Swimsuit Edition

Swimsuit Edition and the Soft-Porn Epidemic

Readily available soft-core porn images, like those in Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Edition, prepare teens for life-long addictions.

In California, a woman was shocked as she walked through the checkout line at her local grocery store and found eight topless models on magazine covers that filled the display case.

But we have so many books about youth ministry, and a youth minister in almost every church! Not to mention that we have Christian TV shows, radio stations, magazines, the works! Why the problem?

What else could it have been but the 2006 swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated?

Eleven months of the year, Sports Illustrated produces legitimate sports news. But their swimsuit edition (which brings in their highest profits and is ranked as their top seller) has absolutely nothing to do with sports. Do not be mistaken: It is blatantly pornographic.

The entire issue contained only one article. But it had plenty of full page pictures of bikini-clad models in erotic positions. It also contained over 20 images of women who apparently forgot their bathing suit and only had a little beach sand, jewelry, or body paint to cover up. The magazine comes well-equipped with posters for the locker rooms and advertisements for additional pictures that can be downloaded to your iPod.

Although it still has "Sports" in the title, this issue is nothing but soft-core pornography.

What is even more shocking is the magazine's ability to attract younger audiences. A 2003 study found that nearly 25% of the magazine's readership is made up of teenagers (ranging from ages 12 to 20); however, Ron Scherer from The Christian Science Monitor argues, "That's the research for the regular Sports Illustrated. The teen readership for the swimsuit issue may be larger since it has a high 'pass around' rate and stays on newsstands for up to three months."

Did you hear that? More than one quarter of those who read the swimsuit edition--I mean, those who stare at the swimsuit edition--are teens!

Every advertising agency knows that if you can hook customers while they are young, you will have them for life. Judith Reisman of the Californian Protective Parents Association says that "this juvenile marketing strategy" is the tool used by the pornography industry for "attracting 12 to 17-year-old boys to ensure lifetime addict-consumers."

Sports Illustrated has their own Sports Illustrated for Kids, as well as a teen supplement to their regular magazine with over 350,000 teen subscribers. It's not that far fetched to assume that many of these younger readers eventually get their hands on the swimsuit edition as well, one way or another. Whether it is on purpose or not, these children and teens are being "groomed" for life-long pornography addictions.

Pervasiveness of Porn

Although it is shocking to see magazines like this one get into the hands of millions of teens, much more alarming are the new pornographic possibilities becoming available by way of the iPod. Advertised throughout the pages of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition was the option of downloading additional images onto iPods. Now, teens and adults can carry erotic pictures in their pocket, wherever they go.

Think that's bad? Full-fledged pornography is also now available for your iPod. Adult videos can be watched in school hallways in-between class, passed around to un-assuming youth, and taken anywhere public or private.

The swimsuit edition is just one example of how pornography and sexually explicit material has inundated our culture like never before. It is truly an epidemic. 90% of kids will view pornography, and 80% of all 15-17 year olds have already had multiple exposures to hard-core porn.

The effects of pornography are truly devastating. Because of the way it stimulates the mind and the body's "fight or flight" sex hormones, porn is highly addictive in nature. It actually re-shapes the neuropathways in the mind, and the more exposure one has to it, the more it affects them. Addiction to porn leads to marital distress, risk of divorce, emotional intimacy with computer screen images, and increased probability of sexual behavior before marriage.

And, whether you realize it or not, it can all start with one issue of Sports Illustrated.

It may shock you to know that people are paying $156 million for pornography every single day, which results in $57 billion in profits every year. Matthew 6:21 tells us that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. As you can see, the hearts and lifestyles of many people today are gripped by porn. Millions of lives are being devastated by its binding clutches. And the worst part is that the largest age group of internet pornography consumers is children ages 12 to 17.

If this epidemic is not reclaimed by Christ, every decision we make will be based on warped perceptions of reality; how we dress, how we view ourselves, how we value others, our behavior, who we marry, and even how we relate to others.

Pornography remains an issue that the church is often afraid to touch. That could be why it is so common today. Porn even continues to disintegrate the minds of some of those who sit next to you in church every week.

Christians can and will struggle, but our attitude must change. We must realize that there is a war raging for our attention, but most of all, we must know that it is we who have been destined to win the fight. Pornography is hurtful. It is a seductive, havoc-reeking weapon of warfare used by the enemy. But God is greater! Now is the time to crack down on the epidemic that threatens the purity of the bride of Christ. Confess your sins one to another, help those who are struggling, and protect young people from its destructive influence.

Additional resources:

Sources: Media.scout.com, dakotavoice.com, americandecency.org, speroforum.com, townhall.com, Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, Battle Cry for a Generation by Ron Luce

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