Well, it's a good thing I get to start this blog again! I get to showcase one of my new toys! For those who don't know, every Tuesday I showcase just how unequal the standards of male and female nudity are, even when they're both put in the exact same situation. We call this show No Girls Allowed!
Our first example comes from the Cartoon Network show Dexter's Laboratory. Dexter's Lab was the first original television show produced by Cartoon Network that relied on its own characters instead of Hanna Barbera stock footage. That show, debuting in 1996, was a launchpad for the careers of many animators. It's probably the most important show in Cartoon Network's history, and has left a massive impact through the staff that worked on it.
That show was also very brave about nudity. One common gag was that the main character Dexter would be disrobed for humor's sake, and we'd often see his butt. The most prominent example of this is in the episode "Dexter's Rival" where we see his overjoyed morning routine, which includes him showering. It's very important because this was one of the few times it was used in children's entertainment; while Bart Simpson showed his butt numerous times, that was a strictly adult show. This was a kid's cartoon doing the exact same thing, which showcases how animators were really getting daring in the late 90's!
Unfortunately, I'd suspect the animators were a band of massive perverts. All the women in this show save the children have massive hips and many of them have large breasts. All of them are also lacking in personality beyond "mom" "surly waitress" "sex object" and "touchy-feely neighbor lady." That lady is of special note since at one point, she bends over and a clue to a mystery is printed on her tight-clad butt.
So if they regard female nudity as anything, it's sure to be sexual. And, as I've said numerous times, no one wants to sexualize children.
So when Dexter's older sister Dee Dee goes through the exact same scenario in the episode "Dee Dee's Rival", that includes a shower scene. Unfortunately, while Dexter's scene bared all, Dee Dee was hidden behind a shower curtain that showed nothing. Rather than try and be daring and do for boys what they did for girls, the animators take the coward's way out and censor completely. Even as a kid that bugged me, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
So, to start off the third portion of the show, I'll introduce you to my dedicated screencap edit guy, Krizeii. I paid him to edit this screenshot to move the curtain to the same place Dexter's was, while at the same time showing as much as he did. What's the difference between the two? Well, to a kid, there isn't any. It's only the adults who've been raised in a society where female nudity is "inherently sexual" that sees this in a bad way, but the target audience doesn't mind one bit and is in fact bugged when the expected doesn't happen.
How unfortunate that this whole show showed it was okay to be brave with boys, but girls needed to be protected at all costs. A chance to change the rules was missed, and for that reason, this scene is the harbinger of the whole problem we're in.
And none of it was necessary at all.