Does Posting Photos In Bikinis or Underwear Mean We Are Objectifying Our Own Bodies

Is there a fine line between being body confident and exploiting your own bodies on social media??

OOOOOH this is a little bit more of a controversial blog post isn’t it?? We like controversial right? My research has been done… to an extent and I am about to chat to you about whether posting bikini pics or pics in underwear is actually causing self-objectification. So get yo’ ass comfortable. Recently, a fellow Plym blogger (@rubyofmyeye – check her out she’s gorge) posted a bikini pic on Instagram. Completely harmless, something that we probably have all been victim too. I know I have posted many photos of my in a bikini because I am at the point in my life where I am comfortable to. However someone felt the need to comment a condescending point about what Ruby should or shouldn’t be posting on instagram. Hence why I want to chat about whether we are objectifying our bodies when posting a photo with a bikini or underwear on.  

Prior to this post I did a little google research on the topic. One thing I did realise about other posts on this topic was that they were very much biased towards the idea that any selfie of any kind is objectifying ourselves. If that was the case then us bloggers would be out of a job. In what I found out this so called self-objectification comes in three stages. Take the photo, editing the photo and then publishing the photo.

The idea is that if women post photos in bikinis for any one to see then the men in their lives or men who follow her will treat them with less respect. More of an object than a person. There is also the argument that for someone to post a bikini pic has detrimental mental health effects on other women who have self-esteem issues and the way they see the bodiesCan you get the idea of this argument? 

The comment made on Ruby’s post mention about putting yourself out there in such a vulnerable way allows sleazy men to be able to comment on your posts and view them. Thus causing the self-objectification and thats something she didn’t want her daughter to see online. 

The other side of the argument? Well I know that I post bikini pics because I am in a position where I am happy to a degree with the way my body looks. However this hasn’t just been given to men, I have had to spend ours in the gym working towards it. So if I want to post that fact I am proud of the way I look on my own account then why shouldn’t I?

In fact, I posted a bikini pic on my private Instagram account and I had a male friend message me applauding me for being confident with my body. I was like YES YES YES. Thats the kind of motivation! In no way was that comment meant I was being objectified, just encouraged. I am all for promoting body confidence. Considering I have come from a place of not liking what I looked like, I think it is important to be able to encourage young girls to be confident of their bodies. Whether that means posting bikini pics, or posting photos wrapped up in jumpers it doesn’t matter. 

I do agree that it is matter of content. Like of course, girls in kinky lingerie posting seductive photos for the purpose of pleasure is more on the self-objectification page. But the people who do it, clearly don’t see that. And they probably make a bloody good wage out of it. That is their choice. They are clearly followed by a difference type of audience than the audience of a fashion blogger.

On the other hand you have pages like charities. For example I follow a charity that supports breast cancer research. Recently they have done a campaign about women checking for breast cancer. The marketing was using influencers to pose in nude. In fact in a pink thong which is being sold to make money for the charity. I LOVED this campaign. Women of all shape, sizes and experiences with the disease came forward. They bravely spoke about their experience whilst raising awareness. SO yes. It is very much dependent on content. 

Fashion bloggers are influencers. This means what ever they post on their platforms will cause some sort of guidance for their audience. We aren’t stupid. We know what is right and wrong to post on our pages. But they are OUR pages. You don’t like what we post? Then unfollow. If you don’t want us posting photos of our bodies then byeeee. If you don’t think you want your children seeing our posts then they probably shouldn’t be on social media in the first place. 

I for one will continue to post what ever the hell I want on my blog and Instagram. I would rather be authentic than fake right? 

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