Sending nudes isn’t a new phenomenon — the advent of camera phones took care of that — but for teens these days, a bevy of social media platforms make sexual exploration on the internet that much more thrilling, and that much more dangerous.
That’s the focus of I See You, a documentary by Orian Barki about sending photos of your junk to other people as a teen. While some see it as a form of empowerment, others contemplate the role gender plays (hint: It’s still much harder being a woman) or the dangers of being publicly exposed. Hell, the video opens with a girl claiming a sexy photo of her was shared on a revenge porn Instagram account.
Being a teen sounds awful.
“I don’t think sexting is bad, I think sexting is exciting, romantic, playful and creative,” Barki explains. “That being said, if your photo ends up on the wrong phone it’s pretty bad.”
While the film itself tries not to take sides on sexting, it’s hard to read it as anything other than terrifying, considering the long-term effects of worst case scenarios here can have on someone still discovering their identity. Not to mention that nearly all of these photos — which might float around the internet for who knows how long — constitute child pornography.
Anyone who has every wished to go back to their glory days in high school, here’s the techno-hormonal nightmare you’re missing out on.