Gospel Prism

I have lobbied hard for those in my church to treat and dress girls, not as worldly princesses, but as princesses of the Most High God (John 1:12). It’s hard though because our culture is pushing sexuality on girls like never before. As I have been processing adultery and lust ebcause of last Sunday’s sermon, my research for the subject led to to the Campiagn for a Commerical-Free Childhood website. They have a section called, “Marketing Sex” where they compile new sources that is writing about this subject. I am azmed to find how many secualr news sources are up in arms over this issue. It seems that the church, especially churches that are pushing a more post-modern agenda, do not have this on their radar screen.

The SF Chronicle wrote an article entitled, “Message and the Media: Our girls deserve better.” They report the following:

In the real world, however, the sexualization of girls isn’t confined to beauty pageants. Signs of it are everywhere: On a t-shirt for a 6-year-old girl that proclaims her a “Little Hottie;” on dolls that sport fishnet stockings, bare midriffs and platform shoes; and in a music video that shows busty women performing sexy dances while dressed in Brownie uniforms.

and…

Sexualization has serious consequences. When girls internalize the messages around them, they are more likely to have low self-esteem, feel ashamed of their bodies, suffer from depression and eating disorders, take up smoking and have unprotected sex. Even their ability to think clearly and do well on math and logic problems suffers when their attention is focused on how they look. In other words, sexualization contributes to some of the most serious problems facing adolescent girls today.

and…

There may be consequences for society as well. If pop culture is saturated with images in which girls are sexualized, will we begin to project adult sexual desires onto children? Will we come to believe that children want to have sex with adults, thus making child sexual abuse seem “normal” and perhaps increasing the demand for child prostitution?

And this is happening. The LA Times in a report entitled, “No Escaping Sexualization of Young Girls,” had these striking words:

In a two-part series on pedophilia, the newspaper reported that many pedophiles now use Internet support groups to swap how-to tips on getting jobs as camp counselors and teachers. Increasingly, The Times said, “pedophiles view themselves as the vanguard of a nascent movement seeking legalization of child pornography and the loosening of age-of-consent laws. They portray themselves as battling for children’s rights to engage in sex with adults….

Pedophiles are looking at parents dress the girls with no inhibitions towards sexuality, where seven year olds are wearing thongs, where midriffs are bare, where panties are sticking out of short skirts without nary a notice, and are thinking that they have every right to have consensual sex with these kids. Pedophiles believe they are acting on behalf of children’s rights. Regardless of how ludicrous this sounds, it is happening more and more.

Fathers, we must fight for our daughter’s purity but leading them in humble modesty in dress and character. Mothers, guard your daughter’s appearance so they will grow to appreciate their looks as a daughter of the King and will save their body for the covenant of marriage. It will save both you and your little girl much, much heartache, pain, and sorrow. It might even save lives, as abortions are growing most in the preteen to teen demographic. And it will honor our God.