What's a good way to make sure that children aren't ashamed of having human bodies?
According to the Swedish children's TV channel Barnkanalen, you make "private parts" the subject of open conversation — by way of singing cartoon penises and dancing puppet tampons.
For example:
and
Barnkanalen tells the Guardian that in the case of the menstruation show — which will premiere Friday — the idea is to destigmatize the subject. The public service broadcaster is relying on tampons dressed as pirates and queens to get the message across, plus the vocals of Swedish Youtube star and television personality Alex Hermansson.
"I think it's just fun and cool to talk about periods," he told the Swedish news site the Local. "The more knowledge and transparency [there is] the less of a stigma that many girls carry."
The lyrics he sings are pretty great:
It's a thing that happens to girls sometimes
They don't want to talk about it
Maybe they're a bit ashamed
They don't want us to know anything at all
But we know, that it, it's something totally normal
We just need to be a little extra nice to them
Show a little patience
It's just a little blood
This isn't the first time Barnkanalen has courted cartoonish controversy.
Back in January, the dancing genitals cartoon — starring Willie the Penis and Twinkle the Vagina — sparked outrage. And given that it's at over 6 million views on Youtube, it's certainly raise quite a bit of awareness.
It's refreshing to see such a progressive take on sexual education.
Contrast the virtues of a frolicking cartoon penis with the maddeningly backward culture of sexual health in the US, where only 13 states require that sex ed be medically accurate and Congress funds absistence education with $75 a year. Plus in Mississippi, the state with the second-highest teen pregnancy rate, teachers are ford bidden from demoing how to use a condom.
Watch the Barnkanalen spots below.
