These are my girls and I worry about them.<\/p>\n
There’s good reason for my worry. Our culture’s attitude towards young women has begun to look like that of an unbridled teenage boy on testosterone injections. We live in a super-sexed society!<\/p>\n
The sexification, erotification, and objectification of girls drive the sales of everything from crescent wrenches to smart phones. These promotions force a pattern of thinking about girls upon boys and men. It damages their ability to interact with the opposite sex without a lingering hint of sensuality and fantasized focus on female body parts.<\/p>\n
This wrecked way of watching women doesn’t only affect men and boys. Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube feed our girls a visual diet of flawless faces and fit figures. Social media superstars have perfected the illusion of creating the ideal body and life which fits nicely in the palm of every girl’s hand sandwiched between a thin layer of glass and electronics. This crafted concoction is a counterfeit that contaminates the eyes of young girls who can no longer look in the mirror with contentment.<\/p>\n
And then there are the divas such as Beyonc\u00e9, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus and many others who have further stimulated young men and women to pursue the provocative. Their erotic expos\u00e9s have made it to the center of our cultural celebrations. No longer can you enjoy decent entertainment without being visually and audibly violated. Ironically, the very women who demand the right to flaunt their sexuality also lament the objectification of females and feign support for women’s rights.<\/p>\n
Some might just say that I’m a father of three girls who’s just overreacting. That may be true, but I’d rather overreact than underreact or not react at all to the sexification of our society and it’s dangerous effect upon girls.<\/p>\n
So what can I do about it?<\/p>\n
I want to suggest 6 things that you and I can do to help our girls navigate the minefield of our super-sexed society.<\/p>\n
I must understand\u00a0power of my example. My girls are watching me and I want them to see a man who respects women, a man who carefully keeps moral boundaries, who doesn’t laugh at degrading jokes, and always treats all women with honor and esteem. If I can give them a good example it will help them immensely as they evaluate the attitude of young men towards them and consider marriage.<\/p>\n
Above all women I must love their mother. My relationship to my wife will be what they expect and probably what they will look for in a husband. I must love her as a woman, as a mother, and most importantly as a soul whose inner beauty surpasses all outward appearances. I want my girls to see an adoration in my heart for the heart of their mother, I want them to see that I respect her thoughts, her opinions, and her feelings. I don’t want them to ever think that my love for her is precariously dependant upon an ambiguous standard of outward beauty. She will always be my one and only standard of beauty!<\/p>\n
I will tell my girls they look beautiful occasionally but more often I will commend them for their accomplishments at school, their talents, their creative skills, their helpful and kind spirits, their humility, their faithfulness, and their service to others. I will also assure them that I love them because they are my daughters and not because they have thousands of followers on Instagram.<\/p>\n
When they are feeling less pretty than other girls, when they start to believe the lie that their worth comes flawless skin, when their bodies measurements don’t match their favorite pop-star’s, I will point them to Jesus the source of all true worth. I will tell them that self-confidence is not about what the mirror says but about what the Messiah said! Jesus is not ashamed to call them “sisters” (Heb 2:11). They can’t have more worth than that, but it must be found in Jesus and not in social media, a boy’s opinion, or anything else.<\/p>\n
It takes wisdom and life experience to see through the deception\u00a0in our media’s interpretation of how girls and women should look and should be looked at. When there is opportunity I must discuss with them how certain images and videos can be damaging to their own way of thinking and how to avoid those false patterns of thinking.<\/p>\n
It’s scary to send my girls out alone into a super-sexed society. I need to pray for myself, I need to pray that I will trust God’s protection for them and guidance of them. I need to pray that they will seek God rather than the attention of others. I need to pray they will continually grow in their understanding of their worth in Christ.<\/p>\n
These are my girls and I worry about them.<\/p>\n
There’s good reason for my worry. Our culture’s attitude towards young women has begun to look like that of an unbridled teenage boy on testosterone injections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[36,31],"tags":[431,114,432],"class_list":["post-7595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-writing","tag-girls","tag-parenting","tag-sex"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/DSC07159.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3izZc-1Yv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3099,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/kissing-before-marriage-and-other-questions-girls-ask\/","url_meta":{"origin":7595,"position":0},"title":"Kissing Before Marriage and Other Questions Girls Ask","author":"Christina","date":"September 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"There are some questions that are easier to answer and easier to discuss when boys aren't around. This past Sunday our youth group kicked off the new school year with a girls only and a boys only fellowship.\u00a0 The topic was \"Are There Boundaries in Boy\/Girl Relationships?\" I had the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/DSC05535.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/DSC05535.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/DSC05535.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/full-house\/","url_meta":{"origin":7595,"position":1},"title":"Full House","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"March 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night we were invited over by another family from the church in Notus. They have seven children, four of which are adopted, in addition to the seven they have three foster children currently. Another family also came who has one girl. Well, that made for a bunch of kids,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Updates"","block_context":{"text":"General Updates","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2921,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/a-big-announcement-and-report-on-girls-camp\/","url_meta":{"origin":7595,"position":2},"title":"A Big Announcement and Report on Girls Camp","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"August 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I asked Christina to join me this month for our video update for two reasons. 1. So she can share a little about the girls camp that she just go back from earlier this week. 2. So it would be more interesting for you to watch! This month we have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/aug-2013-vid.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/aug-2013-vid.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/aug-2013-vid.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":194,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/pervi-zvonok\/","url_meta":{"origin":7595,"position":3},"title":"Pervi Zvonok","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"September 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Today was the Pervi Zvonok (first bell) ceremony at Naomi's school. They had a special ceremony for all the students, teachers and parents. The school is a small Christian school, all the curriculum is in Ukrainian. Naomi's class has 2 other girls and three boys in it. It is very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Updates"","block_context":{"text":"General Updates","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3219,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/choose-your-heroes-wisely\/","url_meta":{"origin":7595,"position":4},"title":"Choose Your Heroes Wisely","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"October 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I know something about you! You have heroes in your life, people you look up to, people you try to emulate, people you desire to be like. You may have never met them in person but you have them. 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