#getalife

I hate JMUmakeouts. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but I have never witnessed something so grotesque in my life and I don’t know if I’m more disgusted that it’s a form of social media or how connected the whole student body is to this twitter page. Honestly I don’t understand why anyone would feel the need to spend their night taking pictures of a person’s act of intimacy.  I woke up this morning and one of my friends handed me his phone and showed me the most recent picture of a couple making out. The woman’s dress in the picture had risen and to say the least the picture was not flattering; I remember being outraged in this moment. The whole thing is just absurd, because most of the pictures end up being this; the male presented in a dominant light and the women in some kind of compromising position. These pictures scare me, it feels as if I cannot have a good time without it being put on display. I’m just waiting for the moment when someone will tag me and I get called the slut while the guy gets the praise, either way both of us will be put to shame #getaroom, in which I respond #getalife.

Also what ever happened to just enjoying the moments of your life. The special, hilarious moments we had the night before, become tainted because there’s always a flash.  But we really need is a different flash that doesn’t lead to instagram, twitter, facebook  and ultimately public ridicule. The other weekend, I was dancing with this guy and my friend pulled me aside and said someone was taking pictures of us and then we left the party. Situations like this irritate me, first I get catcalled for the outfit I wear that night, get scrutinized by other women, and then can’t even enjoy myself, because social media controls our generation.

Another thing about this whole JMUmakeouts twitter page is not only do I have to worry about my pictures being posted up, but I may run the chance of a picture of me kissing another woman. I am bisexual so my pursuits are for both women and men and the last thing I want is for my sexuality to be over sexualized and generalized. I don’t think people ever really think about these kind of things when they press capture.

My biggest problem with JMUmakeouts is how much we feed into the bullshit of what it is; its people who are living vicariously through other peoples’ images. And we can say all we want that we don’t take the pictures, but if we look at them and make comments, then we aren’t really any better than that guy who throws the deuces up in front of couple that have been dating for a year and

now are put on blast as “this guy” and “that girl.”

I myself need to realize that JMUmakeouts will always be a talking topic within the campus, but what I can do is not be involved with the pictures and the comments. If you agree with me unfollow the page. Don’t be part of the conversation in which people laugh at the photos, but rather a conversation where we put things in perspective. We have no right to judge anyone no matter what the picture is on twitter, especially since most of these pictures weren’t voluntary. People have a right to live their lives and we have the right to mind our own business, but really though.