They Have a Message About 'Honorable Men,' Sexual Imagery and What Women 'Choose to Wear

A researcher and an anti-porn leader who recently appeared together on The Church Boys podcast to warn about the dangers of pornography and the impact of sexual imagery on the male brain were subsequently accused by some critics of promoting "rape culture," "victim-blaming" — and of even being "pro-burqa."

Researcher Shaunti Feldhahn and XXX Church founder Craig Gross — coauthors of the book, “Through a Man’s Eyes: Helping Women Understand the Visual Nature of Men” —  responded to critics in an op-ed that was published on TheBlaze on Wednesday, explaining why they believe these critiques are unfounded.

Feldhahn and Gross also appeared on The Church Boys podcast to extensively address these issues, with Feldhahn explaining that she believes that a small number of critics have profoundly misunderstood what she and Gross have been saying about sexual imagery and male wiring.

Listen to Feldhahn and Gross respond to critics below:

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"It's people being understandably upset, because they're misunderstanding what we're saying, because they think that we're saying that, 'It's her fault. She's wearing this,'" she said on the podcast, noting that they were not victim blaming. "And, of course, that's not what we're saying at all. We're saying the opposite."

Feldhahn continued, "We're talking about the male wiring, we're talking about the choice that he has to make. However, we're also saying very, very clearly — and without apology — that for too long we as women have misunderstood something that is confronting men every single day."

She went on to reiterate what she and Gross said in their previous appearance on the podcast — that sexual images are increasingly confronting men, who are naturally wired to be more prone to a visual reaction in their brains.

Feldhahn said that this, of course, does not dismiss wrong choices at the hands of some men.

"If honorable men want to be honorable and they're trying to respect women like we want them to, then it goes both ways," she said. "Then we women have to ... make that easier on him by respecting him back by what we choose to wear."

Gross reiterated these comments, noting that it's a good idea for people to be aware of the visual nature of men.

"If you know... how visual men are, why are we dressing our kids in next to nothing and sending them out to school?" he asked. "Not saying you have to be covered head to toe, but .... I think we're living on the whole other extreme here on what is acceptable and what is okay today."

Read the point-by-point response titled, "No, I’m Not Promoting Rape Culture By Saying Men Are Visual Beings and Women Need to Understand That" that was published by Feldhahn and Gross here.

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