Monday, September 15, 2014

The Trouble with Selfies

From Wendy Shalit:
The pressure on girls to take sexy selfies today comes out of a culture that routinely equates modesty with shame, instead of recognizing it for what it really is: an impulse that protects what is precious and intimate. Teenage girls need to know that when boys ask them for naked pictures, they can—and should—say no. It’s not merely that “sexted” pictures can find their way onto social media (even without the aid of hackers, they seem to have a way of slipping their iPhone collars and circulating with astonishing ease). A better reason to say no is that, having set a higher standard, maybe someone will write a love song for you instead.

And if he doesn’t, who cares? Modesty is, at its essence, having an internal sense of self, not needing others’ approval of how you look (naked or otherwise) to know that you have a unique purpose in this world, and certainly not needing all your friends to “like” your Facebook post in order to know that you’re great. (Read more.)
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1 comment:

julygirl said...

This is a society that uses no discretion or decorum either in speech or dress. Years ago when Demi Moore posed for the cover of a magazine showing her exposed pregnant belly, was the end of modesty as we knew it.