Trans surgery and the problem with Channel 4’s Naked Education

When Channel 4’s new programme Naked Education – in which adults strip naked in front of children – was launched, it promised viewers it would be ‘all about body positivity’, and that it had a mission to ‘champion our differences and break down stereotypes’.  

In the very first episode one of the participants, Martha, stated: ‘you have to accept yourself before you can love yourself’. Self-acceptance, from a therapeutic perspective, is extremely important. 

Unfortunately, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the show, which is aimed at children, has already shown its inconsistent ideology. Entire segments are dedicated to individuals who seemingly did everything they could to change their bodies. The show then portrays them as the epitome of self-acceptance. 

The focus of one episode was a conversation between Lucian and Finn, both of whom referred to themselves as ‘transmen’ (meaning they are biologically female). 

Both Lucian and Finn discuss the ‘medical transition’ they had gone through or wanted to happen. They used the terms ‘gender affirming surgery’, ‘top surgery’, and ‘bottom surgery’.