Week 9- Response to Emmet

I also felt a huge weight on me because of the midriff section on Wednesday. I agree that it is in large part because the “persona” of the midriff has largely to do with these girls’ identities as sexual objects. They are saying, “This is who I want to be,” which is a difficult reality to grasp. What could we as the church offer them that has as much social capital and is as enticing as the midriff? How are we offering them another alternative? I think that our formulation of the answer to this has to involve offering kids another identity. This first involves talking to kids about their belovedness as God’s creatures. Next in line though, are there pictures within Scripture that develop an identity of a woman that is different from the midriff? We are doing a series in junior high about superheroes, and sadly there are not that many extensive bios of women in the Bible. Yet can we take one of these bios and dive into it, showing who these women are. I know we need to be talking about the story of God with kids and not propositional thought. Perhaps we also need to be talking about the characters of God’s people, showing kids what an identity shaped by God would look like.

Additional thoughts… Kids are asking the question, “Who am I?” in adolescence, and this gives them a concrete way to answer that question.  We as the church have GOT to give them another way to answer this question. Does this mean breaking down their midriff identity as well? Or does it just mean bombarding them with images of themselves as the ones who are beloved by the Lord? I think that work needs to be done in deconstructing the binaries between midriff identity and power (they think that they gain more power and social capital through being a midriff), but perhaps the way to do that is to FIRST show that their identity has nothing to do with all that stuff. Next we can attack the midriff personality, but first we have to show them that there is an alternative option. We also have to place women in their lives who do not adhere to this midriff personality. Thus the need for adult mentors in kids’ lives.