What is going on with girls these days?

It seems like every time I open any social media, I see girls (that I know) with no clothes on like it's a new epidemic. And even though I was born in the exact same year, went to the exact same schools, I still can't see exactly why they would post these. I don't know, is it just me? Do you know what I'm talking about? Let me go through my news feed for a couple minutes and grab something.

 

* If you are in one of these photos you can't really get angry because you put them on the internet

  




Okay so I sort of put this post down and went to see my sister at my parents house and I was telling her about this and she was like, 'yeah they post them in my grade too' and showed me these:

 

Keep in mind my sister is 16.

Now I'm not here to slut shame. I mean, I PERSONALLY would never do this just because I'd feel so uncomfortable. I'm just wondering what would actually make someone do this? Like, what is the aim of these pictures?

Is it boys? Is it to get the most likes? Is it like some sort of rebellious 'My parents would be so mad if they saw these'?

Let's get some things clear. I am sitting on the fence with this. Part of me, being a feminist wants to write,

'Good on them for being comfortable in their own skin and Elly, how dare you try and say that the only reason they're putting these photos up is to get attention from boys. If by putting these photos up, you think they're more likely to be hurt by someone of the male gender- then it is said male person's fault who can't learn self control.'

Yes, yes, Feminist Elly, I know all these arguments as well as the next person and I have indeed myself used these arguments many times. But at the time of writing that, I can hear another voice in my head saying,

'Well, they're obviously looking at other girls on the internet and seeing the kind of things that they post and think that they need to do the same thing in a sort of competitive 'I've got a better body than all of you kind of way.' 

But I mean, I'm a girl, I see these things and it's never crossed my mind to post pictures of myself like that. I want to give these girls some better motive than just being mindless sheep.

Is this some new mating ritual/technique thing? I mean Shane and I have been together since I was 16 and maybe I've just missed out on the desperate, I need a boyfriend phase. Is that what girls do now? Is it sort of a 'look before you buy' thing? I asked Shane if he would have dated me if i had photos like that up and he just sort of gave me a sideways look and said, 'probably not'. So maybe it's not that. But maybe it is.

And my last question: Is it bad?
Is this just me being a prude and seeing these photos, instantly coming to the conclusion of, 'This is bad' like a nun from the 40's seeing the clothes I wear today. Is this okay now? Is this just a new standard? I quickly looked through Angie's profile and there's nothing like that so maybe she's just behind?

I would like to hear what everyone else on the interweb has to say about this- particularly girls my age (and even guys).

-Elly