Victoria’s Shame

I’m in two fantasy football leagues, and qualified for the playoffs in both leagues. This weekend was the first round of the playoffs in each league. So, we got home from worship yesterday morning and I turned on the TV to try to make sure I had the right lineup set.

It was a great few minutes. Leah was just a few feet away, finishing up preparing lunch in the kitchen. The kids were piled in the living room with me, and we were talking and enjoying a few minutes of both “down” and “together” time. The TV went to a commercial, so I checked my phone to see if there was any other football news I needed to know to get ready for the games.

Then, shame entered our house.

As the commercial break ended, CBS decided to show an advertisement for an upcoming Victoria’s Secret show. The ad started and, of course, I couldn’t find the remote (I later realized it had slipped between the couch cushions). So, I jumped up and stood in front of the TV. As I did, I saw that both of my children had covered their eyes (thankfully).

But as I saw those small children with their faces covered, I felt shame.

I felt shame for my 8-year-old daughter. She is a beautiful little girl, but that’s not the message she’s going to get from Victoria’s Secret. Instead, she is going to be fed the message that she has to look a certain way and flaunt it before a gawking world in order to be beautiful. It is shameful that little girls like her are constantly fed such a skewed image of beauty. We teach Mary Carol that a truly beautiful girl is one who is sweet and who smiles. Our prayer is that our message gets through, instead of the non-secretive message from Victoria.

I felt shame for my 6-year-old son. Here was a moment where my son was curled up on my shoulder, wanting to watch a few minutes of TV with dad. Instead, my son was fed a false view of womanhood; something he should not have to see. Instead, it’s the image he is going to be shown constantly, as his innocent boyhood is stolen by a sex-saturated society. He is going to see the “secret” from Victoria when he shouldn’t have to.

I felt shame for my gorgeous wife. There is no woman on earth more beautiful, both inside and out. Like so many Christian ladies (emphasis on “ladies”), though, she sees this Hollywood-ized view of what is “true” beauty, and lives hearing that that plasticized and in-your-face nudity is what people think is beautiful. Godly, Christian women are both rare and beautiful, but CBS decided to make any who happened to be watching feel like they are less than the best.

I felt shame as a husband and dad. Here I was, having a good moment with my family. We were all in one room, and my choice of channel is what let in such images to our home. No, it was not my choice to see this garbage, but I still felt shame because I’m supposed to protect my home from temptation, and it was forced into all our faces.

I know Victoria’s Secret is not the only store or company who uses such sexuality to sell products. But I was just so angry at having this horrible influence invade my home, when no one in our home asked for it. Such commercials (as well as their billboards, storefronts, etc.) should cause Victoria to feel shame. Instead, they are probably glad that, on this one Sunday, they attacked a family with feelings of shame.

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Photo credit: Audi Inspiration on Creative Commons

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