As social media transitions from being a place where one shares relatively personal information about their lives to platforms for propagating products and services, it brings about a change in business models, especially for smaller businesses. The most important change is seen in the rise of influencer culture- models, usually women, posing with or vouching for various products on their pages. At first glance, it seems like a very convenient relationship for everyone involved. Brands get their advertisements, consumers get information and a varied choice of products at their fingertips, and influencers get paid for the endorsement. A deeper look, however, shows us the ugly beauty standards and the gross sexualisation that they face, almost on a daily basis.
Just like every aspect of life, social media also tends to have the scales tilted majorly against women when it comes to having to fit an unrealistic body standard. While there exist many users of other genders and minorities, they do not get comparable levels of reach, interaction or attention. This may seem like a benefit to these women, but in reality, it appears to be a losing game all around. Not all of this attention is positive, and may become extremely critical, or set up an expectation to objectify.
Under the guise of “algorithms push this content more”, businesses tend to lean towards influencers that fit a narrow spectrum of beauty standards, commit to them, or even claim the products they advertise made them look that way. At this point, people who cannot fit these standards are out of the race to popularity almost immediately, and those who don't are forced to conform to them if they want a fighting chance in the industry.
The underlying reason as to why most influencers that fit standards get pushed on platforms more is fairly simple- it's from the interaction they receive. Many users tend to interact with posts that “look pretty”, and sexualise them even more. It isn't uncommon to read comment upon comment about how an influencer’s body looks, with crass sexualisations and double entendres. These are also the comments that end up getting the most attention, be it in agreement or repulse. Deleting them inherently reduces the kind of reach the post receives, and hurts only the influencers. At this point, many find themselves in a rock and a hard place, as it comes down to a choice between having a viable career or being sexually harassed.
The sheer volume of the objectification ensures that it is normalised, and gives platforms even less of a reason to inherently police them. Outside of a traditional office, they are left even more vulnerable without the protection of an employer. More importantly, as influencer culture itself starts to gain traction, the apparent sexualisation and the standard it sets bleeds out into the more non-commercialised aspects of the platform. The result? An expectation arises, mostly for women and girls, to be mere objects with the purpose of being sexualised.
How do we then fix this?
Is there a way that lets women be in charge of their sexuality, without having to pay the price for being victims? The apparent solution is to simply take the power out of the hands of harassers. Allowing an appropriate form of callout, or a mechanism to report which does not affect the reach an account receives may be able to do this. However, it also severely requires deconstructing the “male gaze” mentality. The notion that sexual freedom is equivalent to consent to being objectified needs to be uprooted, and it can not be done overnight. However, it is extremely possible for platforms to set up redressal mechanisms against harassment while also being cognizant of how the existing mechanisms hurt victims and actively work to change them.
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