As the dust settles in the wake of Embarrassing Teenage Bodies and we start cranking up for the next series of Embarrassing Bodies in March 2009, it’s been a good time to take stock and assess what kind of impact both the programme and the website had, this time with teens in particular.
In a previous post on my own blog entitled Evidence of Body, I pointed out a special characteristic of this cross-platform initiative – that unusually you can see, after very little time, evidence of immediate, positive changes of behaviour. That observation was made with reference to the week-long series of Embarrassing Bodies broadcast in April/May, but the recent four-part series focused on teenagers yielded similar clear evidence of real public value.
A quick and pretty unscientific trawl through the comments submitted to the Embarrassing Teenage Bodies website – this time there were 11,000 submitted over the six days around transmission! – reveal actual changes of behaviour; the building of confidence around illnesses perceived as “embarrassing”; the prompting of increased openness in discussing such matters; reassurance; clarification; and the encouragement of peer-to-peer support.
On this page you’ll find a brief selection of comments that illustrate the sorts of impact evident across the site. There’s a more comprehensive list of such comments on More Evidence of Body (a post on my blog) or even better, take a few moments to explore the Embarrassing Teenage Bodies website itself to get a feel for what it’s achieved.
Sample quotes:
“thanks teenage bodies thanks to you i’ve had the confidence to go and have a std test.”
“This site and video is soooo useful and informative!!! I feel more confident to see my GP and look him/her in the eye and state my problem.”
“I was worried about how i looked “down there” but this video made me realise everybody is different and that it’s completely normal to worry.”
“GREAT show. It encouraged me to go get something checked out =) & I’m sure it encouraged a lot of other teenagers to get stuff thats bothering them checked out!”
“After watching your show, my husband decided to check himself one night whilst having a shower. To his shock he found a lump. He went straight to his doctor and within a week he had surgery for testicular cancer, needs to have a few more scans, but thanks to the show he managed to find it in time.”
“I find this so embarrassing… but i’m glad to know i’m not the only one.”
“i am so glad i’ve actually found this website, because it has really helped me reading all these comments about other people that have this problem.”
“these videos hav helped me check my self down below and now me and my friends have been comfitable talking to each other about our pubity problems!!!”
I’d be very interested to hear from anyone who watched the shows or used the website – did you feel they engaged viewers with the vital health issues covered in a constructive way? How does this kind of lively, colourful approach to preventive healthcare compare to more official, formal approaches?
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i have had horrible stretchmarks inbetween my thighs for sometime now and makes me so low of my self though people say am beatiful i feel ugly inside can someone help because i have tried every good anti stretchmarks cream but never works.
Hi Alice,
If you go to the Embarrassing Teenage Bodies website and submit your question there, you may be able to get some good advice from others.
Good luck!
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