I'm no stranger to the power of getting naked - we experience it every week.
But, we can feel like we're in a bit of a bubble, in our business. Whilst I think there's a widespread problem with how people, and in particular women, view their bodies, do I know it to be so?
Enter 'Naked Education' on Channel 4.
Now, I have to admit, I probably would have got round to taking it a look at it. Eventually. In a mildly interested 'is this going to be shock tv, or actually interesting?' kind of way.
And then a client mentioned it to me and told me I must watch it. So, I did. The whole series, in one go!
There's been a bit of controversy about this show, and I went in with an expectation that it would be largely focused on teens, and their reactions when faced with normal, naked bodies. It's not that at all. OK, it's a bit of that, but this show has body positivity running through its DNA, and this is what makes it watchable and very, very uplifting.
In the US, of course, everybody involved in the show would probably have been sacked, judging by the reaction to a teacher showing a class images of a classical naked statue.
If ever a show has demonstrated the positive power of getting naked, this is it. (And I am not someone who would watch, for example, Naked Attraction).
The show format
Each episode of 'Naked Education' is split into 3 parts.
Yes, one of those is of teens faced with naked bodies. I think anyone questioning this is failing to recognise that, thus far, the 'exposure' these teens have had to bodies is via pornography. Balancing that out with a bit of normality seems like no bad thing, to me. They're addressing different issues around bodies in each of the six episodes, in a classroom environment. It's not designed to titillate, nor does it.
The next (probably main) segment within each episode revolve around someone with a body image issue. There is a 'Naked Brigade' are on hand to help them overcome this.
Finally, there is a section with a meeting between two (or three) people who are facing very specific body image issues, but are on different stages of their journeys.
Pretty much everyone on the show (apart from the teens, obviously!) gets naked, or near to naked, at some point.
And this is where the power of getting naked can really be seen.
Because, for each of them, revealing their bodies in a non judgmental, safe environment is highly liberating for them. They are pushed outside of their comfort zones, with a challenge (with the Naked Brigade right by their sides). And it's being alongside other naked people, who are at ease with their bodies, that gives them the courage to meet their specific challenge.
You could ask why there is any need to be naked?
Well, as with Gok Wan's 'How to Look Good Naked', the power of geting naked, for the people taking part, is not the acceptance of the people around them, it's their own acceptance, of their own bodies.
This is what is liberating them. This is what is empowering them.
They are just being given a safe space to take that step, and the knowledge that it is ok to do so.
What really stands out is that if you met these people, in real life, you would wonder how they can even have these body hang ups, to start with? But they are rooted in societal expectations, childhood bullying, social media pressures, and, crucially, not in how they actually look.
Equally, the 'Naked Brigade' are people who have come through the same trials, and are out the other side. They haven't achieved society's notion of perfect bodies to become comfortable in their own skin. They've rejected those notions, and understood that everyone has the right to love themselves.
I challenge you not to watch this series and, when you see the women, with their body image issues, not to want to just give them a hug and say ‘but look at you, you’re fabulous’.
Please, then, do that very same thing for yourself.
Our bodies are completely normal. It's time to accept them.
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