Porno, Or No?

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

I don't know what to think.

About two years ago, my author friend Karen Zacharias (http://karenzach.com/) asked me to do some research. I needed to find area relatives of a helicopter pilot KIA in Vietnam in the mid-60's. A living buddy wanted to contact the family. I went to the public library to search several weeks' worth of newspapers on microfilm 'til I finally found the obituary listing all the surviving family members.

Those newspapers from the so-called "free love" 60's, a time regarded by many as a time of vanished morality... Well, to put it mildly, the newspapers were shocking in their modesty. The lingerie ads from the big department stores were first of all B&W, no color. Secondly, they were all stylized line drawings, not soft porn photos of women in seductive poses. Now the ads from Kohl's, JC Penney, even mundane stores like the local Fred Meyer, feature full color shots of women and their wear that is almost equivalent to Playboy features of not so long ago.

But that's almost nothing compared to what Ms. Vicky puts in her store windows at 3x life-size.
Tell me, what's a person to think? What are little kids to think, teen girls? Specifically, what are boys and young men to think? Are they to be completely inert to it? Do the ads and photos communicate: THIS is what I want you to see in me. This is ALL I want you so see in me.

Then, why manufacture the "garments" at all?

But don't women have the "right" to wear things that make them feel feminine, glamorous? Of course! But perhaps it's wise to keep in mind that things send messages about us. Sometimes the messages received might be very different from the ones we think or intend. They might even scare us if we knew.

I wonder if store windows like this do precisely that: send a message that might not be all that wholesome. Or safe to send. Is it porno, or no?

I think the secret's out.

You can't see it in the detail of the photo, but the whole display is for a line called "Cheeksters". Yeah, words all over the bottom of the underbritches. So why put 'em there if they won't be seen by anyone but the wearer before donning them? Hmmmm...?

But wait! There's hope! The whole add campaign is themed on the color pink and those life-saving, world-changing concepts of peace, hope and love. Kinda brings to mind Apostle Paul and 1 Corinthians 13:13: And now, faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Maybe Ms. Vicky's keeping her faith a secret. One can always hope. It's going to take lots of love to shepherd our young through the world we have created for them. May they and their parents find peace. I hope. Amen.

Pax,

Roger