Phototention

Finding it increasingly hard to personalise this blog, I’ve dug deep and realised that people have an array of interests, and trying to narrow down content is just way too hard. As of now, this blog will be a dumping ground for; all my complaining/ being overly invested in things that have nothing to do with me but I still feel the need to comment/ experiences/ interests. I have been at it for a solid 18 years, so I shouldn't be too bad at it. 

Girls who insist they are unattractive online, honest to god make me so angry that I could actually hurt myself. What gets me is that they aren’t denying it because they are modest - it’s some sick twisted plot to boost their self-esteem. There can be absolutely no explanation as why they upload “ugly” photos of themselves on Facebook entitled “lol I’m such a dog” when they have clearly spent the entire day putting on makeup and straightening their hair – unless they are so bloody unhappy with themselves that they have resorted to seeking approval from their online peers; whether this ‘approval’ be, being praised for looking a certain way, or acting a certain way. I’m going to go out on a bit of a tangent here and extended this hatred to girls who upload photos of themselves in bikinis (who for some reason think because its lycra, its more appropriate than cotton underwear), smoking and drinking. All of this begs the question: how and why is this photo uploading movement so damaging/annoying? The most obvious examples are exemplified on new media.

Tumblr is the overlord of this egotistical, narcissistic spiral of teenage angst, dip dyed hair and skimpy denim ‘shorts’. Tumblr provides what some might call a ‘teenage girl’s guide to being hot.” These Tumblr girls, who mind you are 20-somethings, pride themselves on taking cool photos of themselves with 0 body mass and a permanent swirl of what I can only assume to be cigarette/marijuana smoke around their face.  It is beyond me why this is something to strive for. This online trend is permeating into day to day life, only a few weeks ago I witnessed a girl compliment another by saying “you are so skinny and pretty, you should be on Tumblr” – and now I am going to strangle them with their own oversized jumpers and ripped stockings.  

It is my understanding that, looking like a Tumblr girl in some teenage circles, is desired.  Hence, if you take a photo of yourself in the vein of Tumblr, you’re a hot bitch.  However it is the content of  SOME Tumblr posts that is extremely detrimental to a teenage girl, adding on to the already long list of insecurities, fears and battles with body image. Tumblr heightens all of these things, in what is just another burden to bare for the new generation of teenage girls in this technological world.  In some ways this is quite unfair, back in the day the only things that could crush our self confidence and ‘cool’ factor was The O.C and mum’s magazines, but now, there is this whole new onslaught of media in which to hand-pick your issues. Tumblr is a sure fire way to attain body issues…and to become super cool. It’s focus on drugs and  skinny or thinspo (thin inspiration) posts  is probably not so great, and my best bet is that it has in some way contributed to body/self -esteem issues. Whether they are genuine is beyond me - But rest assured, these issues are represented in the most glamorous way possible.

Despite how charming these photos are, they are appealing to the eye. However, even though they represent terrible things, I cannot for the life of me, take them seriously.

http://skinnygirlstastebetter.tumblr.com/

To me, whoever made the page comes off as immature – so much so its passed over into the realm of embarrassing. If the content is real, then it is very concerning. If it isn’t, the only purpose it serves is to inspire body issues. While is human nature to seek approval, image wise, creating entire platforms or uploading photos of this crap to achieve it, is just sad.

People have said it before, and I'll say it once more: Media is the problem.
If there weren’t so many mediums on which to praise skinny celebrities for their clothing or their fad diets, the girls who upload these images would spend less time mulling over what they should look like. Instead, I imagine they would be playing hopscotch, dating boys and emotionally beating each other down the old fashioned way, by bitching behind each others backs- like normal teenage girls.


- Shannen