5

To Tumblr or Not To Tumblr?

June 28, 2012

To tumblr or not to tumblr? I am asking myself this question right now. This is based on my views of how I want myself, my blog, and my shop to be seen. I want to be associated with a certain standard of ethics. I believe that you can be sexy with all your clothes on. There is a time and place for everything.

Since I started this blog, I have used tumblr as a form or advertisement. I use it to post links to my new post, links to new shop items, etc. The results have done their work–I have received a good number of new readers from the site, but I have increasingly been questioning if I should continue posting on tumblr….

The reason for this is, the type of pictures that are sitting next to my own when I am being reblogged. I came alert to this when I started viewing the people’s tumblr pages who were reblogging me (entirely out of curiosity). Page after page was full of images of curvy girls with their vaginas and breasts hanging out–and not for artistic purposes, they mainly looked like porn (to put it bluntly).

This is something I have been noticing for weeks. I really don’t want my pictures, which I put the utmost love and thought into, being posted next to raunchy pictures. This goes against everything I am trying to do and the image I am trying to build for myself.

Added to this, it is sad that so many plus size/curvy girls think so little of themselves to pose like this. It gives the view that if you are plus size you have to be raunchy and trashy to be sexy. This is way from true, and I hate that girls out there are personifying this. I wish that these girls would learn to love themselves instead of posting these pictures.

Granted, a lot of people posting on tumblr are genuinely doing a real blog or posting pictures that actually mean something to them.

Maybe I’m just a big prude….?

So, my question is: “is it worth it?” I know that once you put your pictures and information out there, you give up control, but is my posting on tumblr adding to this? Should I just ignore  it? Try blocking them? Just forget about it? Tell myself, “who care?!”?

Anyone else out there have an opinion on this?

To tumblr or not to tumblr, that is the question...

Share This Post
Categories: Life, Politics

5 comments

  • Tiffany Tan June 28, 2012 9:06AM

    I personally love the fact that you post wonderful vintage shots while being a curvy girl. There are so many vintage fashion posts on tumblr by girls who are rail thin with boyish figures, that curvy girls like me feel left out. Unfortuantley, this is the internet and we can’t always control where our content goes, but I’d be sad to see you go.

  • purplekeychain June 28, 2012 11:21AM

    I started following your Tumblr shortly after I set up my own account, and I felt similarly, but… the fact is, social media, especially spaces like Tumblr and Twitter where everything is interconnected to reach the broadest audience, are spaces used by a lot of people who need validation from others. (Not to say that everyone who poses nude wants/needs validation, but I think a lot of them do.)

    I posted a photo of myself in a FAILED vintage-inspired outfit and the photo was reblogged on one of those “bbw-lover-fat-girl-fetish” something or other tumblrs. I was not only DISGUSTED, but MORTIFIED.

    I have a lot of fat/plus-size/etc.-focused tags that I watch, and I am always super annoyed when one of those nude self-portraits shows up on my dashboard. It really messes with me, because I want to be like “COME ON, LADIES, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO YOURSELF???” which ABSOLUTELY conflicts with ultra-liberal side of me that is like “Eh, it’s their own bodies, they have every right to display it because Tumblr is a public space, and I have every right to keep scrolling past it” — quite the conversation happening in my head.

    Interestingly enough, I read a post recently that said something like “do a tag search on your own name, and count the seconds before nude photos/porn gifs appear” — and I did it, and it was almost instantaneous. It was baffling.

    I guess the real question is whether the traffic and business you’re getting is worth it. I mean, for me personally, when I search the “plus size” (or whatever) tag, I’m not looking for porn, I’m looking for photos like yours, of plus size/fat/full-figured/whateveryoucallyourself folks in interesting outfits so I can get inspired with my own wardrobe. When I see the porn, I scroll past it. I think everyone has a right to post whatever they want to, and it’s like, almost 100% on them if, 10 years from now, they can’t find jobs or their kids are not accepted into neighborhood play groups or they are rejected from clubs or universities or whatever — because, lets face it, this culture totally glosses over the IMPACT of decisions that people make; it’s all about now, how many “likes” and, for some, it’s kind of freeing for them to have their nudity all over the internet (I don’t agree with them, but hey, it’s their choice).

    I’m sorry for the long response… this is something I’ve also been struggling with. Like, I work with high-school age kids and I have considered setting up a Tumblr for my program, but I am TERRIFIED by all the freakin’ nudity and don’t want to be responsible for exposing some kids to it.

    • purplekeychain June 28, 2012 11:26AM

      I also meant to add a suggestion to be sure you do NOT tag your photos with “bbw” and, with the exception of “bbw” I find that the “curvy” tag has more porn/nudity/lingerie photos than any other.

    • Laurel Teixeira June 28, 2012 1:24PM

      Thank you for sharing! I appreciate the thoughtful response! It is nice to know someone out there are the same feelings as I do regarding this.

      Also, thank you for the advice! I went through every single one of my posts and took out any tags with “curvy” in them. For now I will make an effort to look at everyone who rebloggs me/follows me and block them if I feel uncomfortable with what they post. I’ll see how that goes and if it seems to be working I will keep my tumblr open. But, if tumblr doesn’t work out you can always find me here on blogger! :)

Leave a Comment

You must log in to post a comment.

All rights reserved © 2012-2017 The Curvy Elle & Laurel Teixeira · Theme by Blogmilk + Coded by Brandi Bernoskie