Promising Student
Professor Muldrow
English 1102-116
3 May 2009
Image
Cultural Signs:
Lust
Insecurity
Boredom
Secretive
Disobedient
Theoretical Questions
1.
How is lust promoted in the society?
2.
Why is lust a part of our human nature?
3.
How does the word lust make you feel?
4.
What is your opinion about lust in this
nation?
5.
What is the underlying motive behind lust?
6.
If you have ever experienced lust before as
an individual, do you plan to do so again? Why or why not?
7.
What are the advantages of lust?
8.
What are the disadvantages of lust?
9.
Do you think that human beings
intentionally lust?
10. Do you
think that they are aware of the consequences lust brings into their lives?
Thesis Statement: The
author uses the lustful nature of young adults to expose the sexual desires
they cannot eliminate because of ever present media and images of sex as
acceptable.
Promising Student
Professor Muldrow
English 1102-116
3 May 2009
The
Lust of the Flesh
“For
all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life-is not of the father but is of the world. And the world is
passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides
forever” according to the book of 1 John 2:16-17 (New King James Version,
1 John 2:16-17). In a world where young adults have the freedom to be in
relationships, they embark on developing strong desire for what they see and
for the outward form of things which are not of God. Young adults fall into the
temptations of lust because they believe that they are in love with their
boyfriends or girlfriends. These young adults are longing for love. The love that
they are longing for is a false love. The media promotes that the idea of sex
is ok. With that in mind, the word lust and love get mixed under the same
context. In the text, although the bible college boyfriend attends a religious school,
he is lusting; therefore, he is contradicting the knowledge he acquires from his
college and also going against the will of God. The author uses the lustful
nature of young adults to expose the sexual desires that they cannot eliminate
because of ever present media and images of sex as acceptable.
The media promotes lust to young adults through films,
television shows and advertisement. If
young adults flip through most magazines especially women’s, they will see that
society focuses on the flesh, literally and figuratively. The media promotes
lust in society through women’s faces and bodies dominating the marketing
industries, promoting everything from cars to candy. A study performed by Amy Bleakley, et al. estimates that, “youth age 8-18 use media
for approximately 6 hours daily and sexual images, sexual talk and sexual behavior
are frequently depicted in the media: 83% of television programs popular among
adolescents include sexual content”(37).
In that, the media promotes lust throughout our society. Therefore, the
girlfriend in this image misses her boyfriend because every time she looks at
the TV or any sexual product, the feeling of her boyfriend away from her
presence makes her think negative thoughts. The American society makes people
believe that beauty equals satisfaction, thus our [CCSD1] human nature makes us [CCSD2] go along with certain components of life
such as having sex before marriage.
Lust is a part of human nature because men and women
develop strong desires for what they see, for the outward form of relationships
and love. Young adult’s human nature makes them lust after the superficial. The
first thing young adults notice besides color or race is a person’s body. When
looking at many advertisements, the most prevalent images are those of the
nakedness of men and women who seem to have a glowing look upon them. This in turn
causes those who are watching to think unclean sexual thoughts which lead to the
lust of the flesh. For example, the text mentions “my bible college boyfriend,”
which means that either both individuals attend the same school or just the
boyfriend attend the college. The text also indicates that the author and the
boyfriend are “being physically appropriate.” As a result of the boy attending a
bible college, they have to hold back the desire for kissing and touching each
other in public or touching each other completely. The Christian bible college
determines what is appropriate for the two individuals. The school he attends tells
him that they have to exercise physical appropriateness but as human beings,
their flesh will still desire to lust after one another. The boyfriend and the
girlfriend have to learn to suppress the urge of trying to have sex because
there is a tension between what she wants and what the he seems to allow. Moreover,
because the population of our society is selling sexual things and visuals that
deal with the body, she still thinks about sex due to her human nature. She has
a lustful nature but he is trying to eliminate that by “being physically
appropriate.” In this situation, it seems like [CCSD3] the two individuals are switching
the normal gender ideas [CCSD4] in that the girl is the one longing for
more sex and the boy is trying to push it away.
The
picture in black and white represents the girl’s boredom of being physically
appropriate with her boyfriend. In the article “By Teens, For Teachers: A
Descriptive Study of Adolescence,” Mark Girod, et al.
analyzes that, “22 students referred to watching television because there was
nothing else to do or out of sheer boredom” (12). With this in mind, young adults feed their
brains with the images shown on TV because they cannot help but to watch
television when there is nothing [CCSD5] else for them to accomplish. The black and
white color of the picture can also represent old school and the old ways of
doing things which is being physically appropriate with your significant other
at all times. In life, everything to an individual is either right or wrong
(black or white). Most people associate the color black with death. So [CCSD6] in the case of the girlfriend and
boyfriend, their relationship is dead to the public eye. They have to cover up
their acts of lustfulness because of the boy’s involvement in a bible college.
As black is to death, people believe that white signifies life and purity. Thus[CCSD7] the boy wants their relationship to be
pure and full of life, not sex and the influence of the media.
Looking
at the image, 1886 was left visible for a reason. The author of the text is
emphasizing 1886 because the culture was strict and some individuals adhered to
the rules of life and some did not because of their lustfulness for the
natural. For example, the boyfriend and girlfriend represent individuals who
did not hold fast to the ethical standard of the society because they are
lusting after one another by doing sexual things before marriage. In the
article “FASHION
+ POLITICS =ART[CCSD8] ,” Porter establishes the fact that, “The
Victorian era was a time when strict moral standards where publicly espoused
but often blatantly ignored in private (49). Nevertheless, through out the turn
of the century, people begin to lust after the natural things they see
throughout the society and start ignoring the standards of living. As time goes
by, the society will make them believe that it is ok to go against moral things
and do things that are appalling in the eyes of God becomes of what the media
in feeding their minds.
When we as people preoccupy ourselves with physical
attractions such as cars, clothes, sex, men, women and material things, we
assert that the world’s standard of living matter more than God’s standard of
living and we start to consider the sinful things of the world. People
naturally have sexual desires, but it all depends on the individual to decide
on how far they are willing to let their flesh take over their behaviors.
People’s desires also depend on whether they will allow their faith to choose
it for them. Individuals, no matter what religion, should try not to let the
media influence their minds and every day thought. So if the college bible
boyfriend is really trying to become physically appropriate, he should live by
faith, the rules of his bible college and allow God not the media to take
absolute control of his life and over his future endeavors with his girlfriend.
Works Cited
New King James Version. Thomas Nelson, Inc. 1982[CCSD9]
Girod, Mark, et al. "BY TEENS, FOR TEACHERS: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF ADOLESCENCE." American Secondary Education 33.2 (Spring2005 2005): 4-19. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. [Ingram Library], [Carrollton], [GA].14 Apr.2009<http://ts.isil.westga.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire ct=true&db=a9h&AN=17087327&site=ehost-live>.
Barrett, Ann. "ORAL SEX AND TEENAGERS: A SEXUAL HEALTH EDUCATOR’S PERSPECTIVE." Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality 13.3/4 (Sep. 2004): 197-200. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. [Ingram Library], [Carrollton], [GA].15 Apr. 2009 <http://ts.isil.westga.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d b=a9h&AN=16845765&site=ehost-live>.
Bleakley, Amy, et al. "How Sources of Sexual Information Relate to Adolescents' Beliefs About Sex." American Journal of Health Behavior 33.1 (Jan. 2009): 37-48. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. [Ingram Library], [Carrollton], [GA].15 Apr. 2009 <http://ts.isil.westga.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d b=a9h&AN=36456350&site=ehost-live>.
L D Porter.
(2009, March 12). FASHION + POLITICS = ART. Santa Barbara
Independent, p. 49.
Retrieved April 17, 2009, from Alt-Press Watch (APW) database.
(Document ID: 1677874431).