I know you all have seen them, but have you ever stopped to think, "what is wrong with these photos"?
I know what some of you are thinking, "you’re just a fat, ugly feminist who wishes she could take those photos". Rude, but I’m not in the slightest bit. I’m not attacking the swimsuit photos where girls are posing with their friends non-descriptly. I’m asking what’s up with the swimsuit photos where the girl in the photo is showing her ass off or taking a selfie in a mirror for all of social media to see. Why? I think it’s messed up and demonstrates what’s wrong with our society.
The photos are disguised as empowerment—when really they are not
Often times when a celebrity such as one of the Kardashians takes one of these photos it is viewed as empowering to women by the media and marketed as such to young girls. These photos aren’t empowering in the slightest, they in fact do the opposite—they make young girls feel unwanted and unloved by society, which encourages using dangerous methods to fit what is considered ‘beautiful’ and ‘sexy.’ Some of my former classmates I knew only survived off an apple a day in order to take one of these swimsuit photos, and often criticized other classmates who did not engage in the same behaviors they did. These photos did not encourage empowerment, they only encouraged cattiness and divisiveness among young girls—scrutinizing one another to find a flaw to exploit and bully another for. I had one girl tell me that my boobs looked huge in my prom dress, an example how photos like these encourage girls to pick at one another, when we already face so much pressure from our families and the outside world. Photos like these also encourage girls to categorize each other into cool and not-so-cool girls—you were considered weird at my school if you did not take photos like these and post them to Twitter or Instagram for likes and comments from hopefully—boys.
They emphasize that how you look matters more than what you do with your life
More often than not, these swimsuit photos get more likes on social media, than photos documenting an achievement such as graduating from high school or winning an award. Why you may ask? Because if you look good and fit into our socially-constructed standard of beauty then you will be successful, popular, and loved way more than someone who does not fit into these standards. Photos like these put huge achievements of young girls and women on the back-burner, not as deserving of recognition. This harms young girls because they feel that if only their looks matter they should not their pursue hobbies and interests because these are not what society values and they are desperate to fit into what our society considers normal. Many times in the media, especially with female politicians such as Hilary Clinton or television personality Oprah Winfrey, people tend to ignore their content and message and instead scrutinize them for looking too old or looking too heavy, and having discussions about how much better they would look if they looked younger or lost weight. This emphasis on how a girl or woman looks is a way for the media to say that this person is not worth listening to because they cannot look how we want them to look, and it’s a way of saying that ambitious women are abnormal and will give you love and success.
These photos are dangerous
These photos are out on social media, a public platform, that almost anyone in the world can access. Young girls are often under the false impression that their photos are secure because only their friends or followers can see it, when in fact these photos can put these girls at risk for people like sextortionists to pose as a trusted friend or follower, to extort them for sex with threats of violence against their families and friends. In addition to sextortionists, there are also people who will save and re-share their photos without their knowledge and use it as tool of harassment at their schools. It is important to be cautious online and photos like these pose a threat to girls’ online safety because there are still people in the world who believe online violence against women is perfectly acceptable. Additionally, there are some girls who will go to dangerous lengths to look like the girls they see in these photos, which can include behaviors such as skipping meals,purging, abusing laxatives and diet pills, and even cutting. These behaviors often spiral out of control and can lead to hospitalization and even death. A narrow beauty standard is being shoved down young girls’ throats, and is killing some who try to fit the beauty standard.
I believe that girls should stop posting photos in swimsuits in the mirror or photos that show their ass off because it only breeds insecurity and self-loathing among young girls. Instead, we should focus on loving our bodies as they are and stop posting stupid pictures like this in attempt for validation by others. Validation and self-love should come from you, not from what others think.
