Jonathan van Maren of the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform has an excellent article this week about sexting. Here’s an excerpt:
Girls: If a guy asks you for explicit pictures, he’s implicitly told you what he wants from you. The answer is it’s not you. He wants your body, and in this scenario he doesn’t even want you physically present. By sending him these pictures you’re voluntarily reducing yourself to a one-dimensional sex object, without a personality, without aspirations or intellect or even a voice. You are a person with a body, not a body with a person. If the boy you’re talking to doesn’t recognize that, then drop him hard, and wait for someone who does. There will be guys who want to spend time with you, not just your body. Guys: If you’re asking for these pictures, think for a minute about what you’re saying about girls and women in general. You’re revealing something about yourself that’s pretty distasteful: Namely, that the relationship you want is one defined by your particular sexual wants rather than the presence of another person who demands—or should demand—mutual respect and understanding. If you’re asking for these pictures, you’re not acting the way a man should, by respecting (and in some cases protecting) the women in your life. You are acting like a predator, and a cannibalistic one to boot. And if the pictures are sent to you unsolicited, you should delete them and tell her she’s worth more than that.
