Posted on 12/29/2008 8:05:34 AM PST by NYer
So I took the kids out to the mall to shop for Mom two days before Christmas. I want them to know that Christmas is not just about receiving but giving as well.
Now let me ask a weird hypothetical. If I showed up at the Mall wearing only briefs and say my wife showed up in a minuscule bra and panties we'd likely be dragged from the premises and arrested. And rightly so, especially if you've seen me in briefs. But no matter what, it's bad, right? So why is it OK for some of these stores to have huge window displays of essentially naked people. I mean, are these store owners out of their minds. Walking by Abercrombie or Victoria's Secret is essentially a walking tour of porn for children. Hey kids step on up and peer inside the sick twisted mind of adulthood where we view others as vessels of flesh waiting to be boarded and devoured.
It's lunacy.
So as we're passing a bunch of sex-soaked stories, I do my best to distract the kids from the window display. I start singing a loud Christmas carol and they all become embarrassed by me and try to stop me from singing anymore. So for anybody who saw the fat bearded dad singing in front of a ten foot porn window display with children laughing and climbing all over him, it was me.
But here's the thing. I know my kids saw it. They didn't mention it. But I know they see it. They see it. They internalize it. They think that window display represents the realm of adulthood. They intuit that adults desire 8-pack abs and 38 D breasts. And kids want to be adults.
Here's the truth. If a man was caught showing pictures of topless women in pink underwear holding their breasts or men in wet briefs, they'd be arrested. But when a store does it, it's capitalism.
So a few hours later I'm making the call I never thought I'd make in my life. I call the mall two days before Christmas to complain about the lewd window displays. The funny thing is that while I'm on hold I'm feeling like I'm the crazy one. I'm feeling like "I can't believe I've become the guy who complains about lewd window displays." I didn't think I'd ever use the word 'lewd' never mind call to complain about aforementioned lewdness. I'm feeling like I have to convince this guy on the phone that I'm not one of these crazy religious Jerry Falwell types. But then it hits me. I'm the sane one. Those displays are crazy to have in front of children. So instead of getting into a morality type conversation with the guy I just decide to speak his language. "I'm just calling to let you know that my family which comes to the mall often will not come back unless you guys stop allowing pornographic window displays."
So I make the call and I'm feeling proud of myself. And I walk back into the room where the children are watching The Polar Express on ABC Family. And then comes a commercial about some show about a fifteen year old girl who is pregnant. "Fifteen!?" says my nine year old.
"How can you have a baby if you're not married," asks my six year old.
They all look at me. "Hey guys Polar Express is back on!" And thanks to my amazing powers of distraction I muddled through yet another awkward moment. But I know my kids. Nothing escapes them. Questions build. They never fade away.
And we wonder why are children are ending up sexualized. It's simple. Somewhere between the Merry-go-Round and the pretzels they're seeing and interpreting the adult world. They're unprotected out there. The adults want too much to be like children and the children want to be adults. It's time for adults to start acting like adults.
I so agree with you!
Absolutely! Judging from some of the posts to this thread, there is a much broader market for sex than I had once thought.
This is hardly that. It’s not being pushed...it’s not like they’re taking them into strip clubs or burlesque shows.
Hey, if you consider yourself an animal far be it from me to disagree, you know yourself far better than I ever could. As for myself, I am not an animal nor do I behave like one. Dogs screw on your front lawn, take a dump right in front of you....because they are animals, they have no modesty, no morals. If you really believe humans are no different than animals, I pity you.
You said — “He shouldn’t ignore the topic with his children, that’s a huge mistake. He has to carefully and clearly, in age-appropriate language, tell them what they saw is wrong, and why, and focus on the truth about sex.
I can’t beleive he is just not saying anything to his children.”
—
Yeah, that is a mistake. If he is in the practice of avoiding it, then the culture will “teach” the kids, eventually, because of the lack of “explanation” (not just “because I said so...” either).
There is a good and righteous basis for how to think and act, according to the Bible, the Word of God. For those that think that “religion” is the answer — no, that’s wrong. It’s not “religion” — but rather — it’s the truth of the Word of God, who is our only Creator God of the Universe and the *only one* who has offered salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ (and the personal acceptance of that salvation).
So, it’s not simply “religion” or “moral values” but the truth (and the *only absolute truth* out there) of the Word of God, the Bible...
********************
Being a good role model is more important than anything we can possibly say, imho. All the words in the world can't undo years of bad behaviour, and children who do not see love from and between their parents will have difficulty committing themselves to another in marriage.
Imho, men who delve into pornography do so because they are unable to find this closeness to or love for women. The source of this conflict can be found in childhood.
Humans have an animal nature, to which they can be degraded through manipulation and desensitisation. Animals make much better workers, of course.
Workers in the sense of labourers, of course. In terms of productivity, rational, self-controlled men leave all animals in the dust.
Elephants will work for peanuts, but they cannot design an integrated circuit to save their lives.
It’s not a question of “santizing” (and actually, cleanliness of mind and body is a GOOD thing, not a bad thing!).
It’s a question of exposing children to sexually libertine images from a young age. It sexualizes them when they are not even physically mature, causing them to think of themselves and others as sex objects. And next, promoting children AS sex objects more and more.
Just because adults enjoy sex in private doesn’t mean that children should experience the same thing. Private is the key word.
If you don’t see this it means you have a severe blind spot.
Public places should be family friendly - iow, no explicit or highly suggestive sexual displays. That is a baseline of human civilization. It is quickly going by the wayside, apparently, in the name of “freedom” or lib(eral)tarianism.
Stable families are the very foundation of human civilization. Swinger clubs and porn are not. A high rate of illegitimacy (which is getting higher and higher) creates feral children. Result? Read the headlines like groups of kids killing people, kids killing or raping other kids, and then growing up into barbarians. It’s happening right now, and will get worse.
A few years ago I was walking down (Main Street, U.S.A.) in our medium-sized town with our nine-year-old son. We passed by a floor-to-ceiling glass window in an empty store front which had been rented for a month to display an art project. There in the window for all the world and every child in town to see were two white, life-sized plaster replicas of naked men hanging upside-down by their genitals.
Consider the impression this assault would have on young children, especially boys. My son was scared witless.
When I complained to the city council I was told "it's just art." The patronizing smugness could be cut with a knife. I suppose they were saving that image for the next "art" exhibit.
Thankfully, the empty store front became a GAP. That's progress, of a sort.
I really do feel that some of her goodness comes from a strong father figure that tells her when she is being immodest.
It makes it easier on me.
If we valued strong men and good fathers, little girls wouldn’t be dressing like tarts to get attention.
Here’s a link to the future of racing swimwear:
Sexy stuff.
>>There in the window for all the world and every child in town to see were two white, life-sized plaster replicas of naked men hanging upside-down by their genitals.<<
OH GEEZ OH Pete! How horrific!
Art, yeah right.....
Those are Eastern European countries still dealing with the social chaos caused by communism. During communism, abortion was treated as the main form of birth control in those countries. Their high abortion rates are not due to the sexualization of their cultures by Victoria’s Secret ads.
>>Well, I do have a rather obvious and simple answer: DON’T SHOP AT A MALL!!!
I know most would find it shocking to even suggest such a thing<<
Actually, no. If you look back at my posts, that is exactly what we do.
I wish I didn’t believe it, but after some of the “art” promoted by our own government via the NEA, such as Mapplethorpe’s exhibit, I’m afraid I do.
Fun fact: 90 percent of medalists in Beijing wore full-body suits.
http://graphics.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/swim_06_30/swim3.jpg
Some are now trying to ban them, claiming they give an unfair advantage.
Victoria’s Secret is a Lingerie store. It would make sense that the advertisements would be models wearing lingerie...if they wore turtlenecks it would be a bit strange no? Also, I have yet to see a Victoria Secret store display that is “pornographic”....
What do you propose as a solution? I’m not trying to trap you- I just can’t think of any way to make people act “decently” without relying on government action.
That’s right. The sexualisation occurred under the Communists, who were of course venomously hostile to traditional monogamy and well aware of the greater ease of exercising social control over a demoralised and degraded populace.
The abortions weren’t a bug; they were a feature of the government deployment of “sexual liberation” as an implement of social control.
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