What Do Christian Women Face in Our Post-Porn Culture?

Christian women are informed by culture’s immorality.

Immorality has always been simmered just under the surface of society’s accepted norms. But Satan envisioned an America free from all moral restraints, and he has successfully transformed the moral landscape of the U.S. into a sexual playland where practically the only behavior frowned upon is abstinence.

This is the thoroughly sexualized culture the average 25-year-old Christian girl has been raised in. Consider this: By the time she entered puberty, Playboy magazine had already celebrated its 50th birthday, the marriage of the adult entertainment industry to America was enjoying its 35th anniversary and a new generation of pornographers were already utilizing new opportunities presented by the internet.

Unquestionably, pornography dominates the landscape of the Internet, boasting upwards of 5 million websites. And according to one source, 28% of visitors to adult websites are female. (1) This is not limited to the unchurched, either: a poll conducted by Today's Christian Woman's online newsletter found that 34% of its readers admitted to intentionally accessing online pornography. (2)

Nor is this all. Many women are involved in romantic chatrooms and messaging apps; in fact, women are twice as likely as men to visit chatrooms. (3)

Some women are attracted to (and often become addicted to) this kind of romance because it is strictly anonymous and they don’t have to concern themselves with messy breakups, STD’s or an unwanted pregnancy. One pastor’s daughter who valued her virginity gave the following as an added benefit to her online romance: “It was beautiful for me, because I didn’t have to give him my body in return.”

The most surprising fact to emerge from current statistics about cyber-sex is that the percentages of churched and unchurched people involved appear to be about the same. This seems to indicate that the lifestyles of multitudes of evangelicals are not much different than those of flagrant unbelievers.

Unquestionably, the mainstreaming of pornography has warped the thinking of today’s young people. However, it would be wrong to give the pornographers all of the credit for the new morality of our day. For instance, feminism has told young women to go after what they want and to live for themselves. The media has been conditioning girls—from a very early age—to the lie that their value is in their sexiness. Even our culture of prosperity has taught young women that it is their right to indulge every desire and to experiment with every curiosity—“I wonder what it would be like to…”

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The moral climate of today’s young people is much different than previous generations. It is true, we Baby Boomers rebelled against the morality of preceding generations, but at least this moral mindset was in place to reject. Although we challenged it, we grew up in a day when there was a basic understanding of right and wrong behavior. Once we experienced the season of pleasure that comes with sin, many of us came to the Lord and returned to the morality of our forefathers.

But today’s young woman must navigate her way through a plethora of enticements without the moral foundation that was previously taken for granted. Of course, many Christian girls have avoided these traps and are faithfully following the Lord. Nevertheless, many others are falling prey to these sensuous allurements—apparently a frightening number of them.

Christian women are influenced by their own impulses.

The desire for the attention of men has lurked within the hearts of women from time immemorial. From the earliest age, girls inherently understand that, to a large degree, their beauty establishes their value as a person in our society.

In the past, a woman who wanted to be noticed might consider wearing a low-cut blouse or perhaps a clinging skirt. Today’s young women are operating on an entirely different level. They have been raised on the Internet—a world with its own activities, culture and value system. For instance, female exhibitionism (via photos and videos) is becoming an increasingly common practice. Even churched girls are privately admitting to posting provocative images of themselves online.

The longing for intimacy is another avenue into promiscuity. The willingness of girls to give up their virginity because they believe their boyfriends love them is nothing new—although the high percentages might be.

What is certainly new is the number of girls who are willing to step outside of conventional expressions of sexuality in search of that intimacy. Judy was one such person. “I just wanted to be held… to be loved,” she recalls. She soon discovered that guys were more than willing to hold her but offering true love was another matter. In her desire to connect emotionally, Judy eventually turned to other women—another escalating phenomenon among young girls.

In the past, a girl might rebel against the norms of society and opt for the lesbian lifestyle. But she understood that her decision would very likely mark her behavior as being aberrant—perhaps even bizarre. However, in our current anything-goes culture, girls who opt for sexual relationships with each other are considered chic; they are celebrated as role models.

One thing has become abundantly clear: sexual sin is not just a man’s issue anymore. Pastors, Christian counselors and women’s ministry leaders have to equip themselves to respond much more effectively to the rising challenges facing Christian women in a post-porn culture. The message this generation urgently needs is that the desire for attention and longing for intimacy fueling their passions will only be fulfilled in a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ.