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'm sorry that you feel that the over sexualization of our children is perfectly okay. There is a major difference between seeing a woman breastfeed, a nude Venus and this...
If you cannot see the difference, I can't convince you.
Of course. The author was talking about naughty pictures at a mall. Of course some people disapprove, but where's the religious aspect in all this? Victoria's Secret is not forcing any religion on anyone. They're just selling lacy thongs.
Social stigma; people like me saying out loud that bikinis and the like depersonalise the women who wear them and increase social tolerance for the abuse of women in a myriad of other ways.
I can’t change the world, but I can (for now) still speak.
The cult of Astarte is indeed a religion. There is nothing new under the sun.
Similar commercials are one of the main reasons our kids very rarely watch TV. And when we do let them watch TV (maybe an hour a month), they're not allowed to watch commercials. We may just cancel cable.
When prohibition ended, they did not start selling gin to children on every corner. In fact they still prohibit sales to children and prohibit children from establishments that sell it as a general rule.
Prohibition is a false analogy to the pathetic standards of modern advertising.
Sex is a big deal in my life and I'd like it to remain a bid deal by keeping it mysterious and private. I dread the day when VS type advertising is so inescapable that it's on cereal boxes. It's approaching fast.
or this one
What clothes are they selling in these ads?
No, it didn't. Communist dogma railed against Western decadence and sexual corruption. Pornography was illegal, for example. "Free love" and other Western concepts were denounced by the leadership.
The abortions werent a bug; they were a feature of the government deployment of sexual liberation as an implement of social control.
Abortion was used as birth control because the communist system was terrible at providing effective birth control such as condoms of the pill. Plus, the future looked so bleak that Russian women were not eager to bring kids into such an environment.
Hey, you're the one who brought up the question of abortion. Sexually "decadent" Western Europeans have a lower abortion rate than the US.
I'm sorry that you feel that the over sexualization of our children is perfectly okay. There is a major difference between seeing a woman breastfeed, a nude Venus and this...
It's a guy with his shirt open. He could legally walk down the street like that. There's actually no nudity there, by any reasonable standard (though it really makes me want to hit the gym).
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This is a very interesting discussion. The comment was made that "human beings are just animals" and this is indeed the crux of the matter. If human beings are just animals, just chemicals, just dirt, then there is no absolute foundation for morality. If it feels good, do it is the order of the day. And the very next step is The Big Dog Makes the Rules and if the little dog doesn't like them, too bad.
There is no neutral ground here. Rules and laws are based on morality. The canard of liber(al)tarian philosophy that morality has no place in legislation is false. Laws are based on morality - no lying, no stealing, no assault, no murder, no rape, no kidnapping, etc - all based on morality. What some people object to is sexual morality. They want an "anything goes" society with free rein on behavior and promotion and acceptance of such behavior.
There are several problems with this worldview. One, since no sexual experience is completely gratifying, if sexual behavior is not confined by any traditional (aka "real") morals, then gratification divorced from marriage, commitment, love and family becomes more and more prevalent, and more and more extremes are sought. Sex without love and commitment and family degrades the inviduals and thus society as a whole. And who is the most destroyed by a sexually libertine culture? Children. This is obvious.
So, the world view that "we are just animals" is the offspring of Marx, Freud, Darwin and other "great" materialist thinkers of the last century, and there is a war between their bleak, one dimensional, godless and soulless world view, and the world view of theism.
Make no mistake, there is no neutral ground. Either society is founded upon morality which springs from the great monotheist religions of the world (and I include Hindu scriptures as it is in actuality a monotheist religion, and even Buddhism, since it is also founded originally upon Hindu scripture - but particularly the Judeo-Christian) or it is based on "we're just animals and so The Big Dog Wins".
This explains why the homosexual agenda, the free sex/Planned Parenthood agenda, the evolution must be taught as the Absolute Truth with no mention of any planner agenda, elimination of any prayer or mention of God in public agenda - are being pushed upon society with such vigor. They do not want acceptance, tolerance or even equal time. They want a society of beasts, with all mention of God and His laws hidden in the dark corners, in secret. If we tremble with fear and swallow the lie that that atheism and immorality should be the default cultural standard, then the outcome is going to be a violent saturnalia of perversion, excess, exploitation and death that cannot be imagined.
Yup
Are those in-stoor ads or ads from their website/catalogue?
They see the difference. They just LIKE the difference.
Considering that I’ve had actually lived and worked in that region I’d say that the locals there aren’t out to convert or kill visitors at all and I did not see any of the extremes associated with the Taliban or other similar regimes.
And one can buy liquor either retail or in several restaurants and bars and I’m told that if one knows how to ask one can buy pork other things as well.
I think that a lot of Americans have a very narrow view of what life in the mideast and central Asia is really like and the notion that everyone wants to be like us. I think that most of those finally coming out of the stone age are fine with being who they are.
Actually Philo is correct. The Soviet Revolution started out with a free sex/get rid of all bourgeouis morality platform and taught kids that anything goes, that traditional family life was crippling. But the kids turned out to be such animals that they had to change course.
The Communists made divorce, abortion and homosexuality legal. Condemning the visible and obviously forseeable consequences was merely the standard totalitarian tactic of blaming the victims for the necessity of their abuse.
>>Hey, you’re the one who brought up the question of abortion. Sexually “decadent” Western Europeans have a lower abortion rate than the US.<<
And less babies all the way around. Seems they have forgotten what sex is about. Abortion compared to births would be the thing to compare.
>>It’s a guy with his shirt open. He could legally walk down the street like that. There’s actually no nudity there, by any reasonable standard (though it really makes me want to hit the gym).<<
It’s a guy with jeans resting on his pubic hair. You can hardly see the clothes!
>>Are those in-stoor ads or ads from their website/catalogue?<<
Which part of Europe are you from?
I’ve believed for some time now that Victoria really doesn’t have any secrets left.
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