Comment on a friend’s post.
Here’s the original post I started to comment on a Tagworld post and ran out of room so I put it here:
I’m quite late on commenting, but very nice. I do think it’s a natural part of the process though. If you look at the internet as a collective whole, it’s going through an adolescence of sorts. Not to excuse them, but I can see how they’d be caught in the illusion of it all. Look at all of the magazine covers, television, movies etc. that we grow up with and it’s apparent the value that is being communicated. As the tv/industrial complex continues to lose steam and the more substantial value of inner beauty is rewarded through the internet we can hope that all of this will change. All the signs are there that it will, the problem right now is that the huge corporations pumping out these images have so much clout because of money. With new forms of currency popping up (such as reputation) it’s becoming much more valuable to be ethical and more tasteful. I’m admittedly an optimist but the outcome is in all of our hands. We aren’t just passive observers. We’re all interacting and contributing to these systems. Just look at how many hits the pages girls that post pictures like that get. Based on the attention they receive, why wouldn’t they think it’s a good thing?
While pointing out the problem is a very good start, we all need to figure out what we can do to help change it and most importantly, do it. Calling them names and simply criticizing them is counterproductive.
And for the other commentators, it’s hypocritical to sit back and say, “Right on, you tell those stupid girls” and then continue to support the pornography industry or even buying FHM or Maxim or the like. If you really believe what she’s saying is true you have to realize that you are encouraging this behavior by giving money to these companies. You have to stop supporting the industries that this type of behavior is a result of. With the action of giving them money you are saying, I support the commoditization of the female form. This then trickles down into young girls growing up watching this and believing that taking their clothes off is what people value.
If we all truly want this to change, we have to take action. We have to stop giving our money and attention to these companies that have established themselves on these false values.
We can’t just sit in our chairs and criticize other people’s behavior because it doesn’t change anything. We have to act. We have to identify how our own actions contribute to the situation and change them if necessary.
We are all a part of the system.
