Your Jaw Doesn't have to Drop

Recently I was reading an article about a joint effort between MIT geneticists and quantum physicists that produced a quantum virus genetically engineered for efficient energy transport.  If that sounds interesting to you, you can read about it here.  But the article is beside the point, literally.  The point was one of the ads in the sidebar.  It was titled "The beauty of these news anchors will drop your jaw."  I was insulted.

Opposable thumbs are not the only thing that sets us apart from our simian cousins.  We are more than the sum of our urges and animal instincts.  We can feel hunger and not partake, thirst and not imbibe, fatigue and not sleep.  We can feel surprise but not exclaim, anger but not lash out, and sadness but not weep.  Given these truths, it seems intuitively obvious that we can see beauty but not lust.

But society sends a different message.  Not only are men expected to lust after attractive women, but they are encouraged to do so.  We are told that this is "normal" male behavior.  Advertising campaigns, popular music, television, movies, and fashion have all worked hard to pull in male dollars by reducing females down to the beauty of their bodies and nothing more.  Women are presented as purely sexual creatures existing to satisfy the animal desires of lustful males, and we are told that men should give in to these desires.  That it's normal.  That your jaw will drop.

Please do not let your jaw drop.

Please refuse to believe that a woman's most valuable characteristic is some part of her body (likely one that should remain covered in polite company).  Please refuse to believe that a woman must be physically attractive to have value in society.  Please refuse to believe that every woman that is paraded in front of you is an object you should feel free to desire.  Refuse to believe these lies.

Discipline your mind to see women as people with their own wants and wishes that have nothing to do with yours.  When you see another man walk by in public, do you notice his rear end?  Do you check out his legs or the prominence of his chest muscles?  Probably not.  You probably notice his face, how he carries himself, and whether or not his shoes are appropriate to his function.  In short, you saw him as a person, not as an object.  Train your mind to do the same for the women you meet.  It will take practi

ce, but it will be worth it.


By gaining mastery over this aspect of our nature, we free ourselves from one of the ties that would bind us.  No longer ignorant of our ability to choose in the matter, we can gain the ability to act rather than react.  We can decide for ourselves whether or not our jaw is going to drop.  Which will make it all the more meaningful when we finally decide to let it.