Oddly enough, the controversy has turned Sweeney, a registered Republican, into a kind of conservative icon. In reference to Sweeney, conservative activist CJ Pearson tweeted, “all hot girls vote Republican!” Even Donald Trump posted in praise of the campaign. He compared it to the Jaguar ad campaign (which he called “A TOTAL DISASTER”). Trump went on to praise Sweeney as “hot” over “Woke singer” Taylor Swift, who has become “NO LONGER HOT.”
A NYT Op-Ed titled “Piety and Profanity: The Raunchy Christians Are Here” observed the shifting sexual norms among conservatives in Trump’s America. The article discussed the “Conservative Dad’s Real Women of America” calendar, which features scantily-clad conservative female influencers, some of whom call themselves evangelicals. The article argued that the sexual ethical lines between secular conservatives and evangelicals are blurring. What American conservative culture finds beautiful is shifting. Apparently, some conservatives, such as Pearson and Trump, see platforming sexy pin-ups as part of the fight to reclaim “real beauty.”
As Christians evaluate this new beauty standard, they must cling to a truly biblical view of beauty. To be sure, there are positive aspects to this cultural shift. It is good that culture is shifting from gender nonconformity as the new, modern beauty standard. Sweeney is a woman who does not try to distort or obscure her feminine body. Christians believe that joyfully living in line with our biological sex honors the sexed body God gives and so communicates God’s glory. It’s also good that beauty standards in advertising are shifting away from obesity. Sweeney is decidedly not obese (nor, equally important, is she stick-thin and starved). Christians value proper stewardship of our bodies. A Christian view of beauty does not praise obese bodies or starved bodies, but celebrates cared-for bodies at healthy weights.
Christians believe that joyfully living in line with our biological sex honors the sexed body God gives and so communicates God’s glory
Yet, even as it celebrates certain good aspects of the body, this cultural shift still dishonors the body. It is wrong for Sweeney to flaunt her sex appeal. Her unbuttoned jacket, her sultry hooded eyes, her parted lips, and her arched back in one of the videos attempt to draw the (ten million and counting) viewers into a false sense of sexual intimacy. And it is wrong for people to film her body in a way that commodifies her sexuality. The framing of the ad campaign aggressively objectifies Sweeney’s body. God created the human person as a unity of soul and body. Objectification is chopping the body up into titillating, consumable parts, separate from the whole person. We see this in the ad campaign as the camera zooms in on her backside or where it wanders down from her face to her cleavage. Objectification draws the viewer to fetishize and degrade the image-bearing human being. Sexualized ad campaigns don’t celebrate beauty—they twist and mangle the beauty of God’s image-bearers.
A biblical view of beauty does not condemn sexualized ad campaigns because physical beauty is shameful. Abigail (1 Samuel 25:3) and David (1 Samuel 16:12) are both mentioned as being beautiful—and that’s meant to be a good thing! Song of Solomon is a long, erotic love poem where both members of a couple gladly speak of each other’s physical beauty. The man in Song of Solomon declares, in rich poetic language, “Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead” (Song of Solomon 4:1). Yet the eroticism of Song of Solomon still honors the bodies of the people involved. Their bodies are honored behind the veil of metaphorical language—the poetry does not expose them vulgarly to the eye of the viewer.
But the Bible also shows that physical beauty is transient, not ultimate. Proverbs says, “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30) This parallels the language of Ecclesiastes, which declares “all is vanity and a striving after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:17). Earthly goods are vain, which means they’re temporal and fleeting. That doesn’t mean they’re evil or bad—only that they are not enough on their own. Therefore, temporal earthly goods are meant to point to something greater.
Any outward beauty should point to inward beauty—the spiritual beauty that never fades, the beauty that comes from the indwelling of God’s spirit. Peter tells women, “Do not let your adorning be external” but “let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.” (1 Peter 3:3-4) Other biblical passages speak positively of outward adornments, so this doesn’t mean women cannot wear anything beautiful. Rather, the passage implies that we are meant to present our bodies in a way that testifies to our inward selves. Flaunting our body’s sex appeal objectifies it and obscures our body’s role as a signpost toward inward beauty.
Any outward beauty should point to inward beauty—the spiritual beauty that never fades, the beauty that comes from the indwelling of God’s spirit
In addition, physical beauty is meant to be a signpost to the ultimate beauty of Heaven. The man in Song of Solomon goes on to compare the woman to a garden fountain of living water (Song of Solomon 4:15). This parallels the language used to refer to the New Jerusalem in Revelation, where God dwells with his people. The New Jerusalem features a garden fountain, with trees growing alongside the bubbling River of Life (Revelation 22:1-2). The language of the love poem points to the future city of God. The woman’s beauty in Song of Solomon points to God’s presence with his people and the joys of a renewed Earth. The beauty of the body points toward Heaven.
Thus, Christians take the body very seriously. When the larger culture seeks to distort bodily beauty by objectification and sexualization, Christians seek to honor the body. They guard their eyes, careful not to dishonor other people by viewing them as less than whole, body-and-soul image-bearers of God. And they look through bodily beauty, letting it point to the abundant life of God.
American Eagle posted a reel with a short clip of Sweeney holding her dog. In that clip, there are no demeaning camera angles, seductive smirks, or arched backs—it is simply Sweeny, relaxed, comfortable, and grinning widely. She is still beautiful, but she’s shown to be a whole person, not an object for consumption. This is the portrayal of beauty that Christians can rightfully celebrate: a portrayal that honors the image of God.
By Genevie Roby