By Izzy Labbe

You’ve seen it all before: all the facebook pictures of girls taken in bathrooms, smooshing their lips together in the typical “duck-face”, bending over so far their cleavage is easily the focal point of the picture, or bending backwards so much that their bodies are contorted. Sure, we’ve all seen them. Some of us may have even fallen victim to them. But the question I propose today is: Should we judge them?

It may seem ridiculous to demand attention for a self-esteem boost via “duck-face” pictures on social networking sites, but it’s a daily happening. I can’t tell you how many girls I’m facebook friends with that post them all the time, all over the place. As a feminist, and especially as a teenager who’s really not even old enough to be flaunting her cleavage or anything of the sort, I tend to stay as far away from pictures like this as possible. Sure, I still take pictures with my friends with my camera, and post them on facebook, but it’s not for ‘Likes’ or attention. It’s just me and my friends fooling around.

But when I recently found myself labeled as a girl who takes pictures of herself that translate to “Grr, I’m making a gross face because I think I’m cute,” photo-judging had crossed the line. For one thing, I was slightly offended. Sure, I have tons of pictures of me making goofy faces and looking just plain weird- but that’s not because I “think” I’m cute — and it’s certainly not because I want attention.

I do it because it’s the way I choose to express myself. Maybe I don’t want to be the girl that smiles pretty for every picture or stresses to look perfect. I’m not perfect, and I choose to look wacky in pictures because that’s who I am — a wacky, crazy, odd duck. And I LOVE it, and plan to keep on posting pictures of it on MY facebook profile, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

Let me just get this straight to everyone out there who has ever judged someone based on facebook photos (this includes me, my friends, my family, and most likely, even you): It’s. Not. Your. Business. If girls want to post pictures of themselves doing those poses, there is nothing to stop them, and they should be able to take pictures and post them on facebook as they wish. A facebook profile enables you to have freedom over your posts and photos; that’s why we live in a FREE COUNTRY.

Of course it’s not good that girls feel the need to post suggestive and often ridiculous pictures of themselves on facebook — that’s a self-esteem problem within itself. But generalizing these girls, grouping them into categories based on what they’re “guilty” of doing in pictures, degrading them based on the way they choose to express themselves… that’s not right. That’s not the solution.

So please. The next time you’re scrolling down your news feed and find a picture of a girl doing “duck-face”, or showing a lot of cleavage, or bending over (or whatever she’s doing) don’t be the person to judge her or the person to generalize and ridicule her personal decisions. It makes you look worse than you think she does.