Naked adults in front of children … Denmark’s unconventional ‘body’ education

A volunteer with a full body tattoo answers a question on the Danish children’s show ‘Ultra Strips Down’. [해당 프로그램 유튜브 화면 캡쳐]

“Are you satisfied with your important areas?”

A child in the audience raises his hand and asks the naked adults a question. Then the other children who noticed it also raised their hands as if they were waiting. This is the story of the popular Danish children’s show ‘Ultra Strips Down’, which the New York Times (NYT) covered on the 18th (local time).

After the first broadcast in 2019, the children’s show Ultra Strips Down, which made its way into season 2, puts five other naked adults on stage each time. Receive questions from the children of the audience. The audience, comprised only of 11-13 year olds, asks a variety of questions. “When did you start getting body hair?”, “Do you have any ideas about removing tattoos?”

The program official said “Created a program as an educational tool to promote ‘body positivity’“Body positivity means that you love your body as it is. Since 2017, the campaign has spread to women around the world, becoming an opportunity for ‘plus size’ models to be active in the fashion industry.

Janique Shaw (29), host and planner of the show, said: “The feelings of dissatisfaction with the body or the feeling that it is not perfect come from social media.” It is noted that 90% of the bodies we see on social media are perfect, but 90% of real people do not have that body.

“People are fat and have hair. There are even eruptions. I wanted to show my kids that all of these things are okay since I was young. ”

However, as this program is for children, please strictly follow the rules. Only children with parental permission can participate as audience members, and naked children and adults are not captured with the same camera angle. If children are uncomfortable, they can stay with the teacher in the space provided behind the scenes. Also, the adults who go on stage each week are volunteers, not actors.

A 76-year-old volunteer on stage told the audience: “We have ordinary bodies here” and “I hope you understand that ordinary bodies look like this.”

There are also voices against the program. “The program is too early for children,” said Peter Schorub, a member of the far-right Danish People’s Party. He then argued, “You should let your children learn from school or from their parents, rather than in this vulgar way.”

Volunteers remove their gowns to ask questions of children in the Danish children’s program ‘Ultra Strips Down’. [해당 프로그램 유튜브 화면 캡쳐]

However, Ultra Strips Down is very popular in Denmark. In 2019, it was awarded the ‘Best Children’s Program Award’ at the Danish Television Festival.

“Some people may be surprised and say, ‘I tied up the exhibit and the kids,’” Shaw said. This has nothing to do with sex. See the body naturally, as children doI emphasized.

Sophie Münster, who published two bestsellers on parenting in Denmark, told the NYT that “Danish parents generally prefer to expose their children rather than defend them from anything.”

He admitted that “a children’s show that exposes naked adults can be extreme among Danish methods,” he said. “But the only Danish way to calm children’s anxiety about the body is to expose them to nudity.” . She said, “We show children reality as it is.”

Reporter Baek Hee-yeon [email protected]