I saw two girls in one of the commercials stripping for (seemingly) no reason. They even paused and asked, "Wait...why are we doing this?" - "Because it's the Super Bowl." This happened after Beyoncé- the singer for the Presidential Inauguration speech, appears to strip down to lingerie. The media is blatantly displaying sensuality and desensitizing the presence of stripping and making it public.
This is a high price stage- where every moment costs thousands of dollars, and the audience at large is mainly a constituent of happy families and their friends. Kids get to stay up just to watch the halftime show and super bowl commercials. Knowing this, Marketing (and the general public) deems it fit to play the piper's flute to the beat of wanton desire. It feels like America is putting out to the highest bidder. "Well that's gotta be a job maker!" As of tonight, a large constituent of young girls have been "introduced" to the wonderful world of "interpretive dance." Seeing them on TV, it's doubtless that ONE girl out there asked- "Daddy, do those actors get paid?" and his answer (not drawing a connection) would possibly be "Yes honey, they get paid a lot." Whether she got the answer from him or not, she would find a conclusion. Imagine if she replied (maybe days later) with "I want to be on TV and get paid a lot like that too Daddy."
I'm sure many men would find shame in the selfish emotions that rise up looking at these scantily clad woman. I'm also sure that many men will be incited even to lust after letting the lingering sensation of enticement enter their mind through the gate of their eyes. Is it their fault? I say No. That's bold- I know. Simply said: our desires are being exploited. In truth, that can't be helped- unless we can find change.
Right now, with the postmodernism rocking the stage of intellectual conduct, sex is still on the table as fair game for being a victimless crime. "It's not the people in Porn industry's fault that so many men WANT to see a woman with no defense for their eyes. It's not the Men's fault that women want to be known for their beauty. It's no one's fault that commerce should be the forum for mediating the great job of capturing and appreciating the natural pulchritude around us! Men want to want, and Women want to be wanted! It's in our wiring- why stand in the way of that? How can it be so harmful as it's obviously so natural? It's evolution of our prim society."
Ha.
What we want is intimacy. That's easy enough to define. Lust stands in the way of intimacy- it isolates people. We should want a community where these appreciations and affirmations are given an organic forum. That entails growth, maturity, and fulfillment. By creating an inadequate surrogate, and making it commonly acceptable- you're creating a terrible leak in the system of healthy reciprocity. Read that sentence again- I said You're. The grammar use of a contraction between the words You + Are. This depicts an identity and its state of action- this time inferring possession of responsibility in a present tense.
"How?" By feeding the system. By playing your role. By accepting, with cordiality, so as not to offend, the emotional defense of our current dispositions. You're playing a society game. You're being programmed- or more like de-programmed from the way that God divinely purposed you to be. Not all of men's desires are a noble and beautiful thing. Women aren't supposed to be worshipped. Nor is every pursuit of the heart wise. They're supposed to be cherished and encouraged- certainly! I'm sure the symptoms of our society's bleeding hearts would be far less obnoxious if it were amply so- but the roots of infection still grow! Now that little girl, who saw the attention her father gave to the TV screen, and sees the grasp it has on what she wants, (Daddy's time and attention,) she sees a solution. Maybe one that could cost her a little discomfort? "Maybe- but it's NORMAL. I saw it on TV." That's the emotion's response- even if it's never put into words so plainly.
You're seeing the formation of a victim. The tasteless* odorless, poison- filled with spectacular color and relatively little pain. It goes in slowly, but is slower to be expelled. You see a polarization happening as the poison shades and darkens her eyes, colors her lips, and strips off her clothes. You see the burned. Call her a slut. A skank. Eventually, when she capitalizes on what she thinks she already is- you call her a whore. A prostitute. An adulteress.
Meanwhile, the man who makes this available is admonished as a Pimpin' sly dog. The "customer" is a John or Tom. Short for Tomcat?
Look again at the bleeding heart. Change your paradigm: They're each a Victim! A great majority of sex trafficked victims have been broken down in their identity through repetitive molestation. Even the men who engage in this economy must have been exposed time and time again before they worked up the nerve to disregard true compassion. Over 25% of women in Minnesota, age 23+ have been sexually abused or molested. (check the statistic- I can't be sure that number is high enough.) It happens to guys too. When any are exposed to sexual arousal, without trust, they experience the simultaneous feeling of shame and arousal. It causes them to hate what they like. They start hating themselves. They hold themselves in contempt. It awakens desire that can't be quenched for the rest of their lives.
Read the book "Wounded Heart" by Dr. Dan B. Allender (link at bottom.) I have read almost all of it, and it's given me a greater compassion for people at large. It gives a deeper look at the psychological and emotional shattering that happens. Think about how the simple touch on a shoulder may immediately remind a victim, (over 1/4 of every friend or stranger in the US,) of their shame and their desire for intimacy at the same time. That's a very sobering thought for a Christian Massage Therapist like me, who wants to bring God's healing and comfort at the advent of contact- not fear and shame.
My thought is this- I argue that the statistic of sexually abused people in America is 99.99%. Anyone who has heard provocative language to stir their desire. Seen the prodding of a lustful gaze. Tasted the honey that drips from the mouth of an adulterant heart. Spoken a crude joke until it pierced their heart.
- Minneapolis, Minnesota is ranked in the top 13 cities in the nation for high incidence of recruitment of minors into prostitution and sex trafficking. (3.)
- Every 2 minutes, someone in the US is sexually abused (not counting trafficked victims)
- About 30% of abused and neglected children will later abuse their own children, continuing the horrible cycle of abuse. 5
- When asked, 89% of women and girls used in prostitution wanted to get out but didn’t know where to turn for help (4.)
- In 2010, the online sales of minor girls being sold for sex in MN increased by 55% over a six month period (5.)
- By very conservative measures, a November 2010 study found that each month in Minnesota at least 213 underage girls are sold for sex an average of five times per day through the Internet and escort services. This number does not include hotel, street or gang activity. (5.)
- About 50% of adult women interviewed as part of a 2010 study focused on North Minneapolis stated that they first traded sex when they were under the age of 18, with the average age at 13. (6.)
- 75% of girls who are entangled in prostitution networks are controlled by a sex trafficker or “pimp.”(7.)
- The average age of entry into prostitution and sex trafficking is 12-14 years of age (8.)
- The Polaris Project conservatively estimates that a pimp with a “stable” of three girls or women often enforces an average nightly quota of $500, or $1,500 a night. If these quotas are met consistently, the pimp can make as much as $547,000 (or more) in a year ($1,500 a night x 365 nights a year = $547,500). (8.)
I've asked a lot of questions, and made many suppositions... you may ask "Where does it lead? What do you propose We do?" I'll be writing more on this later. (I'm sure.) Meanwhile, I suggest you start by demanding change- and then, as Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see." Break Free of your mindset of "oh well!" There aren't enough people who look with compassion on all who are wounded. Still fewer take it as their life's work to see that they be cared for. We all have been subject to injustice- but where you stand against it makes the difference between someone FOR and AGAINST the system. Right now, our economic system encourages what I've just described. If you DO want to make a difference, then I suggest you join with people already making the change. If you're in the Minneapolis, St Paul area visit http://www.breakingfree.net/ and read about what some of my friends (and soon myself included) will be helping with. There is an event coming up on May 3rd called The Demand Change Project. Check it out.
God bless-
And may you give Grace and Mercy as you have received it: Freely.
