The Dark Side of Hypersexualization Revealed to Gen Z

At the beginning of the COVID-19 quarantine, I spent an enormous amount of time on social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok). As a result, my mental health has severely plummeted, and I became insecure about my external appearance more than ever. I attached my identity to Gen Z social media influencers and compared my self-worth to theirs. It was hard not to compare myself when viewing allegedly successful young adults wearing skin-tight clothing gyrating to popular internet dance challenges and promoting fashion brands.

Objectified women are being conditioned to accept the main source of power is appearance. I applaud teen female pop star Billie Eilish for being wary of hypersexualization and wearing clothes that do not merely focus on her appearance but direct viewers' attention towards her talent. In 2019, Billie Eilish participated in a Calvin Klein campaign and revealed why she wears baggy clothes.

Billie Eilish Calvin Klein Commercial

“I don’t want the world to know everything about me…I mean that’s why I wear big baggy clothes. Nobody can have an opinion because they haven’t seen what’s underneath.” -Billie Eilish

For women, freedom of dress remains a battle; feminists continue to fight for women to dress as they please. However, what if the real problem is the clothes that are being manufactured. Have you ever been to a party and asked your male friend to put your phone in his pocket? Maybe you have a pants pocket, but it cannot fit your plus size smartphone. Women live in the same world as men, and just like them, we need practical clothing that is not skintight and requires Kim Kardashian's SKIMS line to shape our bodies. Warm weather has arrived, which means bandeaus, spaghetti midriff crop tops, and high waisted shorts will be available online for young women. However, with COVID-19 still existing how are those clothing pieces supposed to protect an individual from the virus? It is clear that companies have no intention of changing their marketing strategies and will continue to argue "sex sells." Companies rely on new communication technology and feed consumers 5,000 ads per day. Children ages 8-18 spend an average of eight hours per day hooked up to devices where advertisers can reach them effectively. Of course, this amount of self-objectification advertisement has severe effects on young women:

● Depression ● Habitual body monitoring ● Eating disorders ● Body shame ● Depresses cognitive functioning ● Sexual dysfunction ● Lower self-esteem ● Low GPA ● Lower political efficacy ● Female competition Women that internalize the idea of being sex objects possess higher rates of depression. That explains why my mental health hit rock bottom. I have heavily engaged in habitual body monitoring. What is habitual body monitoring? Trust me you do it every day by actions as simple as thinking about the positioning of your legs, hair, and skin. There are even moments that you probably think about who is looking at you and who is not. Everyone does it but, overdoing it can result in depressed cognitive functioning. Engaging in constant body monitoring takes up more mental space that can be better used for completing that homework assignment that you have been procrastinating on, creating your entrepreneurial business plan, or simply reading a book. Young women that obsess over their appearance and sexual desirability have a decreased motivation to challenge gender-based inequalities and injustices. Unfortunately, this can keep young Gen Z’ers bound to a submissive gender role. A rebuttal to attack this problem is refusing to accept objectifying media. With new technology, young women have more power in their hands to change the media. If a young woman feels uncomfortable, she could write, direct, and edit a video targeting an objectifier that offends her. Young women need to be taught how to utilize social media as a vehicle to engage in media activism. It can simply start with a TikTok challenge video on how the pockets sewed on jeans do not fit their iPhone 11 Pro Max. Young women are the architects of their future and, instead of us coexisting in the male patriarchy, it is time for us to demolish paradigms to build equality.