Breasts, Penis, Vagina – my introduction to TV in the UK

Hi ladies, I’m a new follower of your blog and just wanted to say I absolutely adore it. I’m an american expat, currently living in Valencia, Spain (with hopes of moving to England one day) and I can honestly say that it’s exactly the same way here in Spain.

Every other night, one of the prime time channels plays a documentary about anything and everything sex related around 10-11 pm. The content is a bit more graphic, to the extent of what Americans would call “hardcore porn”, but the show is not presented in a sleezy, raunchy manner.. it discusses people’s stories, their experiments, new sex toys, etc. None of that girls-gone-wild vibe.

According to my father-in-law, who is also an expat here with us, he saw a documentary the other night on poop. No, really.. poop.

Gotta love Europeans for that.

oh my gosh, that sounds soooo awkward! My “also former us expat in England” friend and I were discussing this very topic this morning! Not to mention page 3 girls, what’s up with that!?

One of my first trips here they were having a plastic surgery show on after the news, and showed both a breast augmentation and a vaginal reconstruction in all their gory detail. I was in total shock. And yes, train wreck style, I watched it. (embarrassed to admit)

I remember when I first moved over here and my parents came to visit and we turned on the TV one Saturday night to see Eurotrash. Anyone remember that? OMG. It was like watching a car crash: compulsive, but frightening. Not sure how many details I can go into on this blog so I’ll play it safe and leave it to your imagination–way, way, way worse than breasts!

But back to the original idea. Now that I have been here a while I actually find the openness refreshing. No I wasn’t raised in a naturist household!

Mixed on this, I have an 11 year old daughter and I am not sure I want her to be exposed to that in such a big way although we have over time have already had some of those conversations. Maybe it’s just the sentimental thing about keeping your kids, kids as long as you can but agree that they should not be sheltered…I would have to watch first then maybe let my daughter see. I thought it was funny how open the English were about sex and nudity from newspapers to TV, never did I expect they would be so open…it didn’t match the intensely conservative expressions on their faces…lol.

You forgot to mention Skinemax- oops I mean Cinemax! Lol, though they only do nasty stuff later at night.
Worst experience I ever had was watching Atonement in theatres with my dad- and seeing “CUNT” flash onto the screen!
Awkward lol. I don’t cme from a shy or reserved family- we grew up with only my dad and brother in the house so… my mom and us four daughters kinda ruled the roost. My husband always says that he married into a weird family… but parents, you gotta draw a line somewhere ya know? Lol, and that was mine. Ew ew ew. So now I try to research and movies or tv shows better before I agree to watch em with either parent

This reminds me of when I watched the Director’s cut of Y Tu Mama Tambien with my Mom and Dad. My Mom was tutting and sighing the whole time in disgust… I was bright red pretty much the entire time.

Looking back I think ‘WHY didn’t I just leave the room??’… oh well, if it doesn’t kill you, right?

Waaay back, probably the late 1970s, I was watching a Brit film on US TV with parents. This guy walks into his bathroom and we see him … apply deodorant! I was shocked, *shocked*! This kind of thing is just not shown on TV!

Fast-forward: last year on Canadian TV there was a sex series with one episode discussing the how-to’s of anal sex (presented by a woman, and I think it was aimed at all orientations, though I was just channel surfing and caught the tail end of it). Only mild surprise, and more glad than anything to see education & discussion.

My, how times have changed, but American TV still seems to want to protect us from learning that the human body is normal and not naughty. Maybe doing so preserves its revenue-generating titillation factor? I dunno.

> Caught the tail end! Way to go Chris!

Ditto everything you said. It was so shocking at first until I relaxed and realized things would never be so neutral and open on American tv.

How bout when channel 4 did their “Embarrassing Bodies” series? How about that one while you are eating dinner. Uck!!

—Millymollymandy, good one… hehe

Embarrassing Bodies! OMG, yes! I have to say though there is NOTHING better than a watching a perfectly proper British woman trying to be delicate about describing her “messy bottom” problem. On television, no less! I imagined the she was furiously sipping a cup of tea while on her side, bum aimed at the camera. Never seen a show like it.

Channel 4 has a reputation for being an “edgy” channel, often pushing the boundaries– part of its remit as a public-service broadcaster.

I think the ‘worst’ was a channel Five programme called A Girl’s Guide To 21st Century Sex, as graphic as it got… especially with the “ladies’ parts”, as Cissy & Ada would say. Although it was educational as well, so they could justify such graphic material on a public-service broadcaster.

And you certainly don’t want to be eating an Aero bar, when Kim & Aggy are cleaning out a grubby toilet!

Hahahahah!! Messy bottom… you just couldn’t make this stuff up. When I’m at the Doctor is one of the times when I feel openly relieved to be American. Legs-in-stirrups and english-reserve can’t mix well, surely…

Oh, and Steve – you TOTALLY outed yourself for watch the A Girl’s Guide to 21st Century Sex…