I would have dented mine multiple times yesterday.
Every once and awhile the time comes when I ask myself “WHY!?!”
Yesterday I found myself asking, “Why? Why do I so much hate those commercials??”
You know, ones like these:
Oh let me count the ways…Yes, I ran away from my television to immediately squeeze in a few leg crunches. Yes, I averted my 5 year old daughters eyes. Yes, I averted my 3 year old son’s eyes along with my husbands. Yes, I spoke mental cuss words in my mind towards these advertisers.
But, honestly none of those reasons felt like the right answer to my “why?” The ugly but true answer is I hate those stinken bare bottomed heavy bussomed pulsating of who knows what commercials because I feel completely powerless against them. What can I possibly do?
I am not saying the commercial in it of itself is bad bad bad. Some people are not bothered by them at all. They are just simply bad for me. They make me momentarily forget who I am, who I want to be, and who I want my children to know they are. They come on in an instant, and before I can dive over the ottoman, grab the remote, knock over my dog, and cover my children’s eyes with their crazy flaling mother…the commercial is over.
What do I do about it?
I really believe we don’t ask ourselves why enough. Too often we pack up all our baggage on a daily basis without ever stopping to assess why we are carrying it in the first place. There is no doubt, I carry a baggage of poor body image with me everywhere I go. You may not see it, but it is there. And I filter every thing I see and do through the lens of my baggage. But I don’t like it when it sneaks its way into a prominent position in my mind. Yes, my baggage is mine. I kind of like it. Its Gods way of reminding me where He has brought me from. Reminding me yes, controlling me…no.
Try as I might, I cannot change the environment of our culture today. The body of a woman is a beautiful thing and every thing from drink coasters to billboards shows us on a minute to minute basis. I could go on a boycott, but I don’t have the desire to fight that battle. Plus, greater women have tried and failed. I could kick the tv out of my house, but I don’t really want to. Plus, it won’t stop the images from showing up other places. I could sit down and have a heart to heart with my child every time they see bare legs on television (which I might try once in a while), but if I did it every single time my kids would just stop watching tv with me. Plus, if they are seeing it I would rather have them see it by my side. I was a kid once, when my mom prohibited MTV what did I do? I watched it at my friends house, like duh!
What I can do is pray about the impact that these images have on me and my family. It might sound small, but I believe that it is very very big. I pray specifics. I pray them often. I pray them with expectancy.
I pray that positive body image would greatly impact my daughter and that when SHE sees sexy legs on TV, or in the mall, or in a magazine her thoughts stop at “wow, those are nice legs.”
I pray that my son sees his father as a powerful example of how a real man sees a woman.
I pray for wisdom in the moments that come (and they will come) when someone or something threatens to take the freedom of security away from me, my children, or my husband.
I pray for the daily strength to believe that I am beautiful…just the way I am.
Amen.
That’s my why and my what.
And, just in case you were wondering, it was football. Its a sensitive subject, my team took a smattering, please don’t ask me about it. The pain is still fresh.
What do you do when “those” commercials grace your television screen?