Pretty Versus Hot

| April 13, 2013

Spot on: Recently I came across an article called “The Death of Pretty,” in which the author laments our culture’s movement from valuing “pretty” to valuing “hot.” He describes “pretty” this way: “Once upon a time, women wanted to project an innocence. I am not idealizing another age and I have no illusions about the virtues of [...]

Announcing a New Webinar: Reclaiming Beauty

| August 8, 2012

A New Look at How to Glorify God in Your Body What is beauty? Some say beauty fits in a size 0. Some say beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Some say beauty is only skin deep. Some say beauty is only a quality of the heart. Some say beauty is truth. Some say [...]

Help! Can’t You Just Tell Me What to Wear?

| July 9, 2012

Hi Stacy, I appreciated this article, but I’m still feeling confused about the whole subject. Everyone seems to have a major difference of opinion on what is modest (Soul Surfer is a good example), so how do we as a family choose a standard and stick to it? Do you think strapless is ok if [...]

Flesh Parades, Doug Wilson and Cinematic Nudity

| April 9, 2012

Douglas Wilson has some good things to say here about some of the issues upstream of the modesty debate, which echoes the concerns I raised in my article ‘Slutwalk and the Negation of Feminine Sexuality.‘ Wilson also helpfully reminds us that when a woman reveals too much flesh, it is often not because she has [...]

Modesty is Unremarkable

| February 20, 2012

From CatholicCulture.org: My daughters told me recently that modest clothing is unremarkable in itself, but remarkable in its potential effects. Ironically, the benefit of modest clothing is its transparency, so to speak. Modest clothing attracts attention neither to itself nor to the superficial qualities of the person wearing it. In fact, by not being a [...]

Devoted to The Lord

| February 8, 2012

1 Corinthians 7:34-35: “An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of this world – how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, [...]

Nudity and the Christian Worldview

| February 6, 2012

From an excellent piece by Robin Phillips: Given the premium the Bible places on modesty, one would expect Christians to reject public displays of nudity on television. Sadly, however, millions of Christians have come to treat sex scenes as a normal and accepted part of their viewing habits, especially if it is only one scene [...]

The Death of Pretty

| January 15, 2012

This post is intended as a lament of sorts, a lament for something in the culture that is dying and may never been seen again. Pretty, pretty is dying. People will define pretty differently.  For the purposes of this piece, I define pretty as a mutually enriching balanced combination of beauty and projected innocence. Once [...]

The Restraints of Sexual Freedom and the Battle for Free Speech

| December 6, 2011

“Restraints” of “Freedom?” Yes, indeed. We’ve argued this many times, and it is refreshing to see the same lines of logic in this piece. One person’s “freedom” very often results in the oppression or harm of other people. The rise of feminism, the Pill, and other contraceptive forms coincided with a new era of sexuality, [...]

Divorce linked with early sex

| July 5, 2011

From Carolyn Moynihan over at Mercatornet: Despite all the experts who scoff at teaching adolescents to “wait” for sex, many do. About half of US 15- to 19-year-olds have never had sexual contact, according to recent report based on the National Survey of Family Growth. Now a study (based on data from the same survey) [...]

‘Slutwalk’ and the Negation of Female Sexuality

| June 21, 2011

I was recently asked to cover an event in London known as the ‘Slutwalk.’ The event, which features scores of women walking down the street dressed as ‘sluts,’ started in Toronto on April 3. Since then, according to the Wikipedia article about it, the movement has spread to other towns throughout the US, Canada, Australia, [...]

Kids can do abstinence, data shows

| May 19, 2011

From Carolyn Moynihan over at Mercatornet: Those who insist on “safer sex” education for adolescents seem to assume two things: first, that nearly all teens will become sexually active, and second, that it doesn’t matter (they have a right to) so long as they take precautions against disease and pregnancy. Therefore, all teens should be [...]

Part 2 of Beaches, Bikinis, and…Bibles?

| April 13, 2011

If you haven’t read Part 1, please click HERE first! Part 2 of Beaches, Bikinis, and…Bibles? By Carmon Friedrich Last night, I took my daughter to a movie that has been heavily promoted by Christian outlets (you can read a positive review by Focus on the Family’s PluggedIn Online here, along with some of their [...]

Soul Surfer: Beaches, Bikinis, and…Bibles?

| April 13, 2011

The following review refers only to the Hollywood movie, Soul Surfer. It is not a critique of the real Bethany Hamilton, her testimony, or her ministry to others. Soul Surfer, the popular new movie produced by secular group TriStar Pictures, is all the rage this week. Heavily marketed to Christians, the film tells the dramatic [...]

Why Do We Let Girls Dress Like That?

| March 24, 2011

The Wall Street Journal published a thought-provoking article this weekend, wondering out loud as to why today’s mothers-of-teenagers allow their daughters to dress and act like the Paris Hiltons of the world. With surprising honesty and clarity, the author admits that feminism might be to blame: “We are the first moms in history to have [...]