Sex? Christianity? Say What?

The point that stuck out to me about the discussion in class was the using male models to sell to men and women models to sell to females. The first thought that comes to mind is that for straight consumers this shouldn’t work. A man wearing boxers shouldn’t make a straight man want those boxers. I however, think that this is natural.  God has given us the ability to recognize beauty. You can look at flowers, or a forest, or a river and see beauty. Psalms 145:5 describes creation as “glorious splendor.” God has created these things for our pleasure. He expects and desires us to appreciate them. I am sure everyone has seen an animal that they can’t help but call it cute. There are competitions that judge the appearance of dogs. I want to use these points to support my take on the reactions of males toward male models. It is possible to recognize that something or someone is good looking, without being sexually attracted. They are two totally different things. I think that people in this society have created a phobia of judgment and emasculation. Most men feel uncomfortable acknowledging another man’s physical traits, but subconsciously they are doing all of this in their heads.

            You walk into a store and see the man with the unbuttoned shirt and the ripped body and without saying anything out loud you begin thinking, “maybe if I wear this I might be as attractive as this guy.” People want to look good and they want to feel good. There is not a physical attraction, but simply a recognition. There is a hope that maybe people will associate you with the attractive male in the photo. In this way, the use of sex falls in closely with the category of hope and maybe even fear. There is a hope to be more like this “attractive” model and a fear of not being alike.

            Society has however, over time, linked attractiveness and self-confidence with sex. Sex has wrongly become an indicator for happiness and beauty. Companies try to sell product by using the basis that sex makes you happy. They say their product can make you more sexually active. Therefore, their product makes you happier. Sex is used to sell anything from clothing to the food you eat and it works. Sex is a primal desire that everyone shares. It is one temptation that everyone must deal with. Some are more affected than others, but it is a universal temptation.

            I want to tie this back to the Bible. According to the Bible sex is a good thing. Genesis 1:28 and I Corinthians are just two examples. Sex has its place within Christianity. Unfortunately, the Christianity’s view and society’s views do not overlap very much. Sometimes because of this, the church shies away from this topic. Instead of openly discussing it, it is pushed under the rug until some later undetermined time. On the other hand, Society openly discusses and encourages premarital sex and sexual immorality. These are two drastically different cultures.  Advertising, being a reflection of what is around us, has taken this distorted view and ran with it. It is bringing to light what has happened in our world. It is impossible to go anywhere without someone or something tempting you with sexual desires. You can drive down the highway and see billboards displaying obvious sexual innuendos. You can be checking out at the grocery store and look to the side and see sexually provocative magazines. You cannot even avoid the reach of sex by staying in and watching TV. It is everywhere. As Christians, we need to realize and be able to acknowledge these things. We need to be able to talk about these issues without feeling ashamed. I do not think it is a sin to try and look good, or to feel good about yourself. Maybe the new pair of jeans you bought off the not fully dressed mannequin really does make you feel good about your body. But one must be careful as to why they do these things. What are the true intentions behind out actions?