An article in Evolution
and Human Behavior with the title, “Sexual exploitability: observable cues
and their link to sexual attraction,” apparently (I have not read it) argues
that since males have less invested in the process of reproduction, men
naturally are more interested in casual sex and prowl around looking for a
woman that they can get into bed. The researchers studied their hypothesis and
found that, believe it or not, men looked for certain traits in women that
identified them as prime candidates to being tricked into a one-night stand.
Erin Gloria Ryan, however, writing online (www.jezebel.com) in response to this academic
study is having none of it. For one thing, she believes the authors of the
study are letting men off too easily. Just because men evolved that way doesn’t
make it admirable. Ryan’s primary objection, however, is that the authors of
the study assume only men want one-night stands. Women do too, she says, and so
in “How to Look Dumb and Slutty Enough for a One Night Stand” Ryan has “broken
down the list of 88 traits that researchers found influenced men in their quest
for sex to bring you a definitive guide to tricking dudes into thinking that
they’re tricking you into having sex with them.” Ryan’s list of four Do’s and
Don’ts may surprise you, then again, maybe it won’t:
“DO: look
immature, act drunk and reckless, hang out with sluts, glance over your
shoulder, appear sleepy, touch your boob.
“DO NOT:
appear intelligent, be old, act shy or anxious, suck on a straw, stand near men.
“DO: wear
an engagement or wedding band, attend a wedding, wear tight clothing, be a
punk, have tattoos, be short, be fat.
“DO NOT: be
skinny, have a flushed face, be tall, dance, be a prostitute, have piercings.”
It’s easy to make light of such things. Ryan certainly uses
some animated prose when she takes aim at the journal article, which she calls,
“idiotic.” And there is a place for that, since the best response to folly is
not solemnity but laughter. That’s very difficult to accomplish, however,
without being dismissive of the people involved, a form of ridicule forbidden
to Christians. If we do not have the intellectual acuity of G. K. Chesterton we
should never try.
I am grateful for Erin Ryan’s piece, because it makes me
reflect on three issues I easily overlook.
First, what are the implications of all this for the topic
of modesty? I’m not talking about prudishness here, but a modesty that
expresses something of one’s character even as it deepens their attractiveness
as a person. The Christian response to Ryan’s four Dos and Don’ts, then does
not involve embracing the opposite but producing something entirely different.
Second, I’m grateful Ryan reminds us of a reality we often
forget as Christians but should not, namely, that we live in a sexually charged
world. If you are surprised when I say Christians forget this, let me provide
proof. I often speak on film, and often on those occasions a Christian will ask
why there has to be so much sex in the movies. “There are plenty of good films
without sex,” I always reply, “but the reason sex appears so often is precisely
the same reason it appears in the Bible so often—it is central to life.” How is
it that Christians can claim to take the Scriptures seriously and miss the way
sexuality, for blessing and for curse, is a vital theme that weaves it’s way
through the pages and stories of God’s word? A faith that includes The Song of Solomon has every reason to
celebrate sexuality. A fallen world may get sexuality wrong but they certainly
won’t ignore it.
All this has also made me reflect anew on an amazing aspect
of the Christian view of sexuality, namely that it is simultaneously an
intensely physical and a deeply spiritual
act. Has that understanding eroded in our world, and if so, why? I realize that
in the heat of the moment the physical can seem to be all there is and all that
matters, but there is more to life than the moment. Could it be that people
yearn for a spiritual dimension but fear sex is physical alone? Or have they
made peace with lowered expectations? That’s something worth asking about when
we are discussing movies or the Bible, since in both places the topic comes up
quite naturally and often.
Source: Erin
Gloria Ryan online (http://io9.com/5912975/how-to-look-dumb-and-slutty-enough-for-a-one-night-stand?tag=sexuality).
My appreciation to my good friend, John Eddy who called my attention to Ryan’s
piece.
This entry was posted
at Tuesday, July 10, 2012
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Asking questions,
G.K.Chesterton,
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