Dark Undercurrents of Teenage Girls
Dark undercurrents of teenage girls' selfies
Date July 11, 2013
Olympia Nelson
Pouty self-portraits have turned boy-girl relations into a cut-throat sexual rat race.
Actor Miley Cyrus poses for a selfie.
If social media only caused narcissism, it wouldn't be the worst thing. Instagram and Facebook are social networks that not only breed narcissistic tendencies but transform relations into a sexual rat race.
On these ubiquitous portals, the popularity of girls is hotly contested over one big deal: how sexy can I appear and bring it off with everyone's admiration?
That's the reason we see mirror shots, pouting self-portraits of teenagers (typically female) and sexually suggestively posed girls in a mini-dress ''before a party last night''. They're showing how much they like themselves and hoping that you'll hit ''like'' to reinforce the claim.
This isn't just an interest in vanity but vainglory, being high up on a scale of ''likes'' . There isn't anything inherently wrong with uploading self-portraits.
Everyone likes receiving compliments and it makes us feel awesome that our own appearance can provide us with an ego boost. But what kind of photos produce an epidemic of ''likes?'' Nothing with too much creativity but hip, titty and kiss. It's the true scourge of the selfie.
Why are we girls competing to be the Queen of Pouts? Why do we scour through photos of celebrities and all our ambitious friends to find out who is the new princess of prurient poses? Even demure girls are tempted to strike sexually suggestive poses. But they must be careful, not because parents are looking but because they might not score any ''likes'' and might then feel a failure, unworthy among their peers.
How confident can you appear at being lascivious? How credible is your air of lewdness? A girl who is just a try-hard will lose credibility and become an outcast. So a lot depends on how much support you can get from other girls.
Girls zealously scroll down their Instagram or
Date July 11, 2013
Olympia Nelson
Pouty self-portraits have turned boy-girl relations into a cut-throat sexual rat race.
Actor Miley Cyrus poses for a selfie.
If social media only caused narcissism, it wouldn't be the worst thing. Instagram and Facebook are social networks that not only breed narcissistic tendencies but transform relations into a sexual rat race.
On these ubiquitous portals, the popularity of girls is hotly contested over one big deal: how sexy can I appear and bring it off with everyone's admiration?
That's the reason we see mirror shots, pouting self-portraits of teenagers (typically female) and sexually suggestively posed girls in a mini-dress ''before a party last night''. They're showing how much they like themselves and hoping that you'll hit ''like'' to reinforce the claim.
This isn't just an interest in vanity but vainglory, being high up on a scale of ''likes'' . There isn't anything inherently wrong with uploading self-portraits.
Everyone likes receiving compliments and it makes us feel awesome that our own appearance can provide us with an ego boost. But what kind of photos produce an epidemic of ''likes?'' Nothing with too much creativity but hip, titty and kiss. It's the true scourge of the selfie.
Why are we girls competing to be the Queen of Pouts? Why do we scour through photos of celebrities and all our ambitious friends to find out who is the new princess of prurient poses? Even demure girls are tempted to strike sexually suggestive poses. But they must be careful, not because parents are looking but because they might not score any ''likes'' and might then feel a failure, unworthy among their peers.
How confident can you appear at being lascivious? How credible is your air of lewdness? A girl who is just a try-hard will lose credibility and become an outcast. So a lot depends on how much support you can get from other girls.
Girls zealously scroll down their Instagram or