MInTheGap

Today’s culture has told young women that in order to be truly liberated they must engage in all the activities in which men participate. They are encouraged to have casual sex, to enjoy their bodies and that they should disregard their emotions.

The problem is, they can’t. And the scarier reality is that there are books and tools out there that take advantage of the fact that deep down a woman’s opinion of herself is attached to what the men around her think of her. And that this self evaluation is tied into whom she allows in her bed.

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Human beings are interesting creatures. From the smallest infant to the first created being we want what we shouldn’t have. We desire to know that which we would be better off not knowing, and we get the most pleasure out of doing that which we should not do.

This is at the root of the problems people have with obedience, it is the cause behind gossip, and it’s the reason why a glorious thing that was supposed be shared between two individuals in the privacy of the marriage bed is instead used to sell everything from underwear to shampoo to overstocked merchandise, and is treated by the coming generation as just another commodity.

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Some of you know of Wendy Shalit as the author of Girls Gone Mild, but did you also know that she wrote an article in the latest Wall Street Journal’s online Opinion Journal?

What I found interesting was that she talked about the difference between what she’s seeing in young ladies and what Dr. Phil claims is going on:

I lost count of the number of times that the children portrayed their parents as clueless, frumpy or “just old.” It’s “just two different generations,” the viewer was told again and again. One young woman suggested that her elders were “jealous” because their wrinkly bodies were no longer attractive.

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Ulrika Johnson has announced that she is pregnant with her fourth child.  Normally this would be a moment of celebration– sharing our well wishes to this woman and her husband on their impending arrival.

What makes this couple different than many others is not their looks or status as much as it is to her current marriage.  You see, she’s on husband number four bearing a child with each.

You see, what’s strange in this case is that she’s saying that we should all think this behavior is fine because:

“There are plenty of men out there who have children, abandon them and have nothing to do with them.”

And this somehow makes both what she did and what these men did right?

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I was reading the daily comics when I stumbled across this one, and isn’t it the truth (click on the comic for full size).

The story picks up with a Grandfather and daughter watching television when the daughter starts to ask some questions Read the rest of this entry »

At least, that’s what our culture is telling the younger set. At one time, not so long ago, a Miss America contestant was forced to relinquish her title because some nude photos were found of her.

Now, we live in a time where a sex tape or naughty pictures are almost expected. The latest, Vanessa Anne Hudgens (pictured right) of “High School Musical”, had photos discovered of her sans clothes. The reaction? Read the rest of this entry »

Amy Polumbo is Miss New Jersey 2007.  She’s looking forward to the Miss America pageant.  One thing is standing in her way.  Pictures taken at parties showing Miss Polumbo is less than role model poses.

To her credit, she went on the Today show and made the pictures public.  It’s her comments that I find interesting:

“I feel sick to my stomach. I really do,” Amy Polumbo told host Matt Lauer. “You know, they’re not that bad, but they were meant to be private. And it is making me feel very vulnerable that the entire country has to see them now because of this situation.”

Compared to pictures that have come out at different times, these are far from the worst.  She is clothed in all of them, but the content is suggestive.

What I find interesting is this concept of privacy.  It’s been coming up a lot recently.  Google got in trouble for showing some compromising situations via Google Maps.  Why?  Because people have an expectation of privacy, even if they aren’t granted one by law.

For instance, if you’re in a public place (a beach, on the street, at a game), you have no expectation of privacy.  And to some degree that makes sense– since it would be difficult for a photographer to get credit from random people that showed up in a shot, and if you’re on the street the odds are that you at least prepared to be there.

The problem comes into play when the camera catches something that you didn’t want to be photographed: hair that is windblown, a habit you didn’t want revealed, or (in the case of Amy Polumbo) some silly activity at a party.

You see, it’s one thing to expect a photo to be taken, it’s another thing to have one taken when you don’t expect it.  And then there’s the audience– which can go from a few friends that you thought you knew to all over the Internet.

In this Internet age, can we expect privacy?  But another question is this, in what circumstances do we expect privacy.  I would posit that we expect privacy when we have something to hide or something we don’t want seen.

It is rare to find someone that doesn’t have some secrets from someone.  However, in the world that we find ourselves in it is getting more difficult to keep that secret hidden.  Whether it’s phone longs, credit card statements, Internet logs, people taking pictures– if there’s something that you’re doing that you shouldn’t or something you want hidden the odds are that it can be found out.

Which reminds me of the passage in the Bible that says we will give an account for what we have done  You see, there’s no expectation of privacy from God.  He sees and knows all. 

So, Miss New Jersey is upset– not because of what she’s done but because it’s documented.  Because she will give an account of what she’s done now.

How about us?  What are we doing that we shouldn’t and would be embarrassed if we were caught on film?