Abstract
This article is written in response to the work of Damien Riggs, providing a critical reading of his analysis of the inherent homophobia and gender normativity present in a selection of sexuality education websites targeted at children. Taking up the productive possibilities of both silences and narrative disruptions, the author examines a moment of unlearning from his own educational practice alongside a reading of the film Tomboy (dir. Sciamma, 2011) in which a narrative of gender development is plotted around contingency, lack of explanation and emergence. In contrast to Riggs' call for ‘proactive’ strategies of inclusiveness as a way of countering the closing down of sex and gender conversations among children, the author reconsiders the childlike capacities of adults and thus aims to destabilise privileged constructions of adulthood.