No more $$$ for Naked Sign Language News in Japan...

You can read all about it, by clicking here.

As an ASL student (ASL = American Sign Language), when I first heard that news... I couldn't stop giggling. :)

Learning a language, motivation is a required ingredient. Shall I say (or sign ) more?

Also, like any language, you want to learn... all the dirty words that native speakers know... but aren't taught in school.

Books like "Merde!" and its siblings in many languages are popular for that reason. The curiosity... and a naughty mind that we all have. Mix the two, and you have a best-seller!

So, in a visual world, which sign language is all about... well, now you understand why it makes sense...

There's a Canadian twist. It is here (from Toronto, actually) that Naked News (female) and Male Naked News first came from. For some odd reasons, my cable provider carries the latter and not the first. Oh well... :)

Anyway, the way it goes, it is more or less of a regular news bulletin with mostly national news (Canada and US), and everyone starts clothed. Along the way, the newscasters (usually they are two or three persons) gradually shed their clothes... and about midway in the newscasts... it comes to a point that everyone wears a smile... and nothing else. :)

Then you suddenly realize that you suffer from ADD, or Attention Deficit Disorder!

And they show everything, and everything. Boobs and ahem... below for the ladies and for guys... it is difficult to stay focus when you see that dangling thing, you know...

Dang, there are guys who can brag about, and it's not fair!

So in Japan, they have their version of Naked News, and it is a weekly show upthere.

As part of the show, they have a 5-minute segment... which is done in Sign Language, and of course, the female signer is wearing nothing else but a beautiful smile. :)

That part of the show is intended for deaf Japanese and to those who want to learn Sign Language. I am not making this up.

And there's nothing like being ahem... nekkid to learn _those_ signs, you know!

Apparently, that segment of the show was (indirectly) funded by the Japanese government for education. Somehow, the bureaucrats didn't realize that by naked, they _really_ mean it.

Oops.

So it went out in the press, and out of embarassment, they cut the fundings, which in turn made even bigger headlines... and all the way to America.

Somehow, it is sad. As I'm learning more and more about the deaf culture... it is something which we,- hearing people- rarely think about ...

I'm not prude. I think that everyone deserves to have their dose of titillating fun, and everyone means... everyone, no?

Cheers,

-E