Self-sexualization on social media is all too prevalent – The Maneater

Jenna Burk is a freshman journalism major at MU. She writes about feminism and social justice for The Maneater.

As I scroll through my Instagram feed, I witness tidbits of the lives of people I went to high school with. I see my friends having awesome experiences, like going to concerts or on vacations. I see them posing with their loved ones, families and pets.

Not long into my social media venture, Ill typically encounter content that is performative. Then, I am met with a social dilemma. By default, I am inclined to comment a compliment on that persons post. I naturally want to make that person feel good about themselves.

However, if I validate that person for sexualizing themselves online, am I unconsciously telling that person that they need to keep delivering that kind of content to maintain their self-esteem?

There is a difference between posting a picture that features a body versus exploiting a body for a picture. This past winter, there was an Instagram trend that especially exacerbated this issue. In Kansas City, the lowest temperature of 2020 was zero degrees. I was surprised to see so many young women posing in two-inch-deep snow wearing nothing but bikinis.

Although the pictures often turned out very artistic, I couldnt help but see the demeaning, not to mention dangerous, element of the trend. Demeaning, because the picture itself represented female discomfort equating to sexuality. Dangerous, because well, frostbite.

It begs the question, what messages are young girls getting that would make them degrade themselves for societys beauty standards?

The nature of Instagram provides a sort of social status based on numeral reward systems. It is easy for the human brain to hyperfixate on rewards, creating an incentive to sexualize ourselves.

Jenna Preuss, a freshman at MU, shared her internal battle between her self-perception and her online-perception.

I did sexualize myself, Preuss said. I noticed I was getting attention and I liked it.

Preuss said she was feeling the pressures that come with putting yourself on the internet.

After I put [photos] up, I got anxious. I would panic and look over my account, Pruess said.

Pruess said thoughts like, This is embarrassing and I need to delete it, would circulate around her head.

The cycle would continue until I decided that I couldnt do it anymore.

Preuss said she made a choice that best suited her mental health by diversifying her social media to include images that she had less of a personal connection to.

If Im not in the picture, I dont have an attachment to it, Preuss said.

Now, Preuss Instagram is centered around her life rather than her physical appearance. She only posts content that she is fully comfortable sharing: images of herself, her friends and cats. She has chosen to post pictures for herself, rather than for others.

She recognizes that these posts get significantly less attention, but Preuss doesnt feel the need to have that validation anymore. She can maintain her self-image without it. Preuss experience is purely personal and self-reflective.

Some people struggle with it [posting] more than others, Preuss said.

It is equally as misogynistic to assume that women cannot handle their autonomy and need to be protected. The sentiment that women should only post images that do not exhibit their bodies is insensibly sexist. This isnt a preachy call to modesty.

Social media provides an illusion of autonomy. Once a choice has been made it exists online permanently. Autonomy is then stolen, as the picture no longer belongs to the poster, it belongs to the internet.

Instead, social media is an acknowledgement of how the patriarchy operates under the circumstances of our modern world. The patriarchy retains relevance in social media by demonstrating the objectivity of women for the consumption and entertainment of men.

It becomes clearly misogynistic when patterns related to gender are apparent. Female influencers are far more prevalent than male influencers.

Female influencers dominated trends such as The Silhouette Challenge on TikTok. Posters would get naked or in underwear and pose in a dimly lit room, so that you could only see their silhouettes.

The challenge proved to be especially dangerous because viewers would remove the filter, revealing nude images of the original creators. Tutorials on how to remove the red filter from The Silhouette Challenge became almost as popular as the original content.

Despite criticism from the general public, edits are still being manufactured and can be found all over the internet: YouTube, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.

Its as if the traces left behind from this old trend will never entirely disappear. Nothing that has ever existed on the internet will die out completely. Although that is an alarming idea, we push it to the back of our minds. However, we should be aware of the implications of our actions.

Yet, collectively, there seems to be a lack of awareness. Perhaps that lack of awareness is a self-defense mechanism. If we pretend that we want to contribute to the objectification of women, or even declare it as empowerment, we feel less exploited by society. This way, we are able to rationalize it as an independent choice, rather than a form of indoctrination.

The importance of practicing self-reflection is key. Not only does self-reflection entail facing personal queries, it has to do with how we project our intentions onto other people. It is crucial to be mindful of our own boundaries and the boundaries of others when creating an online identity.

The best remedy is to monitor yourself to make sure that you are not sharing any content that is for the enjoyment of others, at the sacrifice of your own well-being. Remember, you are more than an image.

The Maneater encourages all readers to commit to the fight against domestic abuse and donate to Futures Without Violence. Futures Without Violence is a health and social justice nonprofit with a simple mission: to heal those among us who are traumatized by violence today and to create healthy families and communities free of violence tomorrow. Please donate here: https://www.futureswithoutviolence.org

Edited by Sarah Rubinstein, srubinstein@themaneater.com

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Self-sexualization on social media is all too prevalent - The Maneater