"The Male Gazed" by Kate Losse

I don't have a Facebook and I have my own reasons for not wanting to exist in a power-hungry, capatilist network. First of all, I'm detached to a sense of belonging in many aspects of my life. I stutter when people ask me what's my favorite music, what groups I'm in at school, or what clothing brand I love the most. When I use to have a facebook, every post and "like" felt like a performance that would backfire judgements and assupmtions about my identity and associations. I always felts like my profile (or any virutal representation of me) did not depict who I was as a person, my interests, and the people in my life. Second, I always think that if someone wants to know me, they should meet me and talk to me- not stalk me online. Third, if I stripped myself with all my associations and the internet, I want to feel like I still know who I am as person and see what genuine attachments I'm drawn to.

After reading Kate Losse's article, I reflected on my behavior on social media. I currently have an Instagram and I rarely follow or look through profiles of male personas. Maybe because there aren't as many male "selfie" instagram profiles as there are female profiles feeding the network. But if I'm scrolling through my instafeed, I'm instantly drawn to profiles of pretty women, girls, or transgender individuals. I identify myself as a female and contribute to the "Male Gaze" that Kate Losse is talking about in her article. More or less, the same guilty and poisonous thoughts run through my head: she's so pretty, I want a body like that, I like what she's wearing, her life is glamorous.And I know many female friends who contribute to the "Male Gaze" with the same thoughts and the same behavior. The idea of hastagging "Women Crush Wednesday" is an example that reinforces the sexist surveillance echoing throughout the network.

In attempt to look for a screenshot of a typical #womancrushwednesday instagram post, google generated these series of related photos.

And then I came across this post by a woman bashing on the social trend.