When Bodies Become Content

Escaping the Algorithmic Gaze and the New Body Surveillance

I see and hear from so many women, of all ages, desperate for a better relationship with their body while carrying so much baggage from the 1900s that took its best shot at handing us body rules. Whether you’re a younger woman handed the bad bill of goods from the 1900s, now known as diet culture, or the mother who handed it down, it’s not too late for something better. But times have changed so drastically for our bodies. It feels important to become aware of the air we breathe and the waters we currently culturally swim in.

I hear Gen Z rebel yelling, “Take away our mother’s diet culture!” while they themselves are knee deep resisting new kinds of rushing waters — a place where two fierce rivers collide and threaten to clobber. These waters are called Body Surveillance, and the Algorithmic Gaze — where the awareness of being constantly watched meets the pressure to curate and present an aesthetically pleasing body life so a community of online others who see us but don’t really know us might approve, and perhaps the algorithm will reward.

Just now, as I sat down to write this post at my favorite local lunch spot (shout-out to Flower Child), a beautiful, dark-haired, brown-eyed girl carrying her tripod to make fashion content didn’t bat an eye as I walked by. On one hand, the artist in me gets it. There’s a desire in all our hearts to make beauty seen. The question is what happens if we evaluate our beauty based on being seen?

Like Pavlov’s dog, when the waters of Body Surveillance and Algorithmic Gaze converge just right, and the person with the looks and skills to surf the waters receives a bell ring followed by a massive dopamine dump. The drive to try it again for their body to be surveyed and seen, becomes the primary body motivator rather than the gain of personal agency for their body, whether or not someone sees.

But for those who try to navigate these waters and no bell rings, they feel swept into an emotional tsunami, carried out to a sea of loss. The Good News is that this is where the God who loves and made their body waits to meet those looking for more. He offers them something better and longer-lasting than what is surveyed and seen.

He offers to them himself. His body inside of theirs.

“This is my body given for you..”Luke 22:19

( Explaining the nervous system to a room of women at Deep Creek Church, FL. If you’re interested in me speaking at your church find out more here.)

The waters of Body Surveillance and Algorithmic Gaze can look like this:

Workouts matter for content collection over body connection.

Getting content gets them to want to go to the gym.

If no one compliments or sees the work on our body, continuing the work gets questioned.

If we don’t see body change, we question the value of the work.

If we don’t feel like our body can move through space with strength and grace, is it worth moving at all?

And sometimes all the way down to the smallest of things, like, if the workout set doesn’t match, then we can’t be seen.

When it comes to the beauty and wonder of being human beings with bodies — embodied beings — I worry we’ve lost the plot. When a person looks to the media to see themselves, or tell them what health and fitness should be, they will never find themselves. And to find ourselves is to come home to our uncurated, unfiltered body — with warts, zits, bumps, dents, old Old Navy workout sets that no longer match, and all.

Let’s not forget: there was nothing outwardly beautiful about Jesus.

Nothing about Him that would stop the scroll to comment, like, and share.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. Isaiah 53:2

The human body is for ability, not vanity. Vanity isn’t just a word to describe a woman who is overly focused on her appearance. It’s what happens when we prioritize and work to maintain something fleeting, and because of that, it’s worthless.

Vanity is what happens when we make the value system of the world more important than the value system of heaven.

A matching workout set is nice — trust me, I have plenty — but it’s not necessary.

“I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.” Ecclesiastes 1:14

How many vanity projects do you have going right now? You will find them when you look behind the door of your frustration and fatigue.

A world of surveillance and algorithms in social media can be effective for an emotionally whole person, called by God and sold out for a Kingdom cause, and incredibly dangerous for someone who is not. Frustration and fatigue are signs: Danger ahead! Still, for a man or woman set on loving God’s heart and wanting His mind, they are in no way necessary.

If God wants to promote a person to a place of being seen, it will be for His purposes and His will in His time. He is God. He promotes. Afterall, He is the author of time. Time is on your side when He is at yours. And if your character isn’t ready for promotion, you don’t want it. You can gain everything and lose yourself when the foundation isn’t Him.

“Unless the Lord build the house (your body, your calling, your family, your job, the thing you desire), those who build it (you and anyone watching or following you) labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1 amplification mine

If you don’t believe the paragraph I just wrote, I challenge you to test it and see for yourself. Try spending more time building something with God in private, away from the eyes of others, public applause, and scrutiny. If you’re looking for ideas for what to build instead, might I suggest a life of prayer – an ongoing, joyful connection to God and less connection to your phone.

I’ve been told I have a prophet voice. I agree with that, since there are days I feel like I’m on fire on the inside because of the potential danger ahead I see for someone like myself who creates online content to help people’s bodies, but especially for the next generation. The pressure on women, specifically, to present their bodies to the world — polished, smooth, strong, defying gravity and aging cells — is not going to let up. It’s going to roar at a louder volume, while the waters of these rivers rage.

For anyone reading this now who feels the undertoe to let go. Surrender and fall back. The waters of Body Surveillance and Algorithmic Gaze will release you, and the River of Life will draw you towards a place you can plant yourself and send out roots towards the waters for eternity. It’s here you want to grow, and if it’s God’s will, He will expand your reach, and your body is seen.

God’s looking for bodies to be seen, to show His glory, because they’ve built their life on The Rock, not vanity.

In the comments let me know if you’re concnered for the future too.

Sidenote: We will NOT be women who give themselves to worry or fear. We are women who can read the signs and know what the time calls for. We will make it our aim to carry compassion and intercede for people who don’t see the dangers through the word of God and prayer.

His love,

Alisa