Where do you call home?

I have just recently (and very scarily) moved out of my family home in my hometown to the big British City of London. It sounds glamorous and wonderful (and it is super exciting) but it has been hard and it has meant facing adult life stuff like bills and broken wardrobes and not coming home to the most influential woman in my life every day - mumma J that's you I'm talking about (and you Dad, you're great - Bex you're at uni soz mate).

So, I've been reflecting upon the question: 'what is home?'

I thought I ought to first clear up my reason for moving:
I felt called by God.

Weird right? I could go further into details but I won't - you can message me separately if you're curious - but on the whole, I felt called by God to move to Southfields. It wasn't a decision taken lightly, and it was a decision that sat with me for months.

Now we've cleared that up, let's get onto other matters.

What, where and who is home?

The well-known phrase states that "home is where the heart is". I don't think we ponder that thought a lot. Or if we do, we don't grasp the depths of its meaning.

• I believe that 'home' has everything to do with the orientation of our soul.
• I believe that 'home' is about more than just physical places.
• I believe that 'home' is about where we dwell.

I look at the life of Jesus and can't pinpoint one specific place where Jesus called 'home' (I'm talking as in, 'house'). He was constantly on the move, future-facing, following his Father's call upon his life. The most profound, yet also generic, observation we can make about the life of Jesus is that he was always oriented towards what God was doing and he always ensured he had a dwelling place to rest in and with God.

Ephesians 2:22 (NIV): "In him, you too are being built together [does this remind you, too, of building a house?!] to become a dwelling place in which God lives by his Spirit."

For me, 'home' is about adventuring life with God. It doesn't mean we are without our close family, it means we are more intentional with our time. It doesn't mean we are without people, we were created to live within the 'body of Christ'; i.e. the Church. 
It's about 'going places' where God is on the move (not necessarily geographical places), remaining in Him, Him dwelling in us. It's about being orientated towards Jesus. It's about Jesus being Lord.

Life may take us to different physical places (towns, cities, countries), and God may lead us to different physical places, but if we remain in Him then we'll always be 'at home' where we belong. 

Just a few thoughts.

I'll keep you posted.

The Male Gaze

Here's a snippet from London College of Fashion Student, Becky Faerber, on The Male Gaze:

There is a huge desire to satisfy the requirements of the male gaze within women's fashion. 

Materialism of women both sexually and maternally through film and advertising commonly objectifies them to the ‘male gaze’. Both the pleasure of looking (scopophilia) and the pleasure of being looked at (exhibitionism), implies that both parties are 'stimulated' by such images.

Rogue by Rhianna (fragrance) - Google Images

This advertisement has been banned from certain places for being too “sexually suggestive”. However, as the Guardian states, “The company believed the majority of women would not consider the portrayal of Rihanna to be demeaning, but rather she was depicted as being in a position of power, as indicated by the name Rogue, which suggested “one with the courage to challenge boundaries.”

Although the image is supposed to present Rihanna as powerful, it could also be seen to objectify her sexually. This then creates a sexualised culture making it acceptable to appear this way. Then encouraging this throughout society: creating a construction of the female ideal.

Society creates what culturally is seen as ‘beautiful’ and ‘unique’ and implies that women have to abide by it, but actually this is just a construction to which most people aspire. 

For example, in the modern day, the ‘pre-adolescent’ body is presented as the female ideal due to the media presenting these figures as perfect - but it didn't used to be this way. The female body is altered and changed to enable fashion to look appealing throughout the whole of history. This is seen through the use of the corsets, and in today’s society within the use of dieting and cosmetic surgery.

In the book ‘The Feminine Ideal’, Thesander argues, “In order to be accepted as a ‘woman’ it is not enough to have a woman’s body or to be feminine: you first have to meet the social demands of femininity.” This presents the idea that you cannot necessarily be biologically a female, but it’s the way you present yourself to society that makes you a female, through the way you dress and how you look...

MY SUMMARY:

I think perhaps there's this paradox of craving the attention of the male gaze yet also being repulsed and in fear of it (i.e. that potentially creepy looking man who stares at you in the street). 

Yikes. In my opinion, you've only got to look at images (or search particular #'s) all over Instagram [or need I mention Snapchat?] to see how many girls are posting provocative, sexually-enticing images of themselves for whatever reason - which I am not to judge. The terrifying thing is that I'm sure it's becoming more and more frequent - begging the question, has it therefore been normalized because it's a female ideal constructed by the media? 

Food for thought ey?! It strikes me that IF society objectifying women is acceptable because it's culturally attractive (and pleasurable because it draws the male gaze) and therefore becomes a female ideal - then what lifestyle/challenge/issue does this present for women and young girls today?

Agree? Disagree? Thoughts?

I'll keep you posted.