“Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls” (edited by Melinda Tankard Reist) was recently launched at Parliament House. Revd Kate Boughton attended the book launch and the following is her report. Kate is my first ‘Guest Blogger’!  Thanks, Kate. 🙂  Kate’s report:

The following statistics were given as part of the reason why this book was written:

We know that eating disorders are at an epidemic level in this country, one in 100 with anorexia, one in five with bulimia,  significant numbers of girls using vomiting and fasting to lose weight, we know that self-harm is the highest cause of  hospitalisation for girls aged between 13 to 19.  (Tankhard Reist Mercury, Friday October 16, 2009).

My heart broke when I heard the statistics. We are all aware that our culture suggests that looking good equals feeling good about ourselves, gives you confidence and even purpose. On the surface it seems harmless, innocence is simplicity, but the impact as these statistics suggest, means there is a big problem facing our community.

I think that most of us would say that we were aware that there is a problem. But were we aware that it was/is this bad? When the issue is given a face with these statistics, it feels like there is a very dark cloud enveloping our society, and for some it has probably consumed it. It is affecting the way people think, feel and behave about themselves and towards each other. Things are far from what they seem.

As Christians we should not be surprised, sin is a destructive thing, a crippling disease that comes in unnoticed but soon cripples. But this shouldn’t cause us to have an “I’m not surprised” or “I told you so” attitude. If these statistics are correct then our children and youth in our churches are affected. Their self-perception, identity, idea of beauty and acceptance is damaged by the influence of the world. If we are all honest, we know that we are concerned about how we look and how others see us.

However, as Christians, we know and should continue to remind ourselves that our identity, self-perception and acceptance is intimately wound up in Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord. We know that our God, our creator knows and loves us. This is dramatically different to the world and is what the world needs to hear.

 One of the things that strikes me about this issue is that it calls for an entire culture to change. The concept that sex sells is so deeply embedded that we’ve become immune to it. For a culture to truly change it needs to be a work of the Holy Spirit. There will be many things that you can do to become more aware of the issue – read ‘Getting Real’.  Pray for our community, that it may be transformed because only God can give us a new heart. And act: let’s make sure what we ourselves are promoting. That our confidence comes from our understanding of what Jesus has done for us – not from the clothes that we wear or how our body looks.

Read Ephesians 1:3-14 here

Two relevant blog articles by the Bishop on Sexting here and here.