The Instagram Awakening: When a Picture Changed Everything
American culture has a pure heart in many ways. And like anything, it has its downfalls. One of those is the hyper-sexualization of the media. Back in the day, we remember people saying, “oh, the media is so lewd and inappropriate.” But it’s way out there now. Have you been on Instagram? It was hard being a young male growing up with unlimited access to pictures and videos of my fellow sisters in the world posting suggestive media (I’m not blaming anyone for anything and it was my choice to seek those things). Having unlimited access to suggestive imagery and porn hacks our sexual and mental biology, which can lead to insecurity, anxiety, and aggression.
It’s not just a man or women’s problem. It’s a values and programming problem. It’s nothing new but young women are being programmed with this idea that their greatest asset is their body. And men feed into this by affirming that, “yes, your body is your most valuable asset because that’s what I give my time and attention to.” I know this because I was doing this.
This is personal, but it’s important to share because it could help people: whenever we say, “oh, he’s hot,” or “oh, she’s hot” we turn people into objects. Not only that but we mentally consume people as if they were products. Sometimes we even physically consume people as if they were products. We’re seeing now more and more people trying to turn themselves into products so more people desire to consume them — then we value ourselves based on how many people want to consume us — all of this leads to suffering. Just look at dating apps. The app literally showcases people like objects you can shop for — it’s sick… but we willingly participate (and like it because we don’t know any better; we don’t know what it costs us). We owe it to our higher selves to do better. Ask yourself, what is getting reinforced by participating in this lifestyle? What is getting socially reinforced?
We stop seeing souls and we start seeing bodies — and what we give our attention to is what gets programmed as valuable across the culture. People stop soul-searching and finding life-giving values and start figuring out ways to acquire more validators — that’s what it means to collect people. I remember this one time I was on Instagram following old habits of seeking suggestive images. This image of a women came across my feed. As I saw her eyes something hit me hard and changed me. All in an instant I saw the pain she was feeling, I could see the subtle but desperate cry for attention, validation… but really, love. The desire to know and feel that you’re loved and good enough — not for your body, but for your beingness itself… this is something that is sorely missing in many peoples’ lives. Then, I made another connection… It was me. I was the prime example of someone empowering the value that your body and image is all that matters — I was promoting this value by giving the manifestation of that value my attention (a women posting suggestive images of herself), I was a part of that cycle… So, I stopped… I want to see souls, not bodies. I want to help and serve people, not consume them. I want to see and hear people, not objectify them.
The mind of America is falling ill because what is valued leads to suffering (which isn’t health); to quote Lois Griffin, “Where are those good old-fashioned values on which we used to rely?” Many of those values like unconditional love, commitment, integrity, honesty, and mutual respect are being traded for money or an opportunity to collect more validators. I encourage everyone to be a force for positive change so that we can heal the soul of our country… and people around the world.
