Nudity on children's public TV

[Caipora]

I picked up a book for this kids on the way home this afternoon, based on the a popular children's TV show, Castelo Rá-tim-bum. It has a section full of "why" questions and answers. Right between "WHY aren't we born knowing how to speak English, like Americans?" and "WHY do we have to learn mathematics even though we know we don't want to be engineers or work in a bank or as a cashier when we grow up?" is

WHY do we have to wear clothes?

BECAUSE we need to keep our bodies warm. If we get chilled, we wind up getting sick. Indians usually go nude because they live in places that are hot, and because they haven't agreed that they will hide their bottoms and pipi makers from each other. This is why people who aren't Indians don't go nude, even when it is very hot. Because a long time ago beople started to get embarassed to show what all women have and what all men have, and it got to be agreed that everyone would use clothes almost all the time. (Almost, clearly, because nobody takes a bath wearing clothes.)

The illustration is an Indian with a feather in his headband, a necklace, two armbands, and his "pipi maker" visible.

Two occasional characters on the show are Indian boys of about six or eight who don't wear clothes, and aren't photographed from careful angles either.

All of the episodes were filmed about thirteen or fourteen years ago. (It's in perpetual reruns.) The runt of the three principal child characters, Zequinha, is the one who always asks "Why?" He's about eight on the show. He is still an actor, and I saw him a few months back in one of the five, three-hour parts of Teatro Oficina's "Sertões". Highly recommended. Zequinha was playing an Indian for the first hour, and wasn't wearing a stitch.

- Caipora

[simonsebs]

You'll never see something like that on Sesame Street. Maybe we should come up with a show that would teach kids nudist values.

[Sauna]

I have never understood why to hide nakedness from children. They do not see anything bad in it and it do not hurt them. It is still natural to them untill we spoil them. Clothes are teached and nakesness is the natural status. Be happy that you have those naked indians in your country tellin that clothes are really not needed.

[RalphVa]

Oughta be shown on public TV on Saturday mornings here in the US. Might teach the kids something RIGHT.

[Kari P]

It's not common, but Finnish tv has shown naked children in children's programs (that I have seen). I don't know about the current frequency because I don't any longer look at children's programs, or actually don't watch tv at all.

[Fuzzy Nuts]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RalphVa:
Oughta be shown on public TV on Saturday mornings here in the US. Might teach the kids something RIGHT. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

If it is it will be picked by Canadians and maybe our kids will learn a thing or two.

[Nooder]

Sadly very few children's TV shows deal with the issue of nudity and very often it isn't in a positive light http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/sad3.gif

Even modern sex-education videos don't show real people any more. Instead they use cartoon characters. Ridiculous!!

[Rabid_Clam]

Here in the states we have two issues against this. One is the 'supposed to' sect that will say we are 'supposed to' wear clothes always to be decent and then the bible thumpers that will say it is a sin or some other religious notion.

They all make noise and the squeaky wheel get the oil.

[Arnabas]

My wife and I are doing the best we can to make sure our son doesn't grow up self-concious. He's only 4 now and I've taken him to one clothes-free spot here (last year) and hope to do so again.

I really don't get why people are so afraid to let their kids see a natural, nude body, but shows with shooting, killing and maiming are all a-ok.

[Ken Palmer]

I am replying to this post even though it is a bit late. I understand what you are saying Sauna and I agree with you pretty much 100%. But the problem is in our society, we are a lot more "civilized" and we do tend to make a big deal out of being naked. And that's just the point because believe me, children do exactly the opposite because they,for the most part, are natural nudists. I have a friend who has twins who are brother and sister that I visit from time to time. When they were five and six years old, the hardest time she had with them was keeping their clothes on them. One minute they were fully dressed, and the next thing you know they would be flying down the hallway into the living room without a stitch and busting up laughing the whole time! The trouble begins when we,as adults collectively, tear into them and bite their heads off for doing it because the ADULTS are embarrassed, obviously not the children. They think nothing of it because it is natural to them. Well,I have read many National Geographic magazines which featured articles on the Amazon tribes of the rain forest. They too show uncensored photos of both children and adults,and teens, in the nude. Big deal! That is the way the people live or lived! I have heard people from both Europe and Asia laugh at us when we make a big deal out of simply being naked. But the Europeans and these aforementioned Indians tribes have lived that way for centuries. We tend to forget that we are a relatively young country and are a bit shy of ourselves. I think,unless I am wrong, this is one of our worst faults we have regarding this philosophy. The day of us thinking nothing of nudity around children will be a long time coming I am afraid!

Ken Palmer


<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Sauna:
I have never understood why to hide nakedness from children. They do not see anything bad in it and it do not hurt them. It is still natural to them untill we spoil them. Clothes are teached and nakesness is the natural status. Be happy that you have those naked indians in your country tellin that clothes are really not needed. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[Ken Palmer]

Now this is an excellent point Arnabas! We will let children watch such shows as Power Rangers or Small Soldiers which are laden with violence or killing. Yet if a nude person appears on the screen, we are running in and either covering their eyes or grabbing the remote and quickly changing the channel! How hypocritical can we get? One sin is OK but another sin is bad? This can tend to be quite confusing for the kid down the road if you think about it for a minute.

Ken Palmer


<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Arnabas:
My wife and I are doing the best we can to make sure our son doesn't grow up self-concious. He's only 4 now and I've taken him to one clothes-free spot here (last year) and hope to do so again.

I really don't get why people are so afraid to let their kids see a natural, nude body, but shows with shooting, killing and maiming are all a-ok. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[Ken Palmer]

Good point, but good luck on getting their parents to go along with it! And besides, you would never get our beloved T.V. networks with our standards to broadcast it to begin with!

Ken Palmer


<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RalphVa:
Oughta be shown on public TV on Saturday mornings here in the US. Might teach the kids something RIGHT. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[Zevei]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Caipora:
I picked up a book for this kids on the way home this afternoon, based on the a popular children's TV show, Castelo Rá-tim-bum. It has a section full of "why" questions and answers.
WHY do we have to wear clothes?

BECAUSE we need to keep our bodies warm. If we get chilled, we wind up getting sick. Indians usually go nude because they live in places that are hot, and because they haven't agreed that they will hide their bottoms and pipi makers..

The illustration is an Indian with a feather in his headband, a necklace, two armbands, and his "pipi maker" visible.
- Caipora </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


Hey, that's the way I "dress" for the beach!!!
I didn't know I was a native American.

There's an old line from Shalom Aleichem stories having to do with "pipi makers": A farmer in the town of Chelm (loaded with fools) comes home and tells his wife that the cow didn't give him much milk this morning. His wife goes to the dairy barn and discovers that what he was trying to get milk from was THE BULL. So she told him "He gave you something, but it wasn't milk".

Zevei http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/rolleyes2.gif

[TigerTeam]

I've always wondered why there isn't more nudity for minors in films and cable TV. There are lots of scenes out there where some adult is shown innocently undressed going from the shower or skinnydipping. Why does this always have to be exclusively for adults? It sorta conveys the message that nudity follows sex in its appropriateness for minors. I recall one film where Phoebe Cates was nude showering in a waterfall and she was I think 17 at the time. Not sure if there has been any other examples.

[timothyc]

i do remember on sesame street a few months ago they talked about people taking baths and they did show some of the small children naked including showing a couples rear end without blurring it out.

[nudebushwalker]

I have seen some childrens shows produced outside of the USA, and some G and PG movies, that have had under-age nudity in them, but no doubt they would be edited down before being shown in the US (and some Middle Eastern, and other conservative markets..).

[kphoger]

A year or two ago, my wife (perhaps then still my fiancée) suggested we watch "The Blue Lagoon", a movie she remembered watching years ago. If you haven't seen the movie, it's about two kids who are stranded and grow up on a desert island, showing plenty of innocent nudity.

There is a small amount of adult content, such as masturbation and sexual intercourse, but neither one is explicitly shown or directly addressed, and I imagine kids wouldn't pick up on it at all. The movie is rated R, but in my opinion is quite suitable for children. We rented ours from Movie Gallery, and I'm sure it would be carried in any movie store that carries older movies.

[Stevel]

Lord of the Flies is another good movie about innocent nudity,

Its a shame so many children are being raised and grow up feeling "Ashamed" of their body and not fully accepting of it in its most natural form.