I was looking at a few tumblrs I follow when I happened on something incredibly unsettling: a photograph of a friend I know. At first, I didn’t recognize her. But, I recognized her body, her hair, her clothing, the room she was in. I knew without a doubt that this was definitely one of my best friends. It wasn’t in any way a lewd picture, but rather one praising certain aspects of her body (though some of the commentary was a bit lewd). But, something felt off.

Then I realized it: her face wasn’t on the head of that picture. Or, maybe it was her face. But, her cheeks were compressed, her lips were plumped, her eyes were moved. I felt beyond uneasy looking at it. I knew I couldn’t go on and tell her that it existed, it would be far too uncomfortable. But I knew it was there and I just felt beyond awkward with it, especially with how people were reducing her to her body, discussing her.

And then I thought of how much I do this on this tumblr. I don’t often take into account the person behind the photo. Sure, I very, very rarely post “amateur” stuff, but I still felt a bit disillusioned with tumblr for a little bit. Sigh.