Conviction

I wrote the following essay for my Writers II class and thought I'd share.  The past year or so of my life, those of you who are close to me know of one thing that really drives me - the treatment of women and children.  On a large scale, my heart breaks at the use of girls around the world and the reality of millions who are in sexual bondage.  Although the complexity of this issue is far too vast to address in a short blog, I remain convicted that the image society, specifically American culture, has created and the value they've robbed from women has a hand in even the global "epidemic" of sexual slavery.

P.S. - forgive the bluntness of it.  I apologize if some of the wording is offensive to you.  The assignment was to write about something that convicted us... with a preface of the poem/spoken word by Taylor Mali in which he addresses the lack of substance, conviction, and even personal opinion people speak with today.  These are my thoughts and my opinions - admittedly raging with emotion and passion.  :)

Here is the link for the spoken word if you'd like to hear it.  It's funny in a sad sort of way.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEBZkWkkdZA

Brittany Girton

Writer’s II

Assignment #1

01/12/12

Assignment #1 – Conviction Essay

            Advocating for oppressed women and children is a trendy topic in America.  This kind of advocacy popularly leads to addressing the issue of sexual slavery and the circumstances that often lead to this kind of oppression.  This seems quite ironic coming from a country that oppresses its women in shrewd and appalling ways.  While the empire of America and the issues we are faced with can hardly, if at all, be related to these impoverished third world countries, I am convinced that society and media has done great harm and committed unforgivable crimes against our young girls – the effects even reaching and contributing in some ways to the image and value of women globally. 

            As I walk through the mall or flip through magazines, I’m appalled by the images of half-naked women plastered everywhere.  Victoria’s Secret isn’t hesitate to disclose to the world not only a degrading and revealing picture of what women have become, but also a false one that infects the minds of boys and girls, men and women.  Billboard ads and TV ads consistently bombard us with thousands of products, procedures, and programs to ensure a woman looks her best, while coupling those ads with more pictures to ensure a woman is never satisfied.  Then, the seemingly free use of women’s bodies on the big screen is incredibly offensive.  From reality TV shows to box office hits, every aspect of media seems to have a hand in infecting society with harmful ways to view, value, and respect women. 

            As I get older, I have begun to discern the differences in men and women and how crucial and wonderful these differences are according to the way God created us.  Through my experiences and continual maturation, I have come to understand the nature of a woman’s heart – a wonderfully unashamed and humble servant’s heart.  Unashamed in that she will, without question, put another’s need before her own.  Women naturally love with a kind of selfless love that echoes the motherly characteristics God instilled in all women.  This type of devotion and love must be protected and respected.  Yet my heart breaks at the way society chooses to manipulate this vulnerability of women, and men choose to be predators instead of protectors. 

            The most heartbreaking, however, is the way society continues to attack the younger generations.  There is no filter or protection for the innocent and curious minds of young girls.  This lack of protection is apparent in the growing rate of teen and even pre-teen sexual activity and pregnancies.  Girls, having been tutored by these images and the overall treatment of women, conform to what they believe is expected and wanted from them.  They have nothing to derive their value from expect for what the media offers and what men tell them.

            A good father can do his best in protecting his young daughter from this mindset, but this seems to be the minority, as society and the ancient desire for power tutors even the men in the way they should value and treat women.  And even with the presence of a strong and protective father, as soon as that young girl comes out from under her father or is inevitably influenced by the invasiveness of this kind of thought, she becomes jaded by it.  By junior high, her pants are getting tighter, her shirts more revealing, and her make-up more seductive.  In high school, Halloween becomes cool again as she discovers costumes other than princesses, fairies, and witches. 

            Her innocence is stolen to make an extra buck; she has become a commodity.  And this is the great country in which we live – where people are enslaved by this consumer-driven society where women are taken advantage of for the sake of getting ahead or fulfilling lustful desires.  Our culture has infected the world with this selfish way to live in greedy entitlement to all things; a way that derives value from things and use from people.   

            The powerful, heartless men hold the ability to control women in their hands.  They know the intimate and pure desires of a woman’s heart and have mastered the art of manipulating those desires to fulfill their own desires – both lustful and greedy.  So this is how our culture has infected both American girls and girls around the world.  Men have the power to control the way women dress, act, and even think.  There exists no moral conviction or shame in treating women as objects for both financial gain and sexual fulfillment.  Thousands of girls are trafficked across hundreds of borders everyday with seeming ease and there exists virtually no enforcement and no protection.  And why would there be?  The American Empire shows the world an excusable way to treat women that is a benefit to the powerful.  Women are expendable and their value is held only in their ability to please men in a variety of ways. 

            Their voice is silenced, their innocence stolen, their beauty tarnished, and their value diminished.  My heart breaks as beautiful women and innocent girls with the potential to bring so much life and beauty to the world are broken by the evils of this world.  I hate that potential mothers, daughters, and sisters are treated as objects of sex and seen as potential for gain. 

            Although American girls aren’t sexual slaves in literal bondage, they are oppressed in the sense that our culture suffocates their ability to blossom into daughters of God.  As a result, our society is dying, and the evidence is great.  Biblically, the health of a society has much to do with the health of its women.  Yet the life is being sucked out of our women.  All that makes them beautiful, wonderful, unique, and usable by God has been raped from them.  Even the most physically detrimental and heartbreaking kinds of oppression and enslavement don’t overshadow this invisible oppression because of its tight grip on the minds of the vulnerable, whom society has chosen to manipulate rather than protect.