Social media and the sexualization of children

I remember going to this restaurant a while back. We were asked to wait as a table with about ten very young girls (mostly in school) was about to get freed. As we stood waiting, I watched them click selfies and groupfies for about ten minutes, each girl looked almost the same, their clothes definitely were almost identical. Finally they left, still clicking selfies on their way out. We proceeded to our table and had a good, satisfying meal. About 45 minutes later, we finished and proceeded to our car and I kid you not, the same group of girls was still standing underneath the building continuing their selfie sessions. The template was the same - hips out, lips pouting, face tilted, standing on their toes.

This is an epidemic, people infected by a disease are all around us in full public view and not only are we not pointing them out, we are celebrating them.

It is no secret that younger boys and girls are abandoning Facebook for Instagram. What used to earlier be a platform for photographers & designers to showcase their brilliant work has become an open orgy of youngsters who are now addicted to a way of life they never chose with full consciousness to begin with.

What a young girl who sticks her hips out and pouts does not realize is that she is sexualizing herself! If you are aware of what it means and you’ve made a conscious decision to do so, by all means, go ahead. For example - I love Sunny Leone, her honesty and command over herself are breathtaking! She oozes confidence and grace on everything she did and why not! She chose to sell a product, we chose to buy it, both made empowered, conscious choices and it’s perfectly fine. It’s her life, her choice, she’s free to do what she wants, she’s proud of it and I admire the hell out of her. But try telling one of the usual selfie brigade that they are sexualizing themselves (I’ve actually tried) and they get scandalized to no end, thinking you have a perverted mind. They want to remain on the traditional side of morality while appearing to have crossed over, this is the new normal! They know not what they do! How can they? Most of them are teenagers or minors. They aren’t legally allowed to marry or have sex or vote or drink at that age. But businesses have been built by low-skilled, attention-craving girls (yes there are boys too but the number is far outweighed by girls) with sad lives and often limited money by using make-up, photo-editing apps, seemingly philosophical quotations and unlimited hashtags to present an image of themselves that is false.

Soon, the usual routine of religiously awaiting notifications for new likes, comments and increased followers takes over. With each increase in virtual currency, self-image goes up and with each decline, it goes down. Soon you post more of what gets more likes and the majoritarian mob takes over. You become what you are not, for example - Girls who are overweight also squeeze themselves into uncomfortable, tight clothes because they feel left out and why shouldn’t they, this system is unfair to them any way. Over time, this virtual image is assumed to be real but soon life gets in the way. Studies, work, friends, relationships can’t be sustained for long over something that is only cosmetic and both worlds collide thereby causing chaos.

There have now been N number of studies that say that mental health of Instagram users is lower than any other social network with envy & insecurity being the predominant emotions you experience there. Women are as it is at a disadvantage in this world, biology is unfair to them, so are religion and society, businesses have been made out of commodifying them. But just like men are victims of a system that objectifies women and tells them all their lives that they are superior, women too are victims of a vicious circle that forces them to look a certain way and punishes them when they actually do.