016. Is Facebook Sexualizing Teenage Girls?

Read the article here.

     It does seem a little bit depressing to see how the pressures of society have forced young girls into feeling like they have to look perfect all the time. Many girls these days seem to build their self-esteem based on the public's opinion of their image. In terms of the sexualizing of teenage girls, the article seems to have hit that part of the issue dead on. Posting photos on Facebook does seem to be a popularity contest with the photos with more “likes” being winners. With this view in mind, I can only imagine how the girls with no “likes” feel.

     I’ve seen many instances where image has become more important than a girl’s happiness. This sort of activity doesn’t just happen on Facebook these days, though. Tumblr is another site where image is everything. Instead of collecting “likes,” the girls collect “notes.” Some of the young girls I know throw out their pride and integrity in order to post pictures that sexualize their image in hopes of becoming “Tumblr famous.” I can tell from experience that girls whose images are not appreciated do fall victim to anxiety and depression.
     Many parents are not aware of the affect that image can have on young girls. The pressure to be perfect can sometimes be more overwhelming than the pressure to do drugs or drink alcohol. Sometimes this concept is hard for parents to grasp because the pressure to be perfect isn’t tangible while drugs and alcohol is. It’s even harder for parents to understand how social networking sites can have this effect since such technology did not exist when the parents were their daughters’ age. The omnipresent camera lens has suddenly become the root of all evils.