It's been an odd week.
I don't even want to go there.
Instead I will go here...
I went to the mall last night to see The Help with my mom (super good btw) and THIS was one of the advertisements scrolling through the stands that are all along the mall. Are you kidding me? This is sitting out there right in the walkway where everyone can see it? Where little girls can see what they're "supposed" to look like? Telling them that they need to boost their bra size? Where little boys can stare at it and go home and think about the picture they saw. Where my husband will walk past this girl standing in her underwear showing off her assets? And American Eagle is supposed to be considered a youth store, I remember shopping there when I was in middle school. It's hard enough to be a teenager without someone telling you that you aren't pretty enough, skinny enough, you don't have big enough boobs, you need to dress more provocatively...etc.
I don't understand how this is in a "family friendly" place. I shouldn't have to be worried about going shopping and having to wonder what thoughts are running through my husbands head. I know that men are visual, so why tempt them more? Obviously sex sells, we see it everywhere. On TV, in the movies, in our books, our magazines, and even in our schools. This is clear evidence of the Devil at work in the world. Maybe I am just super sensitive to the way that girls are dressing, and the awful commercials that are on TV but this is something that really gets me going.
I can't believe the way that some girls are allowed to dress. Not only are you selling yourself, but you are causing every other guy to look at you; in a way that is only intended for your husband. And you are potentially causing MY husband to look. I know that it is up to every individual to control their eyes, but when you are walking around half naked what can you expect? I know that I can see you, so I can only imagine the internal struggle that you are causing in men who are trying to be faithful and keep their eyes only for their wife. Or putting images and ideas in a young mans head.
Don't get me wrong, I am guilty of the same thing. When I was younger I may have worn things that were a little too tight, a little too short, a little too low...because this is how you get boys to like you, and believe me it got me all sorts of the wrong attention. But this is the way the world tells us to be.
I am really confused as to how this sells any article of clothing...
Is this the way we want to raise our daughters? Is this what we want them to aspire to?
I read
this post the other day that really got me thinking. But along with wanting our children to be confident and healthy, we need to teach our daughters about the struggles men deal with and how they can be stylish...and modest, and we need to teach our girls to have some self respect. Hand in hand we need to teach our boys how to be respectful and that they need to guard their eyes and their hearts.
1 Corinthians 8:13 says "So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live--for I don't want to cause another believer to stumble."
I believe that "meat" in this verse can be substituted with what I wear, what I do, what I watch,
how I act, etc.
Do you want to be the cause of another person stumbling?
