A Call for Respect

I was listening to my Spotify playlist today, and, because I enjoy not paying for my music, I am forced to bear through the commercials that interrupt my jamz. Well, I was noddin' my head to some Josh Garrels when my reverie was shattered by an advertisement. It was spreading the word about "Man Candy Mondays" on ABC. Coined "No guilt... All pleasure." Featuring the new show "Mistresses." My first thought was, wow, very classy. I laughed a little at how someone could take this so seriously.

But I had to stop myself. Because no matter how ludicrous this was to me, I knew that countless other recipients of this message, including but not limited to eight year old girls, teenagers, college women, broken women, married women, etc., were listening to this ad, maybe staring at the picture, with their interest engaged. This is no laughing matter. This is a problem.

I don't know a lot about the show, but I'm going to go ahead and judge a book by its cover so to speak. It's called MISTRESSES. Here, you take a look.

Four Friends. Four Hearts. 13 Weeks of Seduction. Yeah, sounds real wholesome to me. First of all, what do their hearts have to do with any of this? I digress. That's not what I'm going to talk about.

Basically, this show appears to be glorifying women who tempt married men to betray their wives and engage with them sexually, breaking the divine bonds of marriage for whatever their selfish reasons may be. When I think about this, it just makes me sad, and a bit worried about women of our time. Is this just another way women define empowerment? Is ruining marriages now something to take pride in?

There is a major problem in our culture. Men and women are constantly seeking to have power over each other. While I was reading The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis, a certain line struck me. He quoted Tacitus in saying, "They terrify lest they should fear." I think the same principle can be applied here. Women are so afraid of being betrayed by men that they become the source of betrayal. They have the power. They are not the vulnerable one (or so they think).

Women, is this really what we should be idealizing? Don't our future husbands deserve to be seen as more than just "man candy?" Don't they deserve our respect? And if we do marry, are we going to ever feel comfortable or secure in our relationships in a culture that is glorifying infidelity?!

Men, is this what you want? You want women to see themselves as merely sexual creatures constantly seeking to control you with their charm and beauty? Don't you want to be able to trust them? When you say "I do" do you really want it to last forever? Or are you going into marriage as a temporary contract?

Stop fighting each other! Stand up for respect and honesty! Or watch our society collapse.