I am proud to finally be able to share the news, that I am involved with the ground-breaking series Naked Education, created by Betty TV and commissioned by Channel 4, The series aims to overcome stereotypes of body types and body image, celebrate body diversity and experiences, and generate body positivity along the way. I will be talking about being transgender, going through gender transition, discussing phalloplasty, and showing my naked body.
Why I Agreed To Take Part in Naked Education
When I was approached by Channel 4 last year and asked to take part, initially I thought, “There is no way I can do that!” However, I am used to candid sharing. I am incredibly open, here in my blog, in my YouTube videos, in my phalloplasty memoir Top to Bottom, and in all the work I do. After much reflection and chatting with my partner, I could see that a series like Naked Education could help to improve understanding and compassion towards trans people and what we go through. I, therefore, agreed to take part.
Structure Of Naked Education Series
Naked Education contains 6 episodes in the series and each episode is made up of separate segments:
- Teen Talk, where teenagers are in a supervised classroom environment and talk about body issues and get to see naked models of all ages and body types.
- The Naked Brigade, where an individual with body confidence issues, supported by a team of body-positive people, faces a challenge to help them overcome it.
- The Naked Exchange, where two people with similar body journey stories who are at different stages on their journeys meet up for a conversation and, if they wish and feel comfortable, share their naked bodies
My Appearance in The Naked Education
I take part in the Naked Exchange segment where I am paired with Lucian, another trans guy in his mid-twenties. Lucian is earlier on in his gender transition journey and is looking ahead to the future and has questions regarding phalloplasty. We both talk separately and together, about our experiences growing up, coming out as transgender, and going through gender transition.
Within this episode, I get naked and show my body and my completed phalloplasty result to Lucian. Emily Bashforth of Metro News has written a lovely piece about our episode, where she interviews me and Lucian about our reasons for taking part.
Reflections on My Episode
I’m incredibly proud of our Naked Education episode, which I feel has been respectfully and beautifully filmed and represented. Working with the Naked Education production team on set and behind the scenes has been an absolute pleasure. It’s always a concern when it comes to trans representation in the media. However, I was consulted and included at every point, and everyone was clearly keen to learn and get things right in terms of transgender culture and language. I can see, watching the episode back, how much of what I explained about being trans and going through gender-affirming surgery has been listened to and used in the voice-over, graphics and general language throughout the episode.
Positive Feedback
The feedback from those who have already watched the episode has been incredible. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to send me a message. As a trans person, I can’t help but worry about how my community will react. I always want to do our community a good service, to represent us well, that the episode has come across as well as it has it a relief and a joy! I hope it will help improve understanding around gender transition, transgender lives, and gender-affirming surgery, and also help other people who are exploring their gender and gender transition. Seeing a programme like this on TV would have made such a huge difference to my life and my own transition journey. It makes me happy to know the episode is being received this way.
Addressing Incorrect Media Reporting
The series is unfortunately also receiving a lot of unjustified criticism and negativity. I am used to negative feedback, sadly, because I am a visible trans man on social media and I share my story openly. However, the criticism and negativity started long before my episode aired!
The criticism is directed at the Teen Talk segment of the series, of adults being naked in front of teenagers. In typical media style, it has been blown out of proportion. The words being used are heavily emotive, and purposely chosen to cause a reaction. Headlines read, “Strangers flashing themselves to children”.
This is not what is happening in the series at all. The ‘children’ are teenagers, between 14 and 16, who have fully consented. The ‘strangers’ showing their bodies are adults who have gone through production checks and evaluations. The setting is a controlled, safe, classroom environment, supervised by two trained adults. The young people have also been through extensive checks and evaluations, consented, and have been supervised throughout.
Clarifying My Involvement in Naked Education
I am not part of the Teen Talk segment. However, that isn’t stopping me from getting a ton of abuse online about it. I have been inundated with social media comments and private messages calling me a p%do an s*x pest, and far worse that I won’t repeat here. It seems many people involved in the show are getting similar messages, which is utterly disgraceful.
Even though I am not part of the Teen Talk section, I fully support it. Seeing naked bodies, in this context, is not harmful. These teenagers are having incredibly positive and powerful conversations, which will change the way they think about their bodies for the better as they grow into adulthood. As Adam Miller states in his recent Metro Article, “Nudity isn’t immediately sexual and complaining [about] teenagers being shown real naked bodies only suggests that it is”.
Naked Education offers Safe, Non- Sexualised, Body Positive Content
Body representation online is often digitally altered, unrealistic, and overly sexualised. This representation comes with minimal guidance or content warning and that can do so much harm. In Teen Talk, these young people get to have safe, supervised conversations, with adult guidance. Moreover, they get to see everyday bodies, of all ages, gender presentations, shapes and sizes. And in this safe environment, they simply, and incredibly bravely, talk about their views and worries about their bodies. This is life-changing, and they say this themselves.
The people showing their bodies to the teens are people who had their own issues growing up. They want to share their experiences with the teens, in the hope of making a difference. This beautiful, brave, vulnerable exchange is inspirational, moving and powerful. How can anyone watch it and see it as anything but this? The disproportionate moral panic reaction is incredibly insulting to the self-reflective, courageous young people who took part in this series.
Moreover, the controversy around the series highlights that we still have a long way to go in how we view and react to our own and to other people’s naked bodies. Likewise, the attitudes about naked bodies that we pass on to the younger generation.
How to Watch Naked Education (And my Episode!)
My episode of Naked Education, episode 3, airs on Channel 4 on Tuesday the 18th of April at 8 pm. All the incredible, inspiring episodes of Naked Education are now available to watch online on All4
I have had many people from overseas ask where they can watch it, and unfortunately, it’s not currently possible. However, I have been made aware that it is available on YouTube through the channel The Great British. Although I am not sure which country this will work in, or how long the link may remain accessible. As soon as I find any other way to watch it, I will update you here to let you know.
Thanks again for all your kind words and support folks. Big love.
Finn
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