One Question Quiz
asbn5

Pop CultureJanuary 14, 2021

Alice Snedden’s Bad News: Why are we still so scared of breasts?

asbn5

Summer reissue: The latest episode of Bad News follows Alice Snedden on a quest to expose the double standards around nudity, and break down the barriers by getting the first-ever topless scene on Shortland Street.

First published August 25, 2020.

Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members – click here to learn more about how you can support us from as little as $1.

Ever wondered why TK Samuels can’t stop taking his shirt off, but we’ve never seen a woman’s bare chest on Shortland Street? It’s just one of the many double standards that exists when it comes to women’s and men’s bodies, and it’s a double standard Alice wants to rectify.

Meeting with Steve Crow, organiser of Boobs on Bikes, and Fiona McNamara of the Sexual Abuse Prevention Network, she dissects the complexities, profits and harm that come from sexual objectification. Would normalising nudity on screen reduce that harm, or is it not that simple? Getting the lowdown on censorship from senior classifications advisor Erica Brooks, Alice envisions a new kind of Ferndale that frees the nipple for all.

Commissioned by RNZ and made possible by the RNZ/NZ On Air Innovation Fund.

Classification: PG (Parental Guidance Recommended for Younger Viewers). Contains non-sexualised nudity and discussion of abuse.

Keep going!