Jim Liebelt Christian Blog and Commentary

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Bad Fads: New Smutty "One Finger Challenge" Going Viral

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on The London Free Press.

So many social media challenges, so little time. And with the latest one, very little clothes are on, too.

The one-finger selfie challenge is what all the cool kids are talking about - this week, anyway.

The person taking the challenge has to stand in front of a mirror, and take a photo in the buff - except for a strategically placed finger that covers the genitals and nipples.

According to the Daily Dot, this latest challenge is the brainchild of Japanese anime artist Sky-FreeDom. The original cartoon drawing shows a naked girl using one finger reflected in a mirror to cover both her breasts and private parts.

While most of these challenges on social media aim to entertain or raise awareness for a cause, (read: the #MannequinChallenge or the #IceBucketChallenge) some have raised concerns that the one-finger selfie challenge could promote body shaming, especially for teen girls.

For example, Teen Vogue said Youtuber Davison Video has already seen negative backlash to her tutorial video. One person commented: "If you can hide it with 1 finger, then um not interested.”

Source: The London Free Press
Ed. Note: The source URL is not provided due to inappropriate images.

Ed. Note: Let's see... taking a naked selfie and hiding one's private parts with one finger, and then posting the image on social media or texting it to a friend. What could possibly go wrong?! (Extreme sarcasm.) Yes, here comes another new (bad) fad. But in a sense, there is nothing new here beyond another stretching of the lines regarding what is decent, acceptable, or appropriate. Today's teenagers are already growing up in a highly sexualized culture, and many teens have engaged in sexting. So, this viral social media challenge presents one more opportunity for parents and ministry leaders to speak to teens about safe digital practices, as well as the importance of understanding the many potential dangers of sending or posting sexualized images online.