Pornification of a Generation

I just read an article in Newsweek entitled, "The Pornification of a Generation." The article offered no surprises, but was a reminder as to what we are facing as far as sex in the media and the way it shapes our ideas of sexual identity and sexual behavior.

The following is a quote from the article that I feel summarizes the problem quite well: "...[P]orn themes have gone from adult entertainment to prime time, seeping into nearly every aspect of popular culture. Sarracino and Scott define "porning" as the way advertising and society in general have borrowed from the ideas and characteristics central to most American pornography: sex as commodity, sexuality as overt, narrow views of women and male-female relationships, bad girls and dirty boys, domination and submission."

The article focuses on how this "porning" of a nation is affecting teens' conceptions of their sexuality and their sexual behavior (including the way they dress and the way they view themselves in relation to the opposite sex), but I think the portion of my generation that remains single also needs to take a good hard look at how it is affecting our view of our own sexuality, how we interact in male-female relationships, and how it affects our ideas of how relationships should feel and be.

I have struggled with my relationship with my body for years. Of course, some of it is the normal female obsession/comparison, but a lot of it has to do with images in print and film media that I have internalized, both consciously and unconsciously. I made a decision early last year to eschew any and all of these images. I came to realize just how harmful they were to my self-esteem as well as the adverse affect they were having on my relationships with men (i.e., not feeling pretty enough to think I had much of a shot with any of them). I decided I needed to detox. I stopped going to certain types of movies, stopped watching television (not that I watched a ton, but I just didn't even turn it on--the commercials are even terribly sexual!), avoided even looking at magazine covers in the grocery store, listened to music conducive to feeling the spirit, and became concerned with just being healthy and being the best person I could be. A lot of changes occurred, one of the most important being that I became much less self-centered. I began to see myself and others in healthier ways. I am sometimes still plagued by the images of airbrushed women and get scared that the men of my association are expecting that unrealistic perfection in a companion (if I had a million dollars, hours a day to work out, and was grumpy from not eating, I could maybe look like that too, but alas, I am solidly middle-class, have limited time to work out, and like to have energy when I run...), but I can't worry about it. I push those fears away and try to have faith that as I try to avoid becoming over-sexed by media, others are making similar efforts.

I guess my point in blogging about this is to encourage us to take a step back, try to cleanse ourselves of these images and these expectations, and to show more reverence for the human body. It is sacred and should be treated with respect. It is not something to be worshipped the way the world worships, but to be worshipped the way God worships it. It is a gift from Him. It is a part of our soul. When we are resurrected our bodies will be reunited with our spirits, never to be parted again; it is part of the process of perfection, but that means so much more than having it look perfect, according to whatever cultural standard we happen to be living in. We should show it reverence through good health and constant care, but that attention should be matched and balanced by the attention we give to the perfection and health of our spirits. It is a balance I find difficult to achieve because I see my body in the mirror every day, and my spirit requires a little more effort to assess, but I believe that if we will heed the admonition to nourish both our bodies and spirits then we will be blessed with feelings of the approval from God as well as a healthier relationship with ourselves and others.

Thoughts?