Touch of Life is a breath of fresh air

Nudity is such a taboo in the United States, you'd think we were all walking around in invisible burkas. Nude or even topless beaches are scarce to non-existent; women feel the need to contort themselves into pretzels to conceal the fact that they're breastfeeding a child the way nature intended; and the whole country goes into paroxysms when they see a bit of nipple on national television. (It's no surprise that that incident was the most Tivo'd event in history. Shocking! Scandalous! Let's rewind and watch it again in slow motion!)

Now, a breath of fresh air: an ABC news affiliate in Washington D.C., WJLA, has broadcast on a non-cable channel an extended story about the importance of women conducting regular doctor and self breast exams. And the footage includes a real woman demonstrating a real self-exam, with no coy blurring or masking.

The web version of the story begins with a bright red screen saying "WARNING: THE FOLLOWING VIDEO CONTAINS ADULT MATERIAL. Viewer discretion advised" -- which is a bit disappointing, because it suggests that what you're about to see is red-band pornography rather than a story affecting roughly half of all humanity that might very well save thousands of lives. Still, it's a major milestone.

It will be interesting to watch the response. So far, WJLA's own online poll and comments summary are running six to one in favor of the broadcast. (Interestingly, the news story on ABC.com about the controversy actually censors its own image. How quaintly meta.) The most interesting thing to come out of this is that attention is being generated not about the nudity but about the underlying justification: are self-exams actually helpful in combatting breast cancer?

Some will say--with some justification--that showing a woman's breasts is in no small part a ploy to boost viewer ratings. "Dr. Nancy" on MSNBC does a good job of weighing the pros and cons in a rational, non-tabloid way. But the fact that it was broadcast at all is unprecedented for American television. If it opens the door to the idea that there are legitimate reasons for non-sexual, non-pixelated nudity on television, or to the idea that nudity isn't that big of a deal after all, then this is a good thing. It's a step in the right direction, toward the more relaxed attitudes demonstrated this year by British television, and the even more relaxed attitudes demonstrated daily on European TV. It's just bodies, people; we all have them; get over the embarassment already.

Could a PSA on testicular cancer be next?