Many readers have undoubtedly heard about the Secret Service sex scandal in Cartagena, Columbia. After a night of drinking and lewdness, agents brought prostitutes to hotel Caribe and then refused to pay for their harlotry. There ensued a big disturbance in the hallway, and numerous people hurried to break up the disturbance between the agents and the prostitute. Dozens of officials have been implicated. David Chaney and Greg Stokes seem to have the main role in the altercation, followed by Arthur Huntington.
.I have wanted to write about this for several weeks now, but other things in life had beckoned me aside. Mainly, I wished to discuss the sexism about harlotry. The government decided that the solution to this problem is to provide ethics training for the Secret Service agents. The Secret Service needs specially-designed classes to teach them that women are human beings worthy and deserving of respect, never to be regarded as things for male pleasure.
I find it disturbing that the agents have gone through their childhood and early adulthood without once considering the human dignity of women and that they then need to learn about human dignity through special classes. Did their parents not raise them to consider the human dignity of women? Is the human dignity of women not a cultural value?
The only way to honor humanity is to ignore the flesh and desires of the flesh. The only way to honor the human soul is to "abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you should possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the passion of lust." (1 Thesssalonians 4:3-5) The foremost manner of expressing love is to respect the human soul.
David Cheney lacks any respect or appreciation for the souls of women. Cheney regularly posted on his Facebook page numerous pictures of himself leering at belly-dancers and other scantily-clad women. Other pictures include himself and the sensual gratification from scanty women. In those other pictures, he appears doped up. During 2008, he was given the task of protecting Sarah Palin. Instead of protecting her, he focused more upon her body and commented "I was really checking her out, if you know what i mean?"
Palin's response:
"Well, this agent, who was kind of ridiculous there in posting pictures and comments about checking someone out — well, check this out, bodyguard. You're fired. And I hope his wife kicks his ocoli and sends him to the doghouse, as long as he's not eating the dog, along with his former boss."
Obviously, he never considered women to have any souls or spiritual value. Obviously, he considered women to exist solely for his own sexual gratification. Knowing this about him, I do not feel surprised that he and others refused to pay a woman for sex. Of course, in a culture that champions promiscuity, perhaps they merely expected free sex. Perhaps this is an intercultural misunderstanding between two degrading cultures.
Sex is meant to be for a husband and wife. Wives should never need to compete for the marital right with women outside of the marriage.
...But there is more to the sexism of harlotry than David Cheney....
Both the New York Daily News and the New York Post have featured the same photo of Dania Suarez in a swimsuit. Typical of modern swimsuits, it is little more than a half-bra and a thong. The captions read "At your service!" and "C'mon, she's worth $800!" Both front covers indicate that the editors champion the notion of women as sex objects for male gratification. The chattel image comes partly from Dania Suarez herself because she placed the price on her own body. Both champion the notion of putting a price on a woman's body as though she were chattel for sell. Moreover, they indicate that they believe their audiences share the same degrading views.
Jonathon Lemire wrote in the NY Daily News "Soon the whole world may be able to see what the Secret Service did." about Suarez's nude body. Notice that he refers to her as "what". Lemire refuses to think of her as a human and instead thinks of her strictly in sexual terms. But such views are to be expected in a hypersexual and promiscuous culture that encourages people to have sex without thought or consideration for the humanity of the other person.
Now, some point out that Suarez chose prostitution and that these men should respect her nonetheless. However, those same people will decry the sexism of men like David Cheney and Jonathon Lemire. Yes, men are lewd and consider women objects for their sexual gratification regardless of who she is. I have seen teenage boys manipulate and coerce teenage girls into sex and then abandon them. Men have only themselves to blame for their vulgar and obscene beliefs. Yet, for women like Dania Suarez to sell their bodies and to flaunt themselves sexually merely validates and reinforces the belief that women exist as chattel for male usage. With those women, the men can act upon their vulgar nature through women who appeal directly to their lust. Jonathon Lemire referred to her as a "what."
When men become bored with her and when she loses her sex appeal, then she would have nothing left. Men use her and discard her. What would she have left when her body is spent? People who do bad things tend to surround themselves with other people who do bad things, and in turn, this leads to a tragic and unfortunate fate..
The Bible often refers to harlotry and martial faithfulness to symbolize larger matters. Such stories have many layers of meaning. The Harlot of Babylon best describes the result of harlotry whether the women choose it or not. The Harlot is introduced as she "with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication." (Revelations 17:2) After committing the harlotry, the kings "will hate the harlot, make her desolate, eat her flesh and burn her with fire." (Revelations 17:16) So, the men use the harlot of Babylon for their own greed and then destroy her when she is no longer of use to them. The men essentially devour her to satisfy their own lustful cravings. The harlot is not considered a human because the men consider her a thing for their own consumption.
.And this is what happens with harlotry! Any woman who engages in harlotry for one moment injures all women by validating sexist beliefs that their bodies - not their souls - are central. Any woman who engages in harlotry reinforces the sexist belief that they exist for lust and that their souls are of little consequence. This has widespread consequences dangerous to all women.
.And this is what happens with harlotry! Women are destroyed by it. Women are left feeling emotionally-desolate with their bodies used up. Drugs mask the emotional pain. Because they engage in a dehumanizing lifestyle, they are surrounded with people who refuse to acknowledge their humanity. Years ago, we have seen it with Britney Spears. Now, we are seeing it with Rihanna. Rihanna danced with strippers and showered money over them. Now, she has been rushed to the hospital.
.Ethics training will not teach men to value women as human beings. Men and women should grow up valuing the soul over the body. For women to be valued as human beings, this culture needs to hold men accountable and needs to remove all icons of harlotry.
Sex is meant to be for a husband and wife. Wives should never need to compete for the marital right with women outside of the marriage.
...But there is more to the sexism of harlotry than David Cheney....
Both the New York Daily News and the New York Post have featured the same photo of Dania Suarez in a swimsuit. Typical of modern swimsuits, it is little more than a half-bra and a thong. The captions read "At your service!" and "C'mon, she's worth $800!" Both front covers indicate that the editors champion the notion of women as sex objects for male gratification. The chattel image comes partly from Dania Suarez herself because she placed the price on her own body. Both champion the notion of putting a price on a woman's body as though she were chattel for sell. Moreover, they indicate that they believe their audiences share the same degrading views.
Jonathon Lemire wrote in the NY Daily News "Soon the whole world may be able to see what the Secret Service did." about Suarez's nude body. Notice that he refers to her as "what". Lemire refuses to think of her as a human and instead thinks of her strictly in sexual terms. But such views are to be expected in a hypersexual and promiscuous culture that encourages people to have sex without thought or consideration for the humanity of the other person.
Now, some point out that Suarez chose prostitution and that these men should respect her nonetheless. However, those same people will decry the sexism of men like David Cheney and Jonathon Lemire. Yes, men are lewd and consider women objects for their sexual gratification regardless of who she is. I have seen teenage boys manipulate and coerce teenage girls into sex and then abandon them. Men have only themselves to blame for their vulgar and obscene beliefs. Yet, for women like Dania Suarez to sell their bodies and to flaunt themselves sexually merely validates and reinforces the belief that women exist as chattel for male usage. With those women, the men can act upon their vulgar nature through women who appeal directly to their lust. Jonathon Lemire referred to her as a "what."
When men become bored with her and when she loses her sex appeal, then she would have nothing left. Men use her and discard her. What would she have left when her body is spent? People who do bad things tend to surround themselves with other people who do bad things, and in turn, this leads to a tragic and unfortunate fate..
The Bible often refers to harlotry and martial faithfulness to symbolize larger matters. Such stories have many layers of meaning. The Harlot of Babylon best describes the result of harlotry whether the women choose it or not. The Harlot is introduced as she "with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication." (Revelations 17:2) After committing the harlotry, the kings "will hate the harlot, make her desolate, eat her flesh and burn her with fire." (Revelations 17:16) So, the men use the harlot of Babylon for their own greed and then destroy her when she is no longer of use to them. The men essentially devour her to satisfy their own lustful cravings. The harlot is not considered a human because the men consider her a thing for their own consumption.
.And this is what happens with harlotry! Any woman who engages in harlotry for one moment injures all women by validating sexist beliefs that their bodies - not their souls - are central. Any woman who engages in harlotry reinforces the sexist belief that they exist for lust and that their souls are of little consequence. This has widespread consequences dangerous to all women.
.And this is what happens with harlotry! Women are destroyed by it. Women are left feeling emotionally-desolate with their bodies used up. Drugs mask the emotional pain. Because they engage in a dehumanizing lifestyle, they are surrounded with people who refuse to acknowledge their humanity. Years ago, we have seen it with Britney Spears. Now, we are seeing it with Rihanna. Rihanna danced with strippers and showered money over them. Now, she has been rushed to the hospital.
.Ethics training will not teach men to value women as human beings. Men and women should grow up valuing the soul over the body. For women to be valued as human beings, this culture needs to hold men accountable and needs to remove all icons of harlotry.
Kae Am
ABOUT ME
I am a born-again Christian who enjoys studying and researching the scripture and everything around the scripture. I consider myself a pro-life feminist. In fact, the original feminists - Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton - were also pro-life; they believed that abortion was an evil resulting from patriarchal control. According to them, women's equality would eliminate abortion because it would no longer be a necessary evil.
I am particularly interested in studying celibacy and human sexuality. Scripture has a great deal to say about those matters, and there are many reasons to champion celibacy. Other works such as the Acts of Thecla build upon the teachings of the Bible. By reading those works, I understand that God never oppressed women, even though He dealt with a patriarchal society. In reality, He paved the way for women to obtain equality.
Celibacy is a way of honoring God and of dedicating oneself to God. Celibacy is also a method of empowerment - both for women and men - because it allows for them to maintain full rights and control over their bodies by championing the spirit above the flesh. Sex within marriage is the only acceptable manner because it brings forth new souls with a mother and father to nurture those souls into adulthood. God values the human soul and our spiritual welfare first and foremost. God wants us to enjoy genuine empowerment.
http://blogs.christianpost.com/disciple/sexism-harlotry-9815/
No comments:
Post a Comment