Baring all to help women to open up about their bodies
“NAKED?! ACTUALLY naked?” is usually the first reaction we get when we tell people about
recorded conversations with different women with our kit off. And it’s a fair point.
It was my fellow BBC Radio Sheffield reporter Kat Harbourne who initially came to me saying: “Jen, I’ve got this idea.”
I jumped on board immediately because I thought it was bold, brilliant and unlike anything I’d heard before.
Kat and I have been friends for years – we’re both in our thirties and have both got to a point where we are sick and tired of hearing the funny, fabulous, fearless females in our lives beating themselves up about their bodies.
The negative discourse was deafening and we felt it was time it was silenced.
Kat’s mum died from Huntington’s Disease almost ten years ago. There’s a 50/50 chance Kat has inherited the gene and will develop the disease. That in mind, it seemed so silly that many of us women waste time worrying whether our backsides are big, or if we’re eating the ‘right’ foods, when there’s life to live.
Kat and I regularly interview people with clothes on. But being naked creates an entirely different dynamic.
Neither of us are naturists, and we had never seen each other naked before. We wanted to see if people spoke differently when they had no clothes on, whether they quite literally ‘revealed all’. Do they? Yes!
Taking your clothes off with strangers is quite an unusual experience. Yes, there’s embarrassment, yes, it can be awkward, but it is a shared and intimate experience.
We’ve found it provokes an honesty and openness. There is a vulnerability but also a strange empowerment to the whole process.
Kat and I have each shared stories about ourselves that the other didn’t know about. We thought we might struggle to find guests, and the first few phone calls were a bit awkward.
However, we were thrilled with how many women said ‘yes’ immediately, and totally understood what we were trying to do.
The first woman to get naked with us was Sam Cleasby from Sheffield, who lives with an ostomy bag after having her colon removed.
None of us knew where to look initially, but it’s funny how soon you get used to being in the buff.
Being naked also meant that while talking about her ostomy bag, we could see it and ask questions we may not have done otherwise.
Sam is passionate about disability being something we all talk about – and her willingness to get naked allowed us to be brave in return, and ask some potentially awkward questions.
All of the women we spoke to told us very personal stories.
Life model Alison Glithero opened up about her strict upbringing in a Methodist household.
During our chat, Alison recalled how her mother slapped her when she told her she had started her period and only apologised on her deathbed.
Broadcaster Stephanie Hirst talked about the gender reassignment surgery she’d had.
BRCA gene carrier Becky Measures explained why she needs people to see her breasts, to show them preventative mastectomy is not the end of the world.
The stories the women tell are powerful, moving and hilarious. Getting naked is not a gimmick.
These conversations are raw, brutally honest and, most importantly, real.
Everyone (men included) should listen to and realise they are not alone with their body hang-ups. We want people to appreciate their bodies for what they are and what they can achieve.