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Immodest entertainment and leisure culture – from the secular world

שו”תCategory: HalachaImmodest entertainment and leisure culture – from the secular world
asked 6 years ago

Hello Rabbi Michael!
I like and enjoy consuming general cultural and entertainment media. Movies, TV shows, etc. Should I avoid content that contains immodesty of women, or immodesty of content?
For example: Is it permissible to watch a movie or TV show with women in immodest clothing, or women dancing? An entertainment program that occasionally includes a sexual comedy segment. A feature film that includes a story about a lover in part of the plot.
I will point out that the vast majority of secular content is like this, and if it were prohibited – a great deal of cultural, entertainment and leisure content would be blocked from me. I have already seen Andrados’ videos, it is not enough 🙂
I will note that I do not necessarily need immodest content. On the contrary, a film that is entirely about the beach, for example – I will not watch it. But even in classic secular content – the lack of modesty is present and noticeable. [I do not know if this is significant – but I feel that it does not ‘turn me on’ to see a woman immodest in a film.]
Is it permissible according to Halacha to consume entertainment and leisure content from the secular world?

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0 Answers
מיכי Staff answered 6 years ago

I think there is no obligation to abstain. I wrote about this once here from the law of the impossible and the intended. A softened version of this argument can be found in an article by Rabbi Avraham Stav (search. I don’t remember the details).

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