Anyone can see me in my tit-sling, but only friends can see my Profile.

Is this kind of behaviour logically incoherent? Or am I becoming a fuddy-duddy in my old age?

I was procrastinating by chasing links in FaceBook when I came across a comment from a certain Naomi from the UK. In her photo she's either wearing a bikini or her knickers, it's hard to tell, but she's inside so I'm going for knickers. Normally this kind of thing wouldn't faze me, it's FaceBook after all, and Gen Y appear to have different ideas about how much flesh is too much to reveal to the public.

What fazed me is that this woman's breast bones were clearly visible to the point that it was ugly and off-putting. The only time I've seen bones like that is when women are starving themselves to fit the impossible ideal fed to them via a media dominated by the male gaze. I sent her a note to that effect which I now regret - none of my business really - but when doing that I found that only Naomi's friends could see her FaceBook Profile.

Get out.

The entire internet community can see you in your knickers but only friends can know the real you?

Did you want to perpetuate the idea that a woman's only value lies in being sexual eye-candy? One day valued as Sexual Object the next, valued as Domestic Goddess and Baby Machine. There's a fine line between advertising a great body (if a bit on the starved side) and aiding and abetting the patriarchy by implying that your body is the best thing you have to offer and the rest of you is not worth seeing.

Again, maybe I'm becoming prudish in my old age, it's not that I think women shouldn't be able to flaunt a gorgeous young body, it was the discrepancy that bothered me. The blatant advertising of the outside over the inside and the deep, sinister implications this can have for how women are viewed.

I don't want to be viewed solely in terms of my appearance, no women I know wants to be viewed that way. I wonder if Naomi does? I wonder if she's thought about it at all?

UPDATE: I would just like to add that Naomi responded to my message and has seen this post. She was a terrifically good sport about it considering my critical take on her choice of photo. She responded that she was proud of her body, and didn't care what people thought about it - a good thing in itself. However, she has now changed her FaceBook pic to a beautiful face shot. I think this far more complementary! Cheers mate.