Is admiration of physical beauty okay?

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Max17

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Does it count as lust if I can just admire a women’s beautiful physicality (that includes her body and face) without even thinking about using her selfishly? Is it even possible that I can admire a woman’s shape and avoid lust at the same time?
 
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Its human nature to admire beauty with our eyes but would seem to verge on vanity. Beauty on the surface is only one step in the process towards feeling the beauty without the eyes.
 
You can admire beauty without it being lust but that can lead to pride when you believe that you are invulnerable to lust and that whenever you look at a woman you are incapable of lust.
 
Appreciation is fine. But one must judge the self first. This, at least for men, lapses extremely easily into a near occasion of sin and then just as quickly into actual sin. Great caution must be exercised in the control of the eyes and the thoughts.

A far safer path is to focus on the eyes of the person, who was created in the image and likeness of God. Look at those eyes and see the eyes of Christ. That is something to appreciate, to long for, but never to lust after. This applies to Christ, but also to each and every human made in the image and likeness of the Father.
 
What if I were to look at a painting of a nude woman just to admire and as soon as I notice that I’m feeling aroused (because admittedly I am vulnerable to lust) I can just redirect my eyes and mind to something else?
 
If you’re vulnerable to lust why would you put yourself in the near occasion of sin? If a painting can invoke lust you should really think about avoiding naked depictions of women.
 
Max17 said:
What if I were to look at a painting of a nude woman just to admire and as soon as I notice that I’m feeling aroused (because admittedly I am vulnerable to lust) I can just redirect my eyes and mind to something else?
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CCC
Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man’s belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman.

The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift.
…
Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom.
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These borderline decisions are where you should take hold of responsibility and employ your conscience (and form it at the same time). Your question indicates you know there is an issue. Responsibility means acting on your knowledge.

I personally, being 60 and struggling with lust for a lifetime, know where those boundaries are and try to avoid them. For me, “admiring” a painting of a nude woman tends to open the gates of permissiveness and presumption. It’s a near occasion of sin. The self mastery part of chastity comes with knowing God’s will for me, taking responsibility, and acting accordingly. And doing it with confidence rather than detailed scrupulosity. It’s a lifelong struggle.

Being realistic with you: believing you can indulge in something up to the point of arousal and escape on your own merits is foolish.
Appreciating someone’s form when it’s unavoidable is one thing, testing your virtues is setting yourself up for failure. The better way to form virtues (like chastity) is to engage the small battles.
Get out of bed on time.
Don’t waste time on the computer.
Don’t eat the whole pack of cookies or drink the extra beer.
Be kind to that irritating person.

Mastering these small everyday battles will help form you in chastity because again: chastity is an exercise in self mastery.
 
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No. I teach this to my daughter. We are twins lol…
She has below waist curly hair, black or dk brown and is olive.shoot if I sraightned her hair it would prbably be knee deep. So gorgegous.

Me i have a graduated blonde bob and am transpatent.
But i was a model in my younger years. Straight blond. Did agree and gee your hair smells terrific ads.Then i did runway stuff.this is when i emigrated. Im still abput my weight… just ballet.

We both I now God created all beauty.
 
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Well, there is a difference between pornography and art. A lot of religious paintings include nudity, say to demonstrate the purity of our first parents or whatnot.
The human body is beautiful, and we can appreciate that beauty and worship God for His workmanship. But, there are nude images that, rather than conveying this beauty, convey a necessarily ugly, ultimately, sexually enticing image.

But we who are not fully mature may still be tempted even by true art, especially men. So, it ultimately depends on the person, but if you think it’d be a proximate near occasion of sin, which is itself a sin, then avoid it, and avoid it well. Close your eyes, cover it with a hand, don’t look, etc if you cannot avoid coming across it for some reason.
 
Physical beauty is part of creation. It’s a gift. Nothing wrong with appreciating it, even admiring it.
 
I think a lot of men need to realize that this isn’t a more serious problem for men! 😂

As I am a heterosexual female, the sight of naked men brings on a stronger reaction that a naked woman would but I can appreciate the beauty of any well formed human. We’re supposed to be attracted to the opposite sex. The line between appreciation and lust can be a moving target…different for each individual. Learning that line can be difficult as well. I suppose if appreciation turns to lust, you’ve learned where that line is and can recognize it for next time.
 
It is imprudent to admire physical beauty especially when men do it because we it is a risky situation that could lead them to sin. Remember, men are visual and have the stain of original sin.

It is better to see women without seeing, as Saint Francis de Sales used to do.

Having said that, God made so many beautiful things in nature that I am sure we can please our sight by admiring them and we wouldn’t be risking ending up with bad thoughts.
 
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Aulef said:
It is imprudent to admire physical beauty especially when men do it because we it is a risky situation that could lead them to sin. Remember, men are visual and have the stain of original sin.

It is better to see women without seeing, as Saint Francis de Sales used to do.

Having said that, God made so many beautiful things in nature that I am sure we can please our sight by admiring them and we wouldn’t be risking ending up with bad thoughts.
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If we are going to appreciate the beauty of creation, we must include all of creation, and that means the human physique, as well. Choosing to exclude any part of it dishonors the One who created it.
 
We do admire female physique but it must be in an ordered way otherwise it is imprudent. Fathers may admire their daughters. Husbands may admire their wives.

Yet, it is vain, for admiring God who is Beauty Himself is what really matters.
 
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