News broke last week - if it really can be called ‘news’ - that the Fogle family (TV personality Ben, wife Marina, and children of 8 and 6) are happily naked at home, in fact, consciously so. It made a number of national newspapers and BN were also interviewed on national radio.
Marina appeared on Good Morning Britain (about 1:45 in) and completely nailed it.
- She spoke sensibly about wanting her children to understand about real bodies and not be ashamed.
- She is keen to allow children to learn for themselves and stated her belief that leading by example is far more effective than telling them.
- She was aghast that anyone can suggest there is an arbitrary age at which children should not see naked parents, or other adults for that matter.
- She referred to relaxed attitudes overseas - having recently experienced an Austrian spa - and the low teenage pregnancy rates in more enlightened countries
As often happens on TV, the producers brought in an adversary. It’s no wonder our kids are stressed about their appearance if this mum’s views are representative of the public. She ranted without foundation, regurgitating the usual fear of nudity, and perhaps even misunderstood the discussion completely focusing on privacy when going to the toilet and clearly believing that anyone - especially a man - being naked around others is up to no good and about to do harm.
Well done, Marina, we support your views completely. We expect there are many thousands of families in the UK - who, like Marina, would not consider themselves ‘nudists’ - who have realised that the learned behaviour of ‘modesty’, the social conditioning that somehow clothes are always essential, and that children need protecting from their own human bodies is all nonsense and actually causes harm rather than avoiding it.
Read our report Children Deserve Better