In the Netherlands, a children's
program aiming to promote body
positivity is getting a lot of
backlash from conservatives,
because of the fact that it
involves adult nudity.
Now, I don't want to give too much
away.
I want to show you a little bit
of what this program is all about.
Don't worry, we are not going to
show you any nudity.
But this is all about adults
promoting body positivity by
getting naked in front of
a bunch of kids.
And I think I can kind of
understand why some people
have some pause over that.
Let's take a look at the video.
[FOREIGN] >> No,
the answer is no.
I don't want adults in a room naked
in front of children.
If you want to do body positivity,
do it on a video.
I don't feel comfortable with them
in front of kids.
I'm just keeping it real.
I know, I know.
I'm an American.
I'm so backwards.
I'm so conservative.
I'm also an American who's covered
too many stories about adults doing
things that prey on children.
I don't mean that these people
are necessarily bad people, okay?
I want to be clear about that.
I don't think that you need to have
naked adults in the same room as
these kids, in order to make
a point about body positivity.
That's where I stand on it.
Don't at me.
Go, Cenk.
>> Okay, look,
I think it's a really interesting
issue, because it points out how
different the cultures are, right?
And that's just fascinating,
overall.
So in America,
we view people adults showing their
body parts and their genitalia to
kids as perverts.
We arrest them, and
we put them on a list.
And not only after do they serve
a significant amount of prison
time, but afterwards,
they could barely live anywhere,
barely get a job anywhere,
wind up living under bridges, etc.
In the Netherlands,
they're showing it on TV.
It's not blurred.
We blurred it for
the American audience.
The kids in the room see it.
But not only that,
they show it on television.
Everybody sees it full.
>> I'm fine with that, by the way.
I'm fine with that.
I want to be clear.
I don't have a problem with
the nudity.
I don't have a problem with
the children seeing the nudity.
I have a problem with
adults walking into a room and
undressing in front of children.
And I know I'm going to be the bad
guy.
I'm just worried that it's going to
attract certain adults who get
a kick out of that.
That's why I think it's okay
if it's hey, we're doing this, but
we're showing kids
a video of nudity.
Or you know what I'm saying?
I'm trying to make my point without
being unfair to the adults that
were featured in that episode,
right?
Because I don't know who those
adults are, and I don't mean to
accuse them of anything.
I'm just saying that you're opening
yourself up to a possible disaster
by creating a situation in which
live adults walk into a room
full of children, and then undress.
I'm not into that.
>> Yeah, look, for
us that grew up with this culture,
I partly grew up in Turkey,
partly grew up in America.
And in neither one of those
cultures is adults disrobing in
front of kids acceptable.
So it's hard for
us to wrap our heads around it.
And I remember growing up,
there was a cartoon in the adult
magazines called Chester
the Molester, and he would have
a robe, or a raincoat.
And then he would show kids, right?
Or he would
show women his genitalia here.
They're doing it on television.
But they don't view it as that
at all.
They're viewing it as educational.
This is what a human body
looks like, etc.
And no one thinks
it's the actor's fault, or
those people that are on stage.
The men clearly were not excited.
When you see it unblurred,
that's clear, right?
But for me, just having grown up in
a culture that look, there's a lot
of parts of Northern Europe where
I think it's too progressive.
And I'm considered one of the most
progressive people in America.
I'm considered in Washington at
least a radical progressive.
But when I see Norway debating with
serial killers what level
of PlayStation they should have,
is should it be PlayStation 3 or 4?
I'm like, are you guys nuts?
And you're thinking about letting
Breivik out?
No, that's too liberal for me.
I just can't do it, right?
In this case- >> Well, look,
in that area.
Go ahead Cenk. Sorry, go ahead.
>> No, just real simple.
I just can't get past the hurdle
of right or wrong culturally, every
part of my identity screaming no,
don't do it, right?
It doesn't mean I'm right,
but that's just a reaction we
have here.
>> I think we have a poll on this,
because I'd love for
you guys to weigh in.
But don't at me,
as I mentioned earlier [LAUGH].
If you disagree with me,
I'm not trying to be approved.
I'm just worried.
Anyway, here's the poll.
So Netherlands,
more like Nether Regions.
On a new Dutch kids show called,
I'm not going to try that.
Or Simply Naked,
adults have all body types stripped
down in front of children between
the ages of 10 and 12, and
answer questions about everything
from being ashamed of certain body
parts, to shaving versus waxing.
We ask you,
would you let your kids watch this,
yes or no?
So I'm really curious what you guys
have to say about it,
tyt.com/polls.
>> Yeah, look,
if my kids see a picture in a book,
in the right context,
in a health class,
I'm not conservative.
I'm not going to be like, my god,
it's a naked body.
Naked bodies are perfectly normal.
Would I let my kids watch
five adults disrobe
like that on a TV show?
No, I'm going to vote no.
I'm not saying I'm right.
I'm just saying how
I'm going to vote.
But I'm with Anna, I mean,
we're asking the poll question,
because I'm super curious what our
progressive audience
thinks of this.
And probably, a lot of you will
think don't be ridiculous.
It's just a human body.
It's not anything to get that
prudish over, etc.
And obviously, there's a ton of
people in America who would not
only vote no, but would probably
arrest everyone involved.
>> Jess Ortega from our members is
watching live, obviously,
as we do the story.
And she shares her opinion saying
you can at me if you
have this opinion.
Nothing is
misconstrued in your messaging,
especially the culture we grew up
around here in the United States.
Everything you said makes total
sense, especially
with our standard applied.
And to be clear,
it's not even about our standards.
It's just if you had asked me about
this when I was much younger, and
before we had done so many stories
about children being preyed upon in
the United States, then I would
probably have a different take.
And in this take,
I think it's unnecessary.
You don't need naked adults in
the room.
You can do the same thing without
having naked adults
in the room where children
are being taught body positivity.
That's what I'm trying to say.
>> Yeah, look, the last thing I'll
say is that to the other side,
to make the case for
what the Dutch are doing.
The human body's no big deal.
And in the West, and a lot of other
parts of the world too,
we're obsessed with covering up
the human body.
It's certainly true in
the Muslim world too.
My god, it's so shameful.
It's so shameful.
No, it's not shameful.
Who cares?
Yes, I got news for you guys,
we're animals.
I know you think we're celestial
beings, and we're so important.
We're the center of the universe.
No, we're a tiny little speck in
the universe.
We're an animal like other animals.
We just happen to have
a consciousness.
We defecate. We do all these things
that other animals do, right?
No, I'm just keeping it real.
So in a sense,
what they're doing in
the Netherlands is demystifying it.
And the second defense of what
they're doing is look,
evil stuff grows in the darkness.
And in a lot of cultures that
are more puritanical,
including the American culture,
we cover everything up.
Don't talk about it.
Don't see it. Don't look at it.
The human body's everything, etc.
And then what happens
in the darkness?
Terrible things happen, right?
So I don't know what
the statistics are.
In this case, for example,
on recidivism,
some parts of the Norwegian
system instinctually bother me.
But they have a much lower rate of
recidivism, so they have less crime
because of their system.
So that's the fact.
I don't know what the levels of
molestation, etc, are in Northern
Europe, and in particularly in
Netherlands versus America.
But I bet if you looked it up,
they probably have
lower rates than we do.
And so us having that instinctual
reaction doesn't mean we're right.
It might mean that their more
transparent culture leads to less
of the terrible things happening,
not more.
So that's why I think it's
an interesting and a hard question.
>> No, I think I'm 100% right, and
everyone else is wrong.
I'm just kidding. [LAUGH] >> That's
a great point there.
>> That would be very American
of you.
>> It would, it would. But that's
such a great point.