This is my 15-year-old sister.

This is my 15-year-old sister on Facebook.

 

My sister's Facebook pics have gotten so outrageous that I find myself having to cross my fingers and do a little prayer before I log in! The other day, the highlight of my news feed was a picture of her in bathroom in her t-shirt and panties. I called her immediately to express my disgust about it. Her response: they weren't panties. They were boy shorts.

Sad face/Sigh/Eye roll.

I don't know what it is about these 90s baby girls where they feel the need to show the world their bodies in an inappropriate matter via social media! My Facebook newsfeed right now is highlighted with my younger friends taking sexy bathroom pics. And boy, do they like booty shots. The thought of anyone seeing shots of my butt makes me tear up! I guess you have to give them a half of a thumbs up for being comfortable enough with their bodies as tweens to even post a risqué pic. I was so covered up in high school that the Muslim girl clique approached me once about my Ramadan plans.

I have a theory: today's young women have shitty self esteem just like we did. And they want people to like them and reassure them just like we did. But now, they have social media. And they don't even get to decide what look they are comfortable with for themselves. They post pics, typically for a young male audience, and let them decide. Only one like of a pic of little Suzie in a church dress. No more church dresses. 178 likes of Suzie in leggings and a bra? That's her new look!

As for now, I am putting together a reassurance plan for my kid sis. The goal: to get her to love herself so much that she can see that ass shots online are stupid on her own without me calling to curse her out. This is going to be a task, seeing that I just started being able to stand myself yesterday, but I am up for the challenge.