practice that becomes publicly and hotly debated during times of economic uncertainty, is back on our radars.

For the past year, social media users have declared almost everything and anything as “recession indicators.” Influencer Kate O’Brien’s viral TikTok, for example, showing users how to squeeze out the remaining beauty product from its packaging to not waste anything, is one of many examples.

As talk of a recession continues to build, social media trends like deinfluencing help us understand how popular culture navigates economic downturns.

The rise of the recessionista

Economic recessions have always had a major impact on popular culture. The jobs lost during the 2007-08 global financial crisis helped pave the way for today’s influencer industry. Fashion bloggers grew in popularity during this time.

Unemployed media workers and younger creatives wanting to break into the industry turned to web blogging — and eventually, new social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram — to post fashion, beauty and lifestyle content.

Early 2000s pop culture was defined by excess, with shoppers spending on goods like designer “it bags.” When the recession hit, shoppers were blamed for bringing about the economic downturn, mainly for spending beyond their means. In order to pay for these purchases, consumers were taking on more household and mortgage debt, which became contributing factors.

The “recessionista” emerged as a popular trope in fashion blogs. Recessionistas were savvy, mainly female consumers who spent hours shopping at discount chains like TJ Maxx to find good deals on fashionable purchases.

They taught their online followers how to spend money efficiently and avoid overpriced designer goods. Recessionistas became coded as productive consumers. Almost 20 years later, the recessionista has re-emerged, this time as the deinfluencer on TikTok.

Deinfluencing content goes viral

In January 2023, deinfluencing — where social media users encourage their followers to purchase cheaper products rather than more expensive alternatives — became a popular TikTok trend. It quickly went viral, collecting more than one billion views on TikTok.

Deinfluencing content on TikTok was first made buzzworthy within the platform’s beauty community. The trend has since expanded to include other niche areas like fall seasonal shopping and Amazon Prime Days.

Like the recessionista, deinfluencing gained attention during a unique cultural moment. The cost-of-living crisis dominated news headlines. Watching online videos by influencers displaying lavish PR hauls became difficult for people who were struggling to afford basics, like groceries.

Mascaragate and authenticity

In addition to financial anxiety, people’s search for authenticity was a catalyst for deinfluencing content. Enter: Mascaragate, the TikTok scandal surrounding the infamous sponsored TikTok video by beauty influencer Mikayla Nogueira. Nogueira was promoting L’Oréal’s new Telescopic Lift Mascara, but TikTok users noticed that she was wearing false eyelashes.

Early deinfluencing videos condemned Nogueira for unethically promoting mindless consumption. In this way, Nogueira was framed as the same wasteful female consumer of the early 2000s, and the deinfluencer as the more ethical recessionista.

Critics, however, argue that deinfluencing is meaningless because, as a trend, it still encourages users to shop. Whether you promote a $50 foundation from a high-end beauty brand or a cheaper drugstore alternative, you’re still promoting consumption.

But that’s the whole point of the viral trend. Deinfluencing informs social media users how to keep the consumer cycle going by still shopping, only now more efficiently. It’s a trend where social media users are rebranding consumption into an efficient, productive activity for today’s turbulent economy.

What’s ahead for consumer trends?

Deinfluencing certainly makes social media users think harder about how they’re spending their money. And we might all need a little bit of that.

But deinfluencing can also have the unintended effect of making it seem consumers are solely responsible for navigating financial crises. What recession-era consumption trends like deinfluencing can sometimes do is shift focus from the institutional figures responsible for economic stability to individual shoppers.

And it’s frequently purchases made by female consumers, like designer bags and beauty products, that are judged as wasteful or unnecessary. Consumer culture and the influencer industry are both historically female domains. Gendered tropes like the excessive consumer or unethical influencer often get blamed for economic crises, and then recessionistas and deinfluencers — oftentimes women — are then tasked to help address the issue.

As the economy struggles, influencers will continue to post deinfluencing content. Just like the recessionistas before them, they are set on teaching their followers just how to spend their money despite an economy reeling from tariffs — whether it’s their job or not.

Aidan Moir previously received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

– ref. Deinfluencing shapes how we think about shopping, and our economy – https://theconversation.com/deinfluencing-shapes-how-we-think-about-shopping-and-our-economy-264454

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Jenna Sapiano, Research Fellow, Peace Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

Global security indicators suggest a significant deterioration in peace and stability. By most accounts, the world is now more violent and more dangerous than at any point in recent history.

In 2024, the number of state-based conflicts worldwide reached its highest level since 1946. Military expenditures have risen for 10 consecutive years, surpassing $2.7 trillion annually.

A record number of children have been victims of armed conflict, and gains in women’s rights hang in the balance around the world amid record levels of conflict.

The world is confronting converging crises. In September 2024, the United Nations convened the Summit for the Future, an initiative by the UN secretary-general aimed at addressing the collapse of the post-Cold War multilateral system, as well as the increasing number of conflicts and humanitarian emergencies. All of this is occurring in the climate change era.

These crises are interlinked, as violence becomes more likely as a consequence of rising temperatures and drought conditions. Militaries are also responsible for high levels of greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction from war amounting, in some cases, to the crime of ecocide.

Increased military spending

The overwhelming response to rising global violence and insecurity has been to boost military funding.

In Europe, this is partly driven by a justified fear of Russian aggression following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The risk of Russia dragging NATO into a conflict remains a constant concern, which was evident when Russia recently sent drones over Polish and Romanian airspace.

At the 2025 NATO summit, under pressure from the Americans, members pledged to allocate five per cent of their GDP annually to core defence needs and defence and security-related expenses by 2035. Most European countries had already increased their military budgets in 2024; so has Russia.

China’s military spending has consistently increased over the past 30 years. The United States, the world’s largest military spender, also boosted spending in 2024 as it continues to send vast amounts of military aid to Israel amid allegations it’s committing genocide against the Palestinians.

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The cost of neglect

Meanwhile, organizations invested in peacemaking and peacebuilding continue to face funding shortages. The sector has been described as “being stripped and downsized.”

This was on display when Donald Trump’s administration defunded and shut down the United States Institute of Peace, a congressionally established institution, within months of taking office.

Nevertheless, peace organizations have struggled with funding cuts for some time, experiencing reduced support for core costs and a shift towards more project-based funding, which has increased competition and pressure from donors.

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The consequences of underfunding peace are not abstract.

American funding cuts and a global backlash against women’s rights have pushed gender equality off the agenda. Women-led peace initiatives, in particular, face a lack of funding, even as this year marking the 25th anniversary of the United Nations’ Women, Peace, and Security agenda, which highlights the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts.

Nonetheless, violence against women and girls remains severe in places like Afghanistan, where the Taliban has created a system of gender apartheid, and Palestine, where the Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, has called Israel’s deliberate killings of Palestinian women and girls a femi-genocide.

A global crisis of violence

In this more globally fragmented world, international peace architecture is crumbling amid growing tensions between powerful states, and humanitarian needs continue to rise largely due to violent conflicts. So why do governments persist in spending more on their militaries and arms, while investing very little in peacebuilding and peacemaking?

This trend is only making the world more dangerous for everyone. As Chris Coulter, executive director of the Berlin-based Berghof Foundation, a non-governmental and non-profit organization supporting people in conflict,
reminds us: “A truly secure world needs dialogue and peacebuilding, not just defence budgets.”

Many others in the peace community have made similar appeals.

The world is still learning how to build sustainable peace. Many of the peace agreements signed over the past few decades have fallen apart, and parties have resumed fighting. Even in places where agreements have held, structural and everyday violence remains widespread, especially for women.

Deal-making rather than solutions

We are also witnessing a concerning shift from peacemaking to deal-making, along with the abandonment of liberal peacemaking norms, such as inclusivity and impartiality.

Further evidence of the failure of peacemaking is the move towards short “tactical pauses” in fighting rather than the negotiation of more sustainable solutions to conflicts.

Unless states rebalance their investments towards peacebuilding, the current trajectory points to escalating insecurity, further undermining international norms, human rights and security. Disproportionately relying on military spending for security purposes fails to prevent conflict and has a detrimental impact on gender equality, human rights and peacemaking.

States must resist the urge to continually increase their military budgets to the excessive levels they are now approaching; instead, they must also invest in peace research, mediation efforts and peacebuilding organizations.

Jenna Sapiano does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. The world on the brink: Why governments must invest in peace, not just arms – https://theconversation.com/the-world-on-the-brink-why-governments-must-invest-in-peace-not-just-arms-264543

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Adam Skoyles, PhD Candidate, School of Planning, University of Waterloo

The housing affordability crisis is top of mind for many around the world, including Canadians. Between 2019 and 2024, house prices in Toronto and Montréal had an average annual increase of 6.7 per cent and 10.2 per cent, respectively.

Prices throughout the country are expected to continue increasing over the next decade and as a result, the pressure is intense to rapidly increase residential development.

Yet, municipal governments must balance this pressure with other tasks, like preparing for the effects of climate change. Some of the most pressing challenges for cities include meeting their housing and climate change goals without massive changes in land use to maintain green spaces and the benefits they provide to people.

Natural spaces like parks and woodlands provides many diverse benefits to city residents, from helping to cool off surrounding neighbourhoods to providing recreational areas.

The advantage these spaces have over grey infrastructure is that they can simultaneously help combat multiple challenges faced by cities, including poor air quality, heatwaves and flooding. When nature is intentionally used to combat these types of challenges, it is referred to as nature-based solutions.

Nonetheless, nature-based solutions are still rarely implemented in developments. Therefore, it’s important to identify and use key opportunities that can help communities balance their competing goals by increasing the use of nature-based solutions.

By highlighting these opportunities, we can inform municipal governments, developers and residents about how communities can be built to successfully combat climate change and other challenges.

In our recent study, we interviewed planners and developers throughout Ontario to identify these opportunities.

Nature in development

Municipal planners and private land developers across Ontario are obliged by provincial policy to consider nature in their decisions about the planning and development of neighbourhoods.

However, this largely happens because they are required by law to protect municipal natural heritage systems (large woodlots or wetlands, for example), and not because they understand or support the benefits from nature, such as flood prevention.

Natural features that fall outside the natural heritage system, such as smaller woodlots or individual trees, are not protected by provincial policy. Instead, they can be protected by municipal policy or bylaws. However, these policies and bylaws vary, and some municipalities do a better job than others in protecting nature for their residents.

Developers often see protected nature as a barrier to development, but some of them also understand that it provides benefits to residents. Some try to make use of nature in innovative ways, like building natural pathways or naturalized creeks through a subdivision.

Unfortunately, municipalities sometimes push back against these innovations because of concerns over maintenance costs and worries about possible interference with infrastructure.

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Nature and climate change

Overall, the planners and developers we interviewed recognized that nature can help communities fight the effects of climate change.

They stated that planning policies and bylaws are also starting to change in ways that can address these concerns. For example, many municipalities have established tree canopy targets or introduced more restrictive stormwater management requirements.

But climate change is rarely stated as the reason for a change to policy and bylaws. For example, a city might recognize tree cover is important for the city environment and introduce a tree protection bylaw, but that does not mean the bylaw addresses climate change.

Similarly, developers might plant trees to beautify a neighbourhood and make it more desirable for home buyers, but they might not do this to reduce climate change impacts. Addressing climate change only implicitly or as a side effect makes it much harder to co-ordinate different actions and can limit their overall effectiveness.

A main reason why the climate change benefits of nature are considered only implicitly is that planners and developers are uncertain about how reliable the information is for quantifying these benefits.

Another problem is that municipalities differ in how they address these issues, which creates highly variable regulatory conditions. Having province- or nation-wide standards would help fix this issue.

Though they are not yet widely implemented across Canada, some municipalities use green development standards as a key mechanism for introducing benefits of nature in developments. These standards work, for example, by mandating a minimum percentage of green landscaping on a development site. Unfortunately, Ontario’s recently passed Bill-17 has created uncertainty around these standards.

Ways to support nature-based solutions

There are key opportunities to support building more sustainable and climate-ready communities through increased use of nature-based solutions in developments. These opportunities largely come through policy, tools and people:

1. Provincial and municipal policy changes that consider the climate change benefits of nature-based solutions could help increase its use in development. This could be done by strengthening and expanding green development standards, like those currently implemented in some cities.

2. Developing and using tools that can rigorously quantify the climate change benefits of nature-based solutions could also have substantial impact. These tools could clarify the benefits of nature-based solutions and provide a solid argument for their increased use.

3. Collaboration between the public and private sectors is crucial to encourage increased use of nature-based solutions. Whether it is working together to craft realistic policy goals or to incorporate new tools, both sectors are key to ensuring changes are effective and efficient.

Adam Skoyles has received funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Michael Drescher receives or has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, and the Natural Assets Initiative. Michael Drescher has had a volunteer position for Carolinian Canada and has worked with the Ontario Land Trust Association.

– ref. Canadian cities can prepare for climate change by building with nature – https://theconversation.com/canadian-cities-can-prepare-for-climate-change-by-building-with-nature-263608

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Gio Dolcecore, Assistant Professor, Social Work, Mount Royal University

Lavender marriages, traditionally entered into by LGBT+ individuals to conceal their sexual orientation, are on the rise, according to several news sources, with some even calling them a “trend.”

Historically, lavender marriages refer to unions — often between two consenting LGBT+ individuals — formed as a way of concealing same-sex attraction in a society where being openly queer could mean social ostracism, career ruin or even criminalization.

Crucially, they were not loveless. On the contrary, they were bonds of protection and safety between two people navigating the reality of bias, prejudice and discrimination of society and politics.

Lavender marriages can be confused with mixed orientation marriages, but there is a difference: in mixed-orientation marriages, partners have different sexual orientations from one another. That doesn’t mean these relationships don’t make sense — plenty of couples do well without sharing the same orientation.

But are lavender marriages actually making a comeback? The answer is complicated. While social progress has made queer lives more visible, many still fear coming out because of social, religious, cultural and political pressures.

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The roots of lavender marriages

Nowhere were lavender marriages more visible than during Hollywood’s Golden Age (1930-60s), when the Motion Picture Production Code — known as the Hays Code after the president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America from 1922 to 1945 — imposed restrictions on “immorality” and demanded that stars maintain a carefully constructed image.

For example, the 1933 film Queen Christina portrayed an androgynous queen who shared a kiss with another woman. If the film were released a year later than it was, the androgynous image and kiss would have had to be removed to comply with Hays Code.

Notable examples in Hollywood include actor Rock Hudson, whose studio reportedly orchestrated a marriage to shield his private life from public scrutiny, and stage actress Katharine Cornell, whose marriage to director Guthrie McClintic was widely regarded as a partnership of convenience that allowed both to live more authentically in private.

Earlier still, silent film idol Rudolph Valentino faced speculation about his sexuality, and was rumoured to have entered into marriages that offered him protection amid tabloid attacks.

For these celebrities, lavender marriages were not only about survival in a hostile era, but also a way of retaining access to their careers, audiences and cultural influence.

Queer censorship today

It is unsurprising that lavender marriages have returned to public discussion, given that similar concerns of queer censorship are currently happening.

Inside Out 2 (2024) was rumoured to remove a transgender character to avoid international backlash, while Elio (2025) was also rumoured to erase queer subtext from the movie’s final cut.

Censorship of queer culture is on the rise as political and social movements directly attack the LGBTQ+ community. Examples include book censorship policies, exclusion of queer art and rising violence against drag performances.

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These realities were poignantly illustrated in the 2022 Pakistani film Joyland, which captures the grief and danger of living inauthentically when family bonds, social safety and political punishment are at stake.

Similar stories are surfacing in real life. In 2024, People profiled a 90-year-old grandmother who came out as bisexual after her husband’s death, revealing their 63-year union had been a lavender marriage of mutual protection.

Another People story followed a woman raised in a conservative Mormon community who married a man to conform, only to come out at 35 and reconnect with her first love.

Even today, couples negotiate these dynamics in new ways — Business Insider recently highlighted a gay man and straight woman who married not to hide but to redefine love on their own terms, while rejecting the label of “lavender marriage.”

The pressure to pass as heterosexual — whether by marrying, dating or travelling with opposite-sex friends — remains a strategy of safety for many queer people around the world.

Lavender and lesbians

The symbolism of lavender itself has particular resonance in lesbian culture. Throughout the 20th century, the colour became a coded reference to women who loved women, at once stigmatizing and unifying.

During the “Lavender Scare” of the 1950s, the U.S. government dismissed and persecuted lesbians and gay men in federal employment under the guise of “security risks.”

Yet lavender was also reclaimed as a badge of solidarity and resistance. Early lesbian feminists incorporated lavender into marches, protest sashes and art, using it as a way of asserting presence and pride in a culture that demanded invisibility.

The impact of concealment

Academic research consistently shows that concealment of sexual orientation remains widespread. A 2019 global public health study from estimated that 83 per cent of lesbian, gay and bisexual people worldwide hide their orientation from most people in their lives.

Research in Hong Kong found that concealment increases loneliness and diminishes feelings of authenticity, directly impacting well-being.

In Canada, a 2022 study of LGBTQ+ health professionals revealed how concealing one’s identity shapes daily decisions about disclosure, often producing stress and internal conflict in professional settings. Bisexual individuals frequently report concealing their orientation to avoid stigma from both heterosexual and queer communities.

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“Passing” as straight is often a survival strategy shaped by stigma, with lasting consequences for identity, relationships and health. Lavender marriages remind us that queer lives have always been shaped by the tension between resistance and survival. Visibility itself can be an act of defiance, whether on a movie screen, in a march or in daily life.

However, visibility carries real risks: estrangement from family, discrimination or social backlash, political punishment or threats to personal safety. At the same time, concealment has often been a pragmatic choice to preserve dignity, livelihood and community.

Redefining marriage and partnership

These histories and contemporary examples reveal that marriage and partnership have never been one-size-fits-all.

For queer people, unions can be built around protection, friendship, parenting, finances or chosen kinship, just as much as romance or desire. To call them all “lavender marriages” risks oversimplifying the complex ways people craft love and survival.

Modern marriage is not bound by tradition alone; it is defined by the people who build it and by the choices they make to balance safety, authenticity and resistance in a world still learning to accept them.

This dual significance — lavender as both concealment and resistance — helps explain why the term continues to resonate today, as scholars, activists and communities revisit these marriages not simply as personal compromises, but as reflections of broader homophobia and gendered policing that continue to share queer history.

Gio Dolcecore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Lavender marriages: What queer unions and relationships can teach us about love and safety – https://theconversation.com/lavender-marriages-what-queer-unions-and-relationships-can-teach-us-about-love-and-safety-264179