Barbie Blurs the Lines Again

By: American Decency Staff

God’s word tells us that His people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.  Too often we have that knowledge but it gets blurred because we try to read the Bible through culture’s glasses instead of reading the culture through Biblical glasses. How can a people see straight when the lines are so blurred?  Childhood and adolescence are hard enough to muddle through, finding yourself on the other side with a stable foundation under your feet, without the predatory media making it even harder.

As advertising and television blur the lines, society gullibly follows, and chaos will ensue.  Arguably, one of the most chaotic times in Israel was in the days of the judges when “the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord” and “every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”  We live in a culture where the media is taking that which is good and making it look evil while taking that which is evil and making it look good.  How is a child to find a firm and stable place to land?

Boundary lines are continually getting assaulted and apparently child/adult relationships are the next lines to be blurred. As Mattel’s Barbie is featured in the Swimsuit edition of men’s magazine Sports Illustrated, one can’t help but wonder, “why put a child’s toy next to flesh and blood models who strive for Barbie’s ‘perfection?’”  Eve Vawter, editor of the blog “Mommyish, is deeply troubled by this as well. Listen as she expresses her concern. “Our girls are only so young for such a very short time and taking one of her toys and putting it alongside sexualized and dehumanized images of women to fall under the male gaze is wrong on so many levels. Barbie is no longer just a doll. She is a sex doll.”

Between our female Olympians bearing too much and now a child’s toy being used as a “sex object” what kind of message is being sent to little girls?  With men being shown a little girl’s toy in conjunction with sexualized women, what message is being sent to young and older men whose moral compasses no longer point true North?

These questions aren’t asked in light of this one magazine article; but rather, they are asked in conjunction with the many other influences that are blurring the lines daily. Pornography, entertainment, media, advertising, music, and a host of other influences constantly barrage the minds of men, women and children, often with a magnetic pull that warps their God-given consciences.

No one is saying that every man who looks at this issue will be drawn to pedophilia; neither are we saying that all little girls will be drawn to modeling or something worse; but, why do we need to put that kind of subtle message out there?  Why do we need to blur the lines any more than the news media around us already does?

This line is being blurred both ways; it’s not just men with girls, but it’s women with boys as well. With Harper’s Bazaar fashion magazine portraying 11 pages of Stephanie Seymour’s provocative mother-son photos, what’s an adolescent boy to think? As women see this placed before them, will they begin to think this is acceptable?

When photos of Peter Jr. and his bikini wearing mother hugging and kissing on the beach surfaced three years ago, people were outraged and called the relationship weird. With images like these being put before us more and more it will become more acceptable, be considered less weird, and stir less outrage.  These lines of inappropriateness eventually blur the boundaries of incest.  We must do everything possible to keep the lines sharp, clear and safe.

While we are at it, has anyone noticed the increased reports of Muslims being caught with underage girls?  Although most of them areconvicted, their message is usually the same; “I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong.”  Even with the convictions, as more and more people see these stories and hear the message that “it’s ok for me,” the more likely it is that people will become less repulsed by it and eventually accept it.

Perhaps you say, “That could never happen; it’s too terrible.” Can I remind you that the same thing was said about homosexuality years ago as we blurred the boundaries by laughing about it on television?  No one thought it could ever intrude upon the scene of normalcy; however, the lines were blurred, people laughed and now it is being forced upon us by society and even by the federal government. 

The line of natural marriage has not only become blurred but broken; in the wake of that, the unnaturalness of polygamy has become blurred as well. It would seem that adult and child relations are next on their agenda.

Reports of hard-wired pedophilia, much like the reports we’ve heard for homosexuality, are now “coming out of the closet.”  As homosexual groups push for a lower age of consent we see them pushing on the door of pedophilia and continue to blur the lines on so many levels.

We need to protect our children from so many things today.  It’s important that we let them know God has clear lines for us to follow.  Talk with your children about their Creator and His expectations for them.  Let them know that God’s boundaries are not a fence to keep them out of the playground; instead, it’s a guardrail to protect them from plunging over a cliff. Help your children to wear Biblical glasses which take the blurriest of lines and make them crisp in Christ!

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photo credit: partymonstrrrr via photopin cc

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