In today's digital age, social media platforms have become increasingly popular among individuals worldwide for various purposes such as communication, entertainment, and information sharing. Among these platforms is TikTok, which has gained immense popularity due to its short-form video format that allows users to post videos on different topics, including erotic content.
While some may find this content entertaining, it also perpetuates unconscious gendered power dynamics, relational hierarchies, and social comparison pressures. In this article, we will explore how TikTok erotic trends reinforce these factors in our society.
Unconscious Gendered Power Dynamics
One way that TikTok erotic trends reinforce unconscious gendered power dynamics is through objectification and fetishization. On the platform, women are often portrayed as sex objects whose bodies are valued based on their appearance rather than their personality or achievements. This promotes an attitude where men view women solely as sexual objects, reducing them to their physical features instead of recognizing their true value. The resultant effect is that women feel pressured to conform to societal beauty standards and perform sexual acts that reinforce traditional gender roles.
A recent viral TikTok trend encourages women to lick whipped cream off each other's body parts, creating a sense of competition between women over who can be more sexually desirable. Similarly, the 'WAP challenge' requires women to dance provocatively in front of the camera, reinforcing the idea that women should be sexy and available at all times.
Relational Hierarchy
Another way that TikTok erotic trends reinforce relational hierarchy is by normalizing abusive relationships. Many videos showcase dangerous behavior such as choking, bondage, and domination, which promote submissiveness among partners. This reinforces the belief that one partner must dominate while the other submits, leading to imbalanced relationships where power dynamics are skewed in favor of one party. In addition, TikTok promotes pornographic content that glorifies violence against women and encourages rape culture. These videos promote harmful behaviors such as degrading language, physical aggression, and emotional manipulation, making it difficult for individuals to distinguish healthy from unhealthy relationship dynamics.
Social Comparison Pressures
TikTok also creates social comparison pressures that fuel eroticism and shape people's perceptions of what constitutes an ideal body or sexual performance.
Users post videos of themselves engaging in kinky activities, creating a pressure to outdo their peers' performances.
Some TikTokers showcase how they perform sexual acts with their partners, which creates a sense of inadequacy among others if their sexual experiences do not match up. The platform reinforces the notion that only certain bodies and sex acts are desirable, leading to anxiety, low self-esteem, and poor body image issues.
TikTok erotic trends reinforce unconscious gendered power dynamics, relational hierarchies, and social comparison pressures, creating a toxic environment that harms individuals' mental health. To mitigate these effects, TikTok should introduce age restrictions on all erotic content, promote healthier sexuality education, and crack down on abusive behavior. Individuals must also educate themselves about healthy relationships, embrace diversity, and seek professional help when experiencing distress due to TikTok's erotic trends.
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How do TikTok erotic trends reinforce unconscious gendered power dynamics, relational hierarchies, and social comparison pressures?
Many TikTok erotic trends involve sexual acts that are not considered appropriate in traditional relationships, such as public sex or threesomes. These trends can be harmful because they perpetuate the idea that women should be sexually available at all times, even when it is outside of their comfort zone. Additionally, many of these trends emphasize female submissiveness, which can further reinforce traditional gender roles and power dynamics.