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Pop Culture, Porn Culture 2

sexy powerMy last post dealt with the issue of pop culture’s current fascination with all things porn-like.  I mentioned movies, reality television stars, and magazines.  I ended the post with a series of questions, pondering what it would be like for the church to engage in this issue.  If the fascination with porn is the culture’s way of expressing a current dialogue, I asked, then how could the church engage in that question.

Here is my answer.

1.       Understand the larger story.

The highly sexualized nature of the culture is incredibly complex.  We aren’t just talking about teenagers having sex.  Nor are we speaking solely about Victoria secret models and men’s magazines.  The culture’s sexual addiction goes all the way down to the likes of Toddler’s and Tiara’s, and Disney Princesses.  Beneath the issue of sexualisation is the issues of commodification, identity and freedom.  (I wrote a bit about this in the ‘Dismantling Princesses’ post).  The cultural message heard from a very young age is that nudity and sexuality is empowering and a mark of self-assuredness. Consider the ranks of celebrities who embrace either nudity or overt sexuality as a means to garner popularity.  In his new movie “That Awkward Moment” High-School Musical heart throb and all around-nice guy Zac Efron’ will be shown naked in a bathroom after his character takes a high dosage of Viagra. Also, despite the public outcry over Miley Cyrus’ pornographic dress, VMA performance, and music video, her recent album is currently #1 in 70 different countries. (Her VMA outfit is also the number one Halloween costume this year) The cultural message is not too hard to hear:  The true man is the one who is unashamed to bear his six-pack abs on the beach; the true woman is one who sees her body as a means to garner fame and popularity and entice the men who judge her.

Here the creation narrative of scripture can be helpful.  We can affirm the basic premise as held by culture that one’s nakedness is a sign of one’s strength of character and personal liberation (i.e., one’s true self).  After all, in the garden Adam and Eve were naked but felt no shame.  However, this is not the full story.  The pure expression of original nakedness  was corrupted in the fall.  The shame associated with nakedness and nudity is not based on the naked body itself, but on the twisted association with nakedness to commodification, objectification, and idolatry.  To be naked, or explicitly sexual in today’s culture, is to be objectified by the culture; it is to partake in a system that judges people based solely on their attractiveness and ability to sexually excite.  Thus, while the culture may say that overt sexuality is a means to empower one’s identity, it is actually serves to deny it.  Madonna, Sharon Stone, and Miley Cyrus may push the boundaries of sexually appropriateness as a means to ‘take control’ of their image, body and future, however in the process they merely enslave themselves to the ogling eyes of the culture.  Thus to tackle the issue of sexuality, we must tackle the issue or our God-given identity.

2.       Understand the confusion

In tackling this issue, one will undoubtedly run into the many contradictions, mixed messages, and U-turns that make this topic utterly confusing.  As an example, in the early 2000’s, both Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson made headlines by asserting their virginity while they danced provocatively on stage wearing next to nothing.   Brittney adamantly maintained her sexual purity (which was linked to her faith as a good Baptist girl) while she sang lyrics like ‘don’t you want to dance upon me” and “I really want to do what you want me to do.”  Purity and sexual adventure are held in tandem.  This confusion is seen in current television as seen in the hit television show “How I Met your Mother.”  The main character spends the series telling his children the story of his quest for authentic relationship, where sex is viewed as the full expression of love and commitment.  Of course, this quest occurs through the endless line of sexual escapades.  This same confusion occurs in shows like ‘The Tudors’, ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Reign’.  These shows are ‘romantic’ in period and in style, yet push the boundaries of appropriateness through their graphic depictions of sexuality.  While popular shows seem to value a more reserved, romantic vision of sensuality and sex, the manner it does so validates the overt sexuality dominant in the culture.  Answering the moral questions of ‘do this/don’t do that’, then,  is a lot more difficult because the culture is always serving up another vision of what sexuality should look like.

3.        Understand the deeper issue

Regardless if one believes in pre-marital sex or not, the cultural propagation of overt sexuality is not just about sex. As popular culture grows increasingly (and uncomfortably) cozy with porn culture, this has farther reaching implications that how one thinks about sex.  We must put the matter of our sexually addicted culture in proper context.  This is about how we see, respond, and value each other.  When sexual pleasure becomes an end to itself, and not an act of self-offering, is it any wonder why so many people find themselves addicted to porn?   A culture that bombards people with depictions of consequence free sex, and over-the-top graphic representations, will naturally adopt an understanding which states that this is what sexual relationships are to look like. The role of women is thereby perpetually understood in relation to their seductiveness and ability to please the men who act as their saviour; men are understood as emotionally stunted but physically and sexually powerful. Yet when a woman doesn’t fit into a size zero, or when men do not rock the bedroom like a porn-star, is it any wonder why so many feel judged, and why so many relationships seem to suffer?

The current fascination with pornography, then, seems to shed a light on the faulty and damaging view the culture has about relationships.  In fact, one review of new movie “Don Jon” (dubbed the porniest movie of the year), states that this is the true meaning of the film.  The review states that the film  “illustrates well the societal norms created by pop culture, as they relate to our desires and the suffering they create.” (Click here for review).   As flawed as Don Jon’s porn-based understanding of relationships is, so too is Barbara’s; she bases her understanding of relationships upon an obsession with Hollywood Romantic comedies.  In the context of the movie, both are seen as equally flawed, equally manipulative, and equally damaging.

Is the issue pornography?  Is it sexuality? Is it scantily clad models and bare-chested male super-hunks?  Or are these things mere products of the deeper issues of love, identity, acceptance and the meaning of relationships?  In addressing the issue of sexuality in our culture, we must be willing to wrestle with the deeper issues and conversations at work.

Kyle Norman

About Kyle Norman

I am a Priest in the Diocese of Calgary, serving the wonderful people of Holy Cross, Calgary. I watch reality television, I drink Starbucks coffee, and I read celebrity gossip columns. I am also a magician and often use magic tricks to teach the children at church the lessons of the Bible. I believe that God is present in the intricacy of our lives, and thus I believe that Pop Culture can provide intriguing lessons, examples, and challenges for our lives of faith. Connect with Kyle on
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