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 agree-the public display of this kind of thing has accelerated. It’s only going to get worse if we don’t do something about it.
That’s exactly how the entire leftist/”humanist”/atheist/hedonist mindset it....oddly enough, Islamic jihadis as well.
They will not stop until they ARE stopped. They don’t want compromise, diplomacy, give and take, reason, nothing. Nope. They want domination, utter control.
And being nicey nice is only being a weakling, as far as they’re concerned.
Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals come into play. Doesn’t mean every Tom, Dick and Harry on those agendas has read them or even understands them, but the people running those agendas do (jihadis have their own play book...).
It’s going to be interesting, and we need courage, because courage is the test of all virtues. Without courage, all other virtues fail.
They will not stop until they ARE stopped. They don’t want compromise, diplomacy, give and take, reason, nothing. Nope. They want domination, utter control.
********************
Quite right. It's interesting that they claim it is we who are controlling.
Excellent point. A far better solution than demanding that everyone who doesn't like having the world run the way you want it should stay home, change jobs, not go to the mall, etc,.
The Constitution that gives rights to one, gives rights to all. One person's rights do NOT trump another's.
In order for our society to work, common courtesy and regard for others is essential.
If you insist on doing something regardless of its impact on another, society will cease to be civilized for long.
If you don't exercise the internal controls on your behavior to make society work, external controls will be required, and that usually comes in the form of government control.
I hate big government as much as the next person and if I had my way, there'd be no welfare or education department. There'd be no absurd taxes on things like soda and fried food.
What libertarians need to realize though, is that they are contributing in a large part to the increase of government. When they demand their way without regard to the others that share this country with them, those others will push back and insist on the controls that the libertarians refuse to exercise on themselves.
Everyone is of equal value, everyone has the same rights to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When libertarians get their knickers in a knot over the thought of someone imposing on their life, they need to remember that nobody like them imposing themselves on others either. It works both ways.
It is simply not possible to have over 200,000,000 people all having life their own way all at once. Compromise is critical. Courtesy makes it work.
Oops. I meant to ping netmilsmom, not trisham. My bad....
Great post, metmom.
Hey, I’m glad you did! :)
“Whew” Thanks.
:)
Fantastic post!!!
There has to be a default cultural and societal standard.
The question is - who gets to choose that standard? There has been one standard in this country for hundreds of years. It has been diluted, degraded and perverted for about 3 generations. Now it’s heading off the cliff. Who gets to say what the standard is?
That’s what this debate is about.
What else can we expect in our society when even among conservatives the most important of all, when it comes to female conservative leaders (obviously not male leaders), is looks?
I never go to the mall. the bad outweighs the good and shopping is not a sport for me. I go to a couple of box stores, some locally owned stores and the net
I protect my children. NO television. Why would you want the pornographers to raise your children
Exactly. An interesting thing about “women’s liberation” or whatever they want to call it is since women have been “liberated” (from what??), our culture has descended quickly into a porn culture; women are ever more valued and judged by whether they are “hot” or not, whether men would “hit it” or not, what size chest, and unmarried mothers are now a normal thing.
Plastic surgery is practically mandatory for all women in public careers, hair dye takes up hudreds of sqaure feet in every grocery store, and fashion styles make every women, practically speaking, look for sale.
Racism means people are looked at and judged by the color of their skin and not the content of their character; now women are looked at and judged by their sexually attractive features and not by the content of their character.
Naturally every woman wants to look her best. But a modest and cheerful and neat woman is not the same as a dyed, propped up, silicone implanted, botoxed piece with 6 oz of makeup and wearing clothes that a generation ago were worn only in certain redlight areas of cities.
And now children are introduced to this “liberation” that has resulted in the pornogrification of culture and the degradation of womanhood even at the grocery store. Girls are indoctrinated to think of themselves as mere sex objects, and boys the same way; to look at themselves and others as mere hunks of meat.
This brings up the subject of identity - are we souls wearing an earthly tent, or just a bunch of random chemicals - just animals?
I put my girls in wal mart boy pants. The jeans and twill cargos. the plus size fits girl hips. I then add feminine tops that are loose and comfortable from the gap or old navy or a clearance store.
Modest and attractive looking.
I’ll suggest that she look in the boys’ department at Walmart, good idea. DId you say the age of your girls? Hers are 6 and 8.
I have been doing this since my youngest were 6 and out of their oshgosh bibs. I had a full collection from 18 mo to 6 yo. About 25 or 30 of them that I collected from Sally’s and goodwill and friends. Both summer and winter versions. Modest, cute and combined with red sneakers and a blouse or t shirt, and hair ribbons they could play all day or shop at the food store with mom and look nice.
After 6 they went to the boys department of Walmart, the only place where one can purchase inexpensive clothing without writing or pictures on them. Plain t shirts and boy pants for the boys, and nice pants for the girls. The boy shorts do not work on the girls. I found that skorts and skirts with shorts under them worked better than the shorts available for girls. lBoys department works until the young girl grows out of them, and that would depend on development.
Remeber to tell her to buy some belts to hold up the boys pants. Buy boy belts the girl belts are for decoration.
Thanks - I’ll pass on the helpful tips.
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