Teen girls have always obsessed over their looks, says Randye Hoder at The New York Times. But social networking is pushing them to a disturbing extreme
Thanks the to ubiquity of internet-connected cameras, young teens have developed an unprecedented level of self-consciousness and an obsession with sexing it up to solicit more "Likes" on Facebook. Photo: Jan Haas/dpa/CorbisSEE ALL 191 PHOTOS
Best Opinion: N.Y. Times
In today's "hyper-public internet age, young teenagers are relentlessly living their lives camera-ready — and it's not a pretty picture," says Randye Hoder at The New York Times. Internet-connected cameras are everpresent, and young girls are obsessively posing for Facebook, whose "Like" feature — the ultimate gauge of popularity — drives girls to out-sexy each other to win the coveted clicks. Here, an excerpt:
[T]he glare of the camera is never far away. And that is affecting how adolescent girls conduct themselves in their actual, everyday lives. Girls this age, who have felt pressured historically to look their best most of the time, suddenly seem to feel as if they need to look their best all of the time. In turn, always being "on" seems to lead some girls to pose for pictures that are oversexualized: Pouting lips, lots of cleavage, short-shorts, crop tops that showcase a bare midriff.
