Last week, I watched Jesus Christ Superstar with my pal Kelsey. (for homework! #realMDivlife) It was later in the day and I was a little sleepy, so I decided that the best way to make sure I stay awake was to make every exaggerated claim about the sexual messaging in the film. For example the hats in this photo are obviously a phallic commentary on the male-dominant power of the Pharisees.
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As the evening went on and the sleepier I got, everything became a metaphor for sexual interaction. The claims I was making got more and more ridiculous. We laughed and had an awesome time. For homework!
As I've been thinking about it since our movie night, I have been feeling exceptional gratitude for the ability to have studied feminist and queer theory both in college and in seminary. Whenever I encounter a piece of media, I can read it for its implications and messages that are laced with varying degrees of subtly. While the vast majority of the comments I was making about Jesus Christ Superstar were very exaggerated, the same knowledge base I had to make those observances is the one I use when I analyze a Cosmo and see them claim that the best (read: only) way to be a woman is to be a heterosexual fair skinned woman whose goals are weight loss and increased male sexual pleasure.
And then I began to wonder about the women, the people, who don't have access to the kinds of formalized education to which I had access. I found myself praying for the lay leaders, the community centers, the after-school programs, the teachers, the pastors, the anyone who can take some of the responsibility for the sexual education of young people.
Sex and (hetero)sexuality wouldn't govern the majority of social exchanges if individuals were equipped and prepared to recognize the way sexuality moves in their own lives and how to appropriately express that in the public sphere. A first step is talking about it, developing a common language around sexualization and making that accessible. As an emerging leader in the church, I am eager to be part of this conversation.
As I've been thinking about it since our movie night, I have been feeling exceptional gratitude for the ability to have studied feminist and queer theory both in college and in seminary. Whenever I encounter a piece of media, I can read it for its implications and messages that are laced with varying degrees of subtly. While the vast majority of the comments I was making about Jesus Christ Superstar were very exaggerated, the same knowledge base I had to make those observances is the one I use when I analyze a Cosmo and see them claim that the best (read: only) way to be a woman is to be a heterosexual fair skinned woman whose goals are weight loss and increased male sexual pleasure.
And then I began to wonder about the women, the people, who don't have access to the kinds of formalized education to which I had access. I found myself praying for the lay leaders, the community centers, the after-school programs, the teachers, the pastors, the anyone who can take some of the responsibility for the sexual education of young people.
Sex and (hetero)sexuality wouldn't govern the majority of social exchanges if individuals were equipped and prepared to recognize the way sexuality moves in their own lives and how to appropriately express that in the public sphere. A first step is talking about it, developing a common language around sexualization and making that accessible. As an emerging leader in the church, I am eager to be part of this conversation.
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