By Grace Sailor
What is this world coming to? Do we have to view pornographic images everywhere we go? Are there not family friendly environments anymore?
I am not one who is usually easy to anger – but I am angry! I am so tired of being exposed to pornography when I am out in public areas such as at the gym, retail stores, or restaurants. Today I went into one of my favorite restaurants to have lunch, and while I was standing in line, a huge television screen is showing girls in g-strings walking on the beach and zooming in on the girl’s “buttocks”. I was mortified and quickly thought how thankful I was that my husband and teenage boys were not with me. I purposely choose to not go into restaurants such as Hooters to avoid the sexualization – and here I am watching a naked girl on the screen in a family friendly restaurant – how did this happen?
How did our society get so desensitized, that a restaurant chain feels comfortable showing these images while customers wait in line to be served food? Is this madness or what? Less than ten years ago these images were mainly found beneath a covered Playboy magazine at the local gas station – and now we are viewing them in family friendly restaurants!
A similar experience happened several years back when I withdrew my membership at a local “family friendly” gym because I was so infuriated and disgusted by the fact that during workouts the facility would show what I would classify as R or X-rated music videos on a wall screen visible to the majority of the facility. I asked the facility to reconsider showing the videos as there were many what the world calls “conservative” moms and also many children and teenagers that frequented the facility. Once I realized that the videos would not be removed, I withdrew my membership and went to another chain that did not have pornographic images in view. I wrote a letter to the facility specifically detailing why I left. I know that many others disagreed with the music videos, but chose to look the other way and not take a stand.
I call upon all concerned citizens to take a stand! Of course it is easier to not say anything or to just look the other way – but look where that is getting us. Pretty soon we won’t be able to even go into restaurant chains to buy our kids a happy meal without viewing pornography. We have to speak up and withdraw our patronage when appropriate.
Today I came right home from the restaurant and emailed my concern about the video being shown. If the restaurant chooses to continue showing the video, not only will I stop patronizing their restaurant, but I will work through family friendly organizations, such as United Families to alert other customers about the indecency of the video and to petition for others to not support such restaurants.
I hope that the letter makes a difference – I will keep you posted!