Under The Influence
There is a thought provoking piece up at Breaking Free, the blog of Covenant Eyes, which posits that men are tempted to look at porn, while women are tempted to want to be lusted after.
It’s a good premise. The full article is too lengthy, and i don’t think i am tracking with everything the author states, but the premise is solid.
i would say it like this: the underlying problem we face as men, which drives us to porn in the first place, is lust. But it’s not only men who lust, and lust is not merely sexual. Essentially, we want things, all sorts of things. And when it comes to lust, women are not immune.
Men tend to lust for women. Women tend to lust for the attention and desire of men. As a result, the dynamics are in place for both men and women to feed to cycle of pornography in our culture. In the world of porn men and women get something that they both want, at least for a short period of time. It’s not long before porn takes its toll on the women who pose and the men who pay to see it.
But this is actually bigger than porn. We live under the influence of porn culture. It’s in our fashion, our entertainment, all aspects of social life. So even things that our society doesn’t consider pornography, like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, promote the values of porn culture.
And so, whether knowingly or unknowingly, even men and women who are not “into” porn can actually perpetuate the twisted cycle. Women who dress or act so they can be seen as “hot” by others, and take pleasure in how many people pay attention to then because of their beauty, are living lustfully. And men, even those who don’t look at what is defined as pornography per se, fuel the fire when they lust after women and encourage women to flaunt their beauty and sexuality.
Nothing good ever comes from lust.
Intentional Warriors 
One Response to “Under The Influence”
I couldn’t disagree more with your assertion that women who dress to look “hot” are living lustfully. It’s precisely this type of mentality that causes women in many Muslim countries to be required by law to wear burqas to cover themselves up because, after all, it’s their fault men lusting after them as it couldn’t possibly be that man’s fault!
The Bible tells us that if your eye causes you to sin you should take it out and throw it away, it doesn’t put the blame on what you’re eyes are looking at!