of what we're fighting for

I remember in the late 90s and early 2000s whilst I was in the throes of my adolescent years when Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera first hit the scene.  They were scandalous and unconventional, and all of us teenaged girls were condemned from wearing belly tops out of the house (though clearly that was what was best in our teenaged minds).  That seems tame now compared to what I see celebrities wear (and do) and how girls mimick them.  And I'm guilty of moments - as a young, single woman - when I wish I could get away wearing the "right" thing and saying the "right" thing that would make me attractive for the "right" man.  But that's all part of a woman that God is trying to rip out of me (thankfully).  It's one messed up world we're living in, and how are we fighting to clean it up?  All I know is that recently the biggest mess seems to be sex related, and there's always another something about sex showing up on my FB home feed, so I figured I'd join the rampage.

Of course last week it was everybody's opinion about 50 Shades of Grey.  Now, I have not seen the movie or read the books, nor do I plan on it.  Because of this I won't claim to know everything about the series, but from what I do know it's not something that is well written, appealing or loving, and certainly not something that should become mainstream sex.  However as I read article after article about 50 Shades are started to consider some things.  I watch a lot of Law & Order: SVU.  For those of you who don't know the show is based on criminal investigations into sexual misconducts (human trafficking, pedophilia etc..) in New York City that are taken care of by an "elite" squad of detectives called the Special Victims Unit (I may have almost quoted the intro to SVU word for word, there).  But as I considered what that show is often portraying I wondered if it can't be too far from what 50 Shades seems to promote - yet I watch SVU unabashedly.  Now SVU doesn't promote sex the way 50 Shades does, of course, as it's a show that's all about fighting for the victim.  But that's the thing: it's just a show.  It's still rampant with sex - yet I realized I feel justified in watching a showing dealing with victims of sexual abuse because within the show theres evidence of justice: that's the whole point, really.  But in reality, where is justice happening for sexual abuse victims?  How is one TV show that's pulling in thousands of dollars for using sex as its basis any better than a movie pulling in thousands of dollars using sex as its basis?  I'm assuming none of those dollars are going to help charities and organization who are actually fighting for women's freedom from sexual slavery.

I was reading an article in Newsweek online just today about sex trafficking in the USA (fyi, Canada is one of the top nations in the world traffickers use as a transfer country because Canada's laws on sex trafficking are pretty much a joke) and how sex traffickers sell their women often (and obviously) in places where there are high concentrations of men.  These include places such as oil boomtowns, military bases and even farms*.  As I was reading this article there was an advertisement on the side of the page for an athletic-wear company.  No big deal right?  This advertisement displayed two pairs of women's legs (backsides) wearing athletic (because justifying wearing spandex as "athletic" is therefore socially acceptable) pants and the only words noticeable were "your butt".

Really?  Isn't this ironic.  On the same page that is apparently fighting for women's freedom from sex trafficking is also promoting pants through sexual means?   That is to say they're using a desire for sexual attractiveness to educate on sexual brokenness - it just seems...twisted, or something that I haven't quite articulated.

Now, I'm not trying to say that wearing spandex is wrong - I wear spandex not only when I workout but also out and about.  However I am also one of those women who is intentional about covering up her butt while wearing said bottoms.  I just don't want anybody looking and seeing things that closely.  Just the other day at work my co-worker asked me why I always wear long shirts whenever I wear my leggings.  My response was simple: I don't want you seeing.  That's my conviction, and at this moment there are larger fish to fight with than me trying to get you to have the same conviction as me, so I will digress.

Look: sex is everywhere.  Women want to be sexy - this is straight up.  We want to be desired, to be loved, to be told we're attractive, and really there's nothing too terrible about that.  But what about the women who have been hurt because of this?  Most women are tricked into sexual slavery because they are promised a better life.  Men give them love just long enough to drag them into their messes and then the men start selling these women for money.  This isn't a partnership, this is slavery.  This is not an equal relationship, this is a very broken one.

Now I'm not saying there's a link between women who wear leggings and women who are trafficked (this isn't a "she asked for it" thing because never, ever, ever do I believe that a woman is "asking for it" unless she in fact uses her words and very clearly asks for it).  But I'm wondering how often we make distinctions between what is wrong and what is right when it comes to sex.  How often are we well educated on things like sexual slavery in our own countries, and how often do we think about what we put on our bodies?

Boil it all away and the question that's left is this:

Whose freedom are we fighting for?

"How does that even relate?" You may be wondering.  Well here's how I think it does.

I cannot fight for only my freedom in this world as long as there are others who are enslaved.  There are women out there who need my voice to speak for them; women who need me to cover up because they are forced every day to wear next to nothing, just to maybe live and breathe another day.  I need to fight for sexual purity in a world where sexual impurity is a norm.  And this means that I can't do things, even if I really, really want to do them.  And all this in hope that my purity will help in fighting for someone who wished they could still have theirs, but has had that taken from them a long time ago.  Purity is something that needs to be fought for, for women everywhere.

If I'm fighting for only my own freedom then I'm living in selfishness, really, and that is something I'm told I need to not hold onto.  And when I say "fighting for freedom" I'm talking about the battle we wage against more than just the flesh (though that is a daily battle) but it all flows from the one we fight against: the darkness of this world.  I know Christ has set me free, I know He's got me when all is said and done, I know He has destroyed the evils of this world and He has won, but at the end of the day we're still a part of this world and there is good we do need to fight for (as Samwise Gamgee once similarly put things) and there are people (children, women and men) who don't know this battle has been won because they are still in the midst of it, being held down by pimps and other traffickers who force them to prostitute themselves for hours on end.

We are agents of change on this earth.  What are we fighting for, and would people be able to affirm it through the way we live our lives, the words we use, the clothes we wear and the choices we make?

That's the question we need to ask ourselves.  Consider your ways.  How you are staying faithful to the larger call of loving God and loving others?  We need to think about our choices, to be responsible for how we live our lives, and hope that how we live is respecting and by extension fighting for another's.  And if we aren't informed or aren't supporting people who are getting their hands dirty and fighting, we should get on board with that too.

*Information used from the Newsweek article entitled "Sex Slaves on the Farm".  It can be found here.
An organization I follow that helps keep me informed about women & sexual slavery around the globe is the Nobel Women's Initiative.  Follow them on Facebook or visit their website here.