What comes to mind when you hear the word "seduce"?
Perhaps you think of wining and dining, complete with roses and chocolate.
Maybe you think of the "look": a coy smile, raised eyebrows and loaded with
innuendo.
Last week, Athens was introduced to an alternate
definition of the word. "To seduce": to lead astray by false promises.
Husband-and-wife speaking team Michael and Christine
Leahy gave a "dramatic presentation" titled "Seduce Me" Wednesday evening in Baker
Ballroom.
"The reality is we're seduced constantly in our
society," sad Michael Leahy, described in press information as "an author,
activist and expert on sex in media and the culture."
The event, sponsored by Cru (formerly Campus Crusade
for Christ) with funding from the Student
Senate Appropriations Committee and Central Avenue United Methodist Church,
came to speak at OU due to an invitation OU senior Ian Machir.
The Leahys explained that things we as a nation are
familiar with and exposed to all the time, such as the idea of "happily ever
after," can have dramatic effects for the duration of a lifetime.
Society aims to sell ideas and concepts, at the cost
of humans' best interests, and anyone can easily start down a path that is hard
to bounce back from, according to the Leahys, who said they know these
hardships from personal experience.
The
Leahys covered a wide range of controversial topics including sexual assault
and addiction, pornography, abandonment, divorce, abortion, body image issues and
domestic violence, all experienced by one of the Leahys at some point in their
lives.
"While I learned that
pornography doesn't have the same power over most women like it does men, there
are many other forms of seduction that women are equally susceptible to,"
Michael Leahy said.
Seduction
can happen at any age, but the Leahys said that having a traveling program
aimed at both young men and women is important because it covers topics that
may be hard to publicly discuss in another setting.
There
are three components to seduction, according to the Leahys: the promise, the
pursuit and the payoff, and "women in particular" are susceptible to these
lies, according to Christine Leahy. (According to the press material, she
founded Women Stand Up! and I am Enough, "a global women's movement that seeks
to empower women who help women in crisis.")
The
Leahys explained how they were initially seduced – Christine by the idea of a
fairytale ending and Michael by a single pornographic photo. Their lives
spiraled in ways they never expected, but eventually they found each other.
Even
when they had been dating for a year and were engaged, they said, they could
not escape their seducers and actually broke their engagement. The pair believe
that they were eventually able to build a relationship when they wholeheartedly
trusted God with their lives.
During
the question and answer session following the presentation, the Leahys made a
point to say that they finally did find happiness through God. This is not
necessarily the only way to come to terms with the self; it is simply what
personally worked for them, they said.
The
couple also addressed the matter of women and pornography during this the Q and
A period, because in the presentation, Michael had just covered the male experience.
Christine assured the audience that women's willingly participation in the
pornography industry is hard to ignore.
"Roughly
40 percent of in-patient sex addicts are women," she said, and this may stem
from the fact that people are exposed to more than 14,000 sexual messages and
images per year, and starting at a younger age.
STUDENTS IN THE AUDIENCE reacted positively to the
presentation.
"I
appreciated the wide breadth of honesty that both Michael and Christine Leahy
provided about their personal struggles," said OU sophomore Leisha Lininger.
"It helped me to understand just how pervasive something can be in our lives
once it's seduced us, like feelings of abandonment.
"Having an event like 'Seduce Me,' where
a wife and husband duo completely share their baggage with a roomful of
hundreds of students, only serves to open that door," Lininger added. "For
some, it could be the gentle push that they need to talk about a personal
struggle. I truly believe that at OU, the 'best student-centered learning
experience in America,' an event like this reinforces that commitment to serve
the student."
OU
junior Chelsey Imboden also said she appreciated the Leahys' presentation. "The
speakers were sharing their personal stories of how they were seduced, to see
if we could relate to them at all," she said. "It helped me to understand that
I really don't need a happy fairy tale, if that isn't what God wants for me."
OU
junior Josh Frash said the presentation made him appreciate what it means to be
a man. "I was encouraged in how I treat women and conduct myself as a man," he
said. "Michael elaborated on some specific things that often mislead the course
of a man, but he refocused it on what is truly manhood and that is simply
loving others unconditionally."
Lininger
concluded, "Seduce Me taught me not to give in to hyper-sexed media,
unrealistically impossible relationship expectations, or more – those are just
a few examples."
Michael
Leahy is the founder and CEO of the nonprofit organization BraveHearts, which focuses
on sexual integrity. He has been presenting his own "Pornation" event for seven
years, and he has also authored five books.
The
couple said they hope to continue sharing their experiences through "Seduce Me"
in the coming years. Information on the program can be found on www.bravehearts.net.
