Recently my sister-in-law Julie, took her little boys to
Wal-Mart, she did her shopping and then approached the check out. Of course her
eyes were drawn to the magazines, where the Cosmopolitan cover absolutely
appalled her. The woman on the front was so scantily dressed, I’m not even sure
you can refer to her as “dressed.” Julie said her first reaction was to turn the
magazine over so that her little boys didn’t have to see this disgusting
display. But the back was just as bad. Her next move was to take sweet Princess
Kate who was on another cover and place it over all of the Cosmo magazines. She
went through all of the check out aisles doing this. She felt a concern for
every man and women walking through the store and being unwillingly exposed to
pornography. Julie said that the last magazine to cover was in her own line,
and there were two men that were there looking at the magazine. She said she
didn’t want to make them feel ashamed by covering it up right in front of them,
but she did it, and said, “That was for my boys.” They both looked at her and
smiled with gratitude in their eyes.
Once she got to the cashier she told her that the magazine
was very offensive; she agreed and called the manager. He came and told Julie
that there was nothing that they could do about it, to which she said, “If you
wanted to, you could do something about it.”
Later that day Julie called corporate Wal-Mart and talked to
a very nice customer service agent that told her that the Cosmo magazine should ALWAYS be covered in every Wal-Mart (Remember
this if you ever see it uncovered… Speak up!!). One thing that she found
interesting is that every person that she talked to agreed that the photo on
the cover was completely inappropriate.
I have something to say to every Woman and girl. Pornography
is a growing issue in our world. More and more men and boys are becoming
addicted to pornography. It is a problem for some women as well. I recently had
a class where we learned the physiological effects that pornography has on the
brain. It is similar to a drug; releasing chemicals that make a person feel
good. Pornography is a dangerous addiction just like that of smoking, alcohol
or drugs, and can consume money, time, and harm healthy relationships.
What the speaker then said was an unnerving thought for me,
“sometimes girls make themselves the pornography by the way they dress.” Can
you imagine that by the way you meagerly dress or an inappropriate picture of
you on your Facebook or otherwise available could cause some innocent young man
to become addicted to pornography?! Think about it!
As women we seek respect from men, but how can we demand
respect from others if we don’t show that we respect ourselves enough to cover
our bodies and feel secure in modest clothing. It is very disheartening when I
go shopping with my husband and see young girls wearing the shortest shorts
possible that their bum cheeks hang out, and backless shirts that don’t have
much of a front either. What kind of message are we sending with the clothes
that we wear? Are we helping those that struggle with pornography by covering
up and dressing modestly? Are we keeping our boys and men free from impure
thoughts by treating ourselves with respect first?
I can see that the style is getting shorter, lower cut, and
tighter. I also know that you can dress stylish and still be modest.
My message goes back to my sister-in-law’s comment, “If you
want to, you can do something about it.” This goes for anything that you feel
needs “something done.” Even one person can make a difference. One girl can be
a positive example to others by dressing modestly and one Mom can make a
difference by teaching these principles to her daughters. My sister-in-law
Julie made a difference by one simple phone call. We can all step up and do our
best to make a difference in the world.
