Yesterday I cam across an Instagram page, having 300K+ followers. A pretty usual thing in this new digitilized world. However, the content - which too is normalized now - was an AI model of a woman. This is where things start to get serious. Because, people of my region will face it hard to differentiate between a real and an AI model. So out of lust, they will start following; and algorithm will do its magic. I get it, we live in a world of "freedom of choices". So, who am I to question it? But, to those, I am also using my "freedom to cirticize".
Then there are social media influencers - a good thing.
But what exactly are they doing? Influencing through what?
Social media influencers are not a bad thing. I do follow lots of influencers. But this is what infleucing means to me: sharing knowledge, prmoting art, raising awareness, encourage meaningful discussions or offering something which adds meaning to people's lives. Influence should make people think, learn, question, create - and of course, enjoy. What sort of influencing I am getting from watching someone with bare minimum clothes and doing lip syncing.
Majority Describes
Yeah, an influencer can have thousands, actually millions of followers, yet they will not be adding anything meaningful. And it is completely okay. Because, they have the backing of majority of people - mostly male. The fans will defend them till death, because this is what modern world is doing to us. Let just forget about genuine concerns - climate change, on going wars - and discuss celebrities and their right to do as they please to do.
"Men act and women appear."
John Berger came up with this critical and on point observation. According to Berger, men are presented as active characters, the one who do things, make decisions, achieve something and move the story forward. Women, on the other hand, are often presented through how they look. They are expected to appear beautiful, desirable, feminine, and most importantly, worth of being looked at.
And maybe social media has taken this old docrtine and feeded it to the algorithm.
Today, the male observers - even children - are no longer sitting silently in front of a painting or watching an advertisement on TV. They are scrolling, liking, commenting, sharing, following and watching again and again. Ever few seconds spent equals "show me more of this." And the algorithm, just like a shadow follows us everywhere.
The Revenue
I am not saying that every man follows such accounts because of lust. That would be unjust and unfair observation. But we cannot ignore the fact that majority is men. Men are not merely innocent observers in this system; their attention generates revenue. Now this is where the core reason lies - the capital. We all love it, don't we?
Producers and Consumers
This is where the male gaze economy" becomes more relevant and predictable. The problem is not only the influencers who creates the content. The audience also plays its part. There are people who will criticize the content, by watching, commenting and repeating the same cycle. The concept is simple. Attention creates demand, views bring visibility, like and sharing help with growth, and monetization brings money. If there were no audience constatnly rewarding sexualized content, would there be the same pressure to produce more of it?
Self-objectification
Ironically, the second waves of feminism strongly opposed the commodification of women. The idea that women could be reduced to their bodies, appearances and sexual values. But the digital world has undone this part. So, is it liberation? Or is the same old objectification simply being presented as empowerment? It is dependent on you, because personally, I am not anti-freedom. I just prefer some meanings attached with the things presented.
Normalization
Maybe the most worrying part is the normalization of all this. We have started to accept this lip-sync as entertainment, call it personal choices and continue to scroll. The male gaze economy does not survive because one person is creating certain kind of content. It survives because an entire digital culture has made being desirable more profitable than being meaningful. The AI has played a significant role in it. Now, the system only needs an image, capable enough to attact attention.
In the end, I cannot control anyone's choice. The solution is here, all we need to do is to realize it. Be more conscious of what we watch, what we reward, and what we allow to shape our present and future.
Maybe the real question is not whether people are free to create such content. Because they are. The real question is: why has this become one of the most profitable forms of influence? And why the real talent is being neglected?
As John Berger said: "Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at."
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Peace 🕊️
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