Selling Sex in a Sports Magazine
By Shellie Burnell
Future Featured Rightgrrl
March 08, 1999

From a very early age, my life was profoundly affected by pornography. The "dirty little secret". It was something that I encountered as a child by discovering a hidden magazine here and there. Not just at home, but while I was staying with my grandparents, while staying at my aunt and uncles, and while visiting friends. It was everywhere. I always thought of it as a dirty secret, because the magazines and pictures were always in obscure places. A place that little kids would stumble across them "by accident". I formed the opinion that it was an okay thing for people to look at, as long as it was kept secret. I never made it a point to mention my findings to adults; they were the ones that hid the stuff to begin with. Why tell them what they already know? But I did start to believe that since the adults do it, that means it's not bad. Unless a kid looked at it.

In the past two years, I have been forced to deal with pornography, in a very real way. I really have no interest in viewing nude pictures or sex videos. They don't give me any sense of satisfaction. I find it rather disgusting myself. I have learned more and more about the male attraction to these things though. Now that I am a married woman, I have a husband that I have to communicate with about these issues. In the past, this had been a facet of a man that I chose NOT to deal with. In marriage, you are in a position where you have to accept every part of your mate's personality, like it or not. Well, I don't like the fact that the female body intrigues men, but I must accept that I am married to a man that is intrigued by a woman's form. It has made some uncomfortable spots in my marriage, but it has also encouraged our spiritual growth, and better communication in our relationship.

The media and advertising markets focus almost all their attention on the sexual aspect of anything and everything. Heck, even a car is sold with a twinge of sexuality in the commercials. Is there anything that is still sacred in this society? The sanctity of marriage is a wonderful thing, but in recent history marriage has been exploited and abused by greed and selfishness. Pornography and sexual addictions account for a large part of marital strife.

And what about Sports Illustrated? Well, for years the beloved swimsuit issue has been the talk of the town when it first hits the stands. This year's issue is especially distressing to this professional mom. Somehow the magazine has found it appropriate to feature so-called swimsuit models wearing nothing but paint. How can paint qualify as a swimsuit I ask you? It can't, and it doesn't. This is still one more attempt to sell sex. Why must everything be focused on sex? There are so many beautiful things in this world, and far more interesting sports headlines for people to read, without being subjected to naked women painted all different colors. Has society as a whole digressed so much that we think our husbands and sons deserve to be subjected to this filth? Our men in this society deserve a little more respect than to be tempted with this junk everyday, only to be expected to be a faithful husbands and fathers every other day. Why do you think there are so many marriages that fail, and men that stray? I bet it has something to do with the way the sex is sold on every newsstand in America.

This article copyright © 1999 by Shellie Burnell and may not be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of its author. All rights reserved.