When sex sells.. everyone gets screwed

Reading over at salon.com, I found this very interesting article about Brittany Spears and her downward spiral from glamour to trailer-trash (not that there is anything wrong with trailer life). The author brilliantly reveals the lies and deceptions of those who've marketed (and made money off of) Brittany and how that manipulation is what has caused Brittany to, well.. decend to her present place among the halter-top and Daisy Duke folks.

Interestingly, the author of the article explains the weird hypocrisy of one particular early Brittany presentation. She said, "[Brittany] was playing a devilishly destructive role, talking about her virginity at a register audible only to the kids who idolized her. Sex is dirty, sex is wrong unless you are married, she was telling girls who might have had a shot at guilt-free sexual liberation. Meanwhile, she was winking at their fathers, suggesting, in horrible ways, that she was dancing for them." Brittany turned sex into something confusing, dirty, and just plain weird to the audiences that she influenced.

Sex doesn't have to be this sleazy- nor does it have to be this manipulatory. God created us to be loving and joyful partakers of life. And, God created our desire and pursuit of sex to bring us great joy in the process of loving our spouses, partners and significant others. When used in the right spirit, it becomes a joy that is full of amazement and soulful passion.

However, when we abuse joyful sex, it turns around and abuses us instead. That's the funny thing about sex. In a way, sex is somewhat like alcohol. It may transform itself into whatever emotion it was first encountered with. With alcohol, if we are happy when we take our first sip, it can make us happier. If we are angry, then it usually makes us angrier. With sex, if we are loving when we have sex, then it can make our relationships happier. If we are deceitful when we engage it, it often becomes a dirty secret that we have to hide and thereby miss the fruits of joy that ought to be experienced long afterward. If we are sleazy when we engage in it, then it may only hieghten the sleaze into something we'll later regret (ie, cause great shame). Too bad for Brittany that she is learning about sex the hard way (no pun intended).