Dear Mr. Puzder..

It’s not very hard to find an ad within our culture that comes across as offensive or just plain unnecessary. This topic happens to be a major struggle in my own life. I fear for a world with no boundaries, a world that never questions morals, character, or respect. What happened to the world that did? It’s been a rare commodity for these characteristics to be seen in our culture and media as I have grown up in a violent, dirty, and sexual society in which seeing and hearing these things was simply unavoidable. What a sad reality.

The ads and articles that specifically bother me are those that portray and show extremely sexy women in an unrealistic and completely false way. Since when did eating a Big Carl lead to having THAT body, in THAT bikini, with THOSE heels on? I don’t think so. I understand that sex sells. It’s a sad reality when we can’t even go and see a movie unless some girl shows a little (which is now A LOT) of skin. There is absolutely no respect within this skewed picture of what’s simply called “advertisement.” First of all, it’s disrespectful from the men in our world that have resorted to presenting a practically naked woman on the screen to increase your sales of cheeseburgers. (DISCLAIMER: sorry guys, the girl DOES NOT come in the bag). Secondly, do women have any self-respect for themselves anymore? It makes me so sad as I watch these women explicitly display their bodies as they think and have come to believe that THIS is what will make them “socially accepted”. That is such a lie! I hope that women can one day regain the dignity that they truly deserve and should have.

With all of that said, I don’t think that individual lives are being considered as these things are being filmed, photographed, or displayed. I can’t help but feel completely inadequate as I sit next to my boyfriend (who thankfully chooses to look away) as Kim Kardashian sensually roles around in her silk sheets as she devours her grilled chicken sandwich. What about ALL of the other men who are not like my amazing boyfriend, as they feast their eyes on this kind of cheeseburger?! Millions of poor men are being spoon-fed an absolute false image of the “perfect” woman. A woman that most of us girls look at and think, “I could never look like that.” I KNOW I sure can’t. I stand 5’9, significantly white (unless I focus a lot of energy into changing that…which I don’t), with a face that has decided to sprout a wonderful world of ever-present acne, and let’s not even get started on the size of my boobs. Ha. The fact is that our world has established this standard for women that ultimately says, “if you don’t look like this, you’re not sexy enough.” And the funny thing is that honestly, most of the people that know me or see me constantly tell me how talented or beautiful I am or that I would never have any reason to feel insecure in these areas. However, it has been a constant battle for me to even establish that in my mind as these waves of stomach churning insecurity hit me. I understand why these beautiful young girls are hanging their heads over the toilet puking themselves to “perfection.” GIRLS: hear me loud and clear; don’t believe the lies that our world is telling you. YOU are beautiful just as YOU are. Don’t change that.

These are the reasons that I believe that this ad, and many more just like it, should be taken out of circulation. We are going to drive ourselves to destruction. If we don’t stop, our scarce and slight lines that we have are going to soon disappear and there won’t be any moral or respectable fibers in our bodies. We will eat, sleep, and breathe in sex. And it won’t just stop there. If we can’t establish some sort of restraint in this area, who’s to say we will in regards to the many other areas of our lives? Are we ready for a world that won’t stop at anything? I’m not. I hope you can look deep inside of you and honestly say that you aren’t as well.

Let the lines be drawn by you.

Drawing Lines..

We are the consumers.

You are the consumer.

I am the consumer.

Our world is consistently adapting to what people need, what people want, what people “have to have.” The consumer mindset of “the next best thing” is extremely common in our society, making each new development yesterdays news. Within this culture it has become a typical assumption to say that “you get what you want; you want what you get.” I think that this idea is true to a certain extent and only until it crosses certain lines.

First of all, the media that we allow into our lives is increasingly submerged with things that we may not even agree with within our own lives, and yet we are constantly entertained by. Most of us could care less what we see and hear, and because of this the media around us is going to continue to feed into that “this is what the consumer wants” mindset. What about the people that don’t want those things to be viewed in our media? This is where the line is drawn for me with this idea, because even though a certain percent of our culture may not have any filter for what they are entertained by or what they let into their lives, there is also a percentage of people that don’t want those things to be accessible with the simple click of a button.

For me, personally, the area of sexuality and nudity on the screen has been a sensitive part of who I am. I simply do not agree with a lot of the things that are on today’s televisions or in today’s movies or even music; however, I have always felt that this specific aspect of the media changes something inside of me and makes me hate any part of it. It has been a deep struggle in my life and I’m continually learning how to protect that part of myself as well as live in a world where this is simply how it is. With this in mind, I think that it is somewhat unfair that just because some people allow or even crave for more and more sex to be put onto our screens that I have do deal with its existence to such an extent. It’s getting worse and worse, with less and less boundaries. Who knows where we are going to draw our lines; shouldn’t we have some somewhere?? I don’t see any, do you?

So I absolutely agree with the statement “you get what you want; you want what you get.” But I only think that this is true for those that aren’t thinking about the lives around them. We have failed to realize that by choosing certain paths in our lives or by allowing certain things to happen, we are affecting the entire world. That’s a huge responsibility, in my opinion. Something that should not be taken lightly, and yet constantly is.

I am the consumer.

You are the consumer.

We are the consumers.

Don’t take that lightly.