blanc said:
apropos the APA report - does anyone have any ideas as to why its taken so so long for the psych community to catch on and complain about the sexualisation of children in fashion and media?
Maybe because since the middle of the last century we've witnessed the gradual sexualisation of EVERYTHING?
Cars, soft-drinks, blue-collar workers, musicians, entertainers, rich people, holidays, the elderly, politicians, business leaders, teenagers, alcoholic beverages, wars, crime, housewives, the news and of course, children, are all viewed in popular culture through a sexual fog. It's so pervasive it's invisible, unless you step out of it for a while and then come back, when it will hit you like a ton of bricks.
It's become positively pavlovian: to like something, even if it's a new business plan, is to "find it sexy"; to be attracted to someone's mind or personality is to be "sexually attracted". Food is "sexy". A beach is "sexy". Lollipops and ice-cream, formerly symbols of innocent childhood? Don't go there! (shudder) As far as I can tell, pet dogs and cats and goldfish are the last remaining frontier as humanity stumbles, zombie-like, in search of the next big thrill.
I find it all too bizarre and disconcerting for words. I've been hyper-sensitized to this especially since having kids, when it suddenly struck me that it is almost impossible for them to watch tv or listen to the "cool songs" their friends like, without being bombarded with sexual images and messages ranging from somewhat subtle to appalling.
Even more disturbing, this pervasive sexual conditioning is twinned with equally ubiquitous violence, with the lines between them frequently blurred, most obviously in corporate popular culture aimed at the young. Children are being indoctrinated into neglecting their intelligence, education, moral development, and that thing that used to be called "character" in favor of "might makes right", "magick" and sexiness as the appropriate way to interact with the world.
People, like everything else, are now openly invited to treat themselves as commodities. "Learn how to sell yourself!" no longer means "Learn to become a prostitute!" on the surface, while subliminally the meaning doesn't really change. Prostitutes suppress their Selves to conform to the customer's selfish desires and fantasies, just as each of us is expected to keep up with the latest artificial trends, not only in clothes, but the shape of our bodies, our lips, our noses and our political perspectives, in order to please...each other?
It boils down to an abdication of control, at all levels, over our own lives, our own values, our own bodies and minds, and even feelings, as we chase one corporate-generated mirage after another, each one promising love, happiness, health and fun, until it fades to be replaced by another, over and over, until we drop dead.
It's inevitable that such a process takes its toll, not only on the psychological health of the individuals and families in such a society, but on their spiritual health. I'm talking about soul-sickness, which is the somewhat archaic term that comes to mind as I contemplate these pathetic creatures held up to us all as role-models, and as the embodiment of success. If these are our heroes, our models, our "idols", is it any wonder that a sense of futility, of alienation and despair, has insinuated itself into the very fabric of so many "advanced" societies.
I'm almost done with my rant now, so bear with me. Many years ago, I heard a story about some expat teenagers who went on a lark into the Egyptian desert by themselves, in a 4-wheel drive that they loaded down with junk food and beer, apparently in the belief that beer is an adequate substitute for water. The thirstier they got, the more beer they drank. Since beer speeds up the process of dehydration, they didn't get far before their bodies were found not too far into the desert.
That story struck me at the time, as a perfect parable for the way many of us live our lives, unknowingly quenching our spiritual thirst with the very things that shrivel our souls until they die.
Yes, it was inevitable that someone would quote from the Bible, and I've chosen to do it first:
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Sex is no substitute for love, cheap laughs are no substitute for joy, numbness is no substitute for peace, instant gratification is no substitute for patience, self-centredness is no substitute for kindness, luxury is no substitute for generosity, neediness is no substitute for faithfulness, cowardice is no substitute for gentleness, and an obsession with diet and exercise is not an adequate substitute for control over one's decisions and behaviour by one's Self.
And the self as conceived by marketing managers is no substitute for the divine Self which was designed to grow by feeding on wisdom, love and beauty in all its forms, until it is once again capable of seeing the face of its Maker.
