Over the course of the past couple of years, social media has played a major role in shaping identity, sexuality, and gender. Many would even say sites such as MySpace sparked the revolution of social media toxicity. Whether we are aware of it or not, our relationship with our social media accounts directly affects how we think and act in our day-to-day lives.
Problematically structured ideas developed by sites like Instagram and Twitter have put great emphasis on objectifying, sexualizing, and misrepresenting young women. Nowadays there’s no escaping the pressures of being unrealistically sexy and confidently submissive, while also living a rich ‘white’ lifestyle. There is now an influx of pages on Instagram solely dedicated to airing out sexual and intimate relations between men and women sparking thousands of charged controversies.
I recently viewed a post that talked about how many women feel like they have the look like Kylie Jenner, dress in designer from head to toe, and have more luxury cars than food to eat. This comes as no surprise and couldn’t be more accurate, simply because that is what’s glorified on social media; a big Brazilian butt, big boobs, tiny waist, perfect skin, and hair. What does it mean for young college women?
Upon speaking with some friends and asking that they share their own personal stories, I was bombarded with many of the same grievances, some more extreme and direct than others. Many expressed a strong sense of inadequacy when scrolling through their respective social media accounts. Sadly, we’ve all been through the comparison game in our heads and it can be quite unsettling. “It’s honestly so hard because if I don’t post a hot enough picture then I barely get enough likes and comments and that kinda makes me feel insecure..but when I post a picture showing a little more skin, guys think that’s just the invite they needed to snap me gross stuff,” said an anonymous source. This comment really hit close to home and I’m sure it does for many others. I have received both subtle and blatant harassment from bikini posts which were perceived by some that I’d been posting to be noticed by guys and wanting some kind of sexual gratification.
College women are constantly having to question their worth and personal connections because of this objectifying social media culture. Now, too many women are insecure about things that make them unique and unless we remind ourselves that none of it is real we feel deeper into the trap social media has so intricately set for us. It’s crucial that we take social media with a grain of salt because despite how someone decides to misrepresent you based on social media, only you know who you truly are.