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Topics: Cultural Engagement, Current Events, Public Square

The Leading Edge: Sex Sells Pop Music, but Should it?

October 23, 2013
By CBMW
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The Story: “Charlotte Church: Young stars forced to be ‘hypersexualized'” as reported by The Christian Institute.

The Lead:  “The singer, now 27, said young female artists were routinely ‘coerced into sexually demonstrative behaviour in order to hold on to their careers’.

“In a feature for the Daily Record newspaper, a former music magazine editor said artists are dressed provocatively because “sex sells”.

“John McKie said: ‘In a sense, this OTT imagery comes from a place of fear as the record company and artist have to do everything they can to make the record sell.’”

Why it Matters:  Charlotte Church is certainly no Miley Cyrus, yet she voices a concern we should all be concerned about, whether or not we are in the pop industry.  The constant press for pop stars to press the edge of style and “cool” drives them to less and less modesty and more and more . . . well, public nudity.

Driving this, yes, is a profit motive.  Since Genesis 3, sex has held powerful sway over human creatures.  And for centuries it has been an impetus for sales across various industries.  Yet, culturally we feed it and press it toward the edges of decency and common sense.

One asks, however, why a pop singer must raise this concern from within the industry?  Where are those concerned with women’s liberation?  Does the latest iteration of feminism require young women in society to use their bodies to get ahead in business?  One would hope the answer is no, but the silence is deafening.

From a Christian worldview perspective, one’s body is to be used to glorify God, not self.

It may be fitting to follow the wisdom of a man I quite admire: my Dad.  His observation was to note that, as a society, we constantly want to press the edge of decency, to push “the line” rather than see how far we can contain ourselves within it.  Let us take note and not try to press the line, as common marketing wisdom may suggest.  Rather, let us restrain ourselves, our passions, and present our bodies as æ”living sacrifices, holy and pleasing” to the One who created them. (Romans 12:1)

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