My friend stared at her phone looking at this virtually real time photo of herself. It took her about 20 seconds before she realized I was standing in front of her, If I had of thought of it at the time, I should have taken a photo of the stunned mullet look on her face when she finally looked up, what a bimbo 🤔🙄🤷♀️😂
@Les02 The pic and the derogatory comment about the girl got me to thinking about how the "smart" phone has many of us addicted to its features and the culture embedded within it.
Besides the social nets there's the temptation to constantly take snaps and vids, of not just others but oneself. I do it. I don't think of myself as vain, even if reality contradicts, and maybe the girl in the pic who looks a lot like one of my cousins doesn't either. Yet, given that our culture constantly makes a huge deal on how we look, it elevates into a self-damning, no win situation, if a girl is considered comely.
Such a girl is constantly getting attention from boys and men on how she looks, comments from her girlfriends, etc. The momentary attention gives her a shallow but potent rush of dopamine, a powerful neurotransmitter released when receiving social reinforcement. It provides a physical rush of feeling good.
The rush is temporary. It leaves a person wanting more and more of the experience. Hence, for many girls this is followed by nagging worry if she is still looking "cute", and more important, “reward” worthy.
I would know. I’ve been on a dance team for years since I was a little girl. We perform at sporting events and school rallies, etc. We are constantly looking at pics and vids taken of us and instead of being happy about it we tend to criticize how we look and for performance imperfections.
It doesn’t matter that many of the girls on my squad are intellectually bright. Two girls on the squad are world class musicians, one has a patent in medical technology, one is a published author and I’m here on a four year national science scholarship and will graduate as an officer in our military. For each of this translates as $75K a year in scholarship funds … earned for our brains … not for our appearance. In contrast, this doesn’t seem to matter to the outside world and the people who call us “airheads.”
And yes, sigh, each of us have "smart" phones, and we are guilty of selfies.
It's a trap worthy of one of Dante's circles of hell. 😒
@Les02 Nah, I thought about signing up for that training core in Navy ROTC since the curriculum seemed so interesting but I'm a masochist. I'm in the Marine Corp where every day in the field can be a complete and utter pain in the ass, only you're doing it with people you love and love to hate.
Heya, Les, I think I'm starting get some Aussie perspective!
@lily88mercy Although we all tease each other in the name of fun. My friend is actually very intelligent and is successful in the world of marketing. But we have to seize these moments, lol.
@Les02 Thank you, Les, for the follow-up comment. I read it after submitting a rather lengthy post on the smart phone culture. It was more a personal reflection and not a criticism of your initial post, which, I'm relieved to see it was meant in good humor. Have a Merry Christmas. Big hugs to ya! 🤗
