A interesting TV episode in the wrong place!
Before I get into this, I want to point out that the series this is from is on Netflix and is about sexual behaviour, which is not a great start. The description for the series is as follows - Shin Dong-Youp and Sung Si-Kyung boldly explore the sex cultures of the Netherlands and Germany, mixing hands-on experiences with revealing interviews.
The two guys are from Korea, where nudity is hidden away from the public view, and they are not used to seeing it.
I was drawn to the series as the episode lists that they go to a mixed-gender spa and meet nudists calling for body freedom in episode two. So I watched just this episode and wondered why Netflix decided that this should be in a series that is all about sex, as this has a very negative effect on the vital thing of trying to explain that nudism/naturism is not sexual.
Now, as for the episode. There are positives and negatives i took from it. In the first scene, the positives are that they visit a mixed-sex spa where men and women change inside a single room together, they can sit in a bar area nude together, and they can also go in the outdoor baths naked together, which is all positive. They have a few people there who explain how it is non-sexual and that it is acceptable in Germany. The episode is all positive so far, and they seem to get the message that being nude is natural and OK. They spend time looking around the place, and everything seems OK, but I spotted a few negative issues that now let this scene down. The two Korean presenters get their locker keys, and one gets number sixty-nine, and they make a thing about this, trying to relate it to a sexual reference for no need. Then, they both stay in robes so they do not get naked, using the excuse of having to wear the microphones and transmitters. The next issue is that when they are sitting talking to people in the baths and someone nude walks by, one of the presenters looks at the person's genitals, so they then play a silly sound. Doing this then objectifies the fact that the presenter is looking directly at the genitalia for no reason. They show everyone nude but blur out the genitals, which I presume is for TV licensing rules but this gives off the message that the naked body is OK but not genitalia.
In the next scene, they go to the Naturist Sports Club in Berlin. Within the first minute, they encounter two naked guys jogging up the path towards them. One of the presenters then bursts out laughing and crouches in hysterics at seeing them. His actions are not a positive reaction in any form, and to be honest, is humiliating. They carry on and meet a naked woman that explains about the club and its history, which is all positive, but then at 14m 45s, I then start to think this may be actors as we then see two "nudists" on swings but not sitting on a towel etc, just bare butts on the seat! We are then clearly shown this again at 15m 24s. Is this just how it is in Germany, or are they just actors who don't know about the naturist etiquette?
Then, at 15m 37s, we are shown a man riding around in a pedal kart, sitting on the seat with no towel, bare bum on a seat. This episode is starting to become flawed as this would not happen at a UK naturist site, even if it is your equipment we cover where we sit out of habit.
From here, there are a lot of positive things mentioned on how Germany has set areas like parks, beaches, etc, where you can be nude. It says about how many FKK areas there are in the country and does give a positive vibe. It goes on to explain about free the nipple movement, which is also all positive, and it seems that the episode will end on a positive note, but then the absolute disaster to the episode; they then show around 45 seconds of the next episode - all about S+M !!! Showing that then brings you down to earth with a bump, reminding you that they have put a naturist-based episode in a series about sexual behaviour.
NETFLIX - you have done nothing positive for naturism with this; there are some good positive points about nudists and some factual things, but why put this episode on a series about sex?
My advice is, by all means, watch the episode (episode 2 in the 2024 Netflix series "Risque Business: The Netherlands and Germany"), but remember that it is in a series about sexual activity and behaviour, which undermines any positivity it gives to naturism.
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