MInTheGap

Showing Your Stuff No Longer a Problem

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 page »

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Why is Miss New Jersey Upset?

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?

Wanted: Teen Girls to Exploit for Gain

We live in a sick and twisted society. In the name of free speech, porn peddlers have been able to make millions of dollars trading on women and men that are willing to bear it all, engage in acts that, at best, should be kept in the bedroom, and prey on the weaknesses of men and women anywhere.

But it doesn’t end with those that officially peddle porn. Yes, porn has gone mainstream– as something that anyone can get into, and now you can get for free. And it’s through all media.

Ann Althouse muses about the Internet taking the profit out of pornography by quoting from the New York Times which states that since you don’t need a lot of “quality” and anyone can now produce this stuff, more people are getting into the market for the thrill of it, for the attention, and for reasons other than making the big bucks.

Rob at SayAnything talks about how there’s a new reality television show to help virgins get sex

My question is, how is this not prostitution (which is a question I’ve also posed with regard to pornography)? Basically the show would consist of a bunch of “johns” paying the show’s “pimps” with strange antics (which will serve as content for the show) in exchange for a sexual tryst with the girl the pimps are pimping out.

On Craigslist, a popular classified ad site, Two were charged with pimping teen girls.

“The actual use of Craigslist for prostitution-related crimes has increased dramatically,” Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said Thursday. “Even the street prostitutes are getting involved in this.”

Founded in 1995, Craigslist carries nearly 200 categories of classified ads, including job openings, items for sale and personal ads. The “services” category has a section labeled “erotic.”

During an investigation by the vice and child exploitation units of the Cook County Sheriff’s police, officers responded to ads offering women 18 and 19 years old. Monday, they arranged an encounter at an apartment in the 4000 block of W. LeMoyne. An officer picked up the girl and determined she was 14. The girl offered sex for $250.

And it’s finding its way into every day life. Michelle Malkin brought the way dolls are concieved back around Christmas, asking when the doll section turn into a porn shop? And then there’s the case of the substitute teacher convicted of exposing Seventh Grade Students to pornography.

It seems that no matter where we are we cannot escape the influence of porn, or being exposed to its wake. As pron charges ahead with more daring things to try to make their money, the clothing gets more risque, the “free” content gets more risque and those that are impacted by it all get more numerous. And the worst part is that, as it becomes more prevalent, it numbs us to it all. We get less influenced by what we see, and start to view the end point as the worst.

And the other part is that those that use the teen girls to make their content and market their clothing are perverting their ideas of femininity and womanhood, nd make it harder to be modest and pure in their lives going forward.

Teens as Targets

One of the things that I read a while back stated that a majority of girls that are pushed into sexual slavery are teen runaways. This was the case in a recent capture of a man (Michael Harris, 25) who was pimping out girls ages 12 and 15– both runaways.

Why are these teens good targets? Because they’re running away, they need a place to stay– and quickly they are ensnared and brainwashed to do the unthinkable. They need the money– but most of all, the man has convinced them that they need him.

Now, apart from the part of me that doesn’t understand where the runaway’s parents are (perhaps they are orphans or in foster homes?), my next question is do we really realize the danger that is out there waiting to prey on our teens. This isn’t a third world country we’re talking about, this is Arizona! Read the rest of this page »

Unclear on the Consequences

Michelle Manhart decided that it was within her rights to pose for a six page spread for Playboy as an Air Force Drill Sergeant and could continue her job. Some have defended her under the banner of feminism or male chauvinism ( “I want to see her naked” ).

Not only, though, is what she did wrong on a moral level, it’s also wrong on an Air Force level, and they took action:

An Air Force drill sergeant and former Iowa National Guard member who posed nude for Playboy magazine has been removed from active duty, she said Wednesday. Whether that amounts to an honorable discharge, as Michelle Manhart also says, is unclear.

Read the rest of this page »

It’s Fine If It’s My Body, Right?

One of the strangest things to me in regards to the current trend of exploitation of the feminine form from girly mags to your local coffee shop is that women do this of their own free will. It would be a whole lot easier to speak out against women being dressed down and in things that only their husbands would wear if they were being forced to do it. It would be something if “this is the only job I could get.” However, the fact that a lot of these women like this kind of attention and job (as evidenced not only by these things, but the abundance of cam girls and people on Flickr showing whatever for comments) we have to ask the deeper question. If it all right to display ourselves because we choose to– or is there something intrinsically wrong with it?

Read the rest of this page »

The Problem With a The Hollywood Culture…

…is that it doesn’t stay in Hollywood. There’s an expression that was more common when I was in high school and computers were just coming out. It was GIGO or Garbage In, Garbage Out.

For some time now parents and others have been repeatedly told that what their kids see and how they play have no impact on who they are or what they become. This philosophy is very pernicious– even seeping into our churches.

Read the rest of this page »

Is This Necessary?

The image on the right is thumbnail size on purpose. The original on yahoo can be found here. You can also click on the image and see it full size, but let me warn you that the women are without shirts and using their hands to cover their front.

Now that I’ve gotten the disclaimer out of the way…

Why do we need to show off a pair of jeans like this?! Read the rest of this page »