Your body, your choice! Nobody should tell you what you should and should not do.
Online dating has become more common today, and, with that, the sharing of pictures has become common too.
Again, whether or not you want to send intimate pictures, the decision is completely yours, so make an informed one that you will be unlikely to regret later.
You need to consider the realities of the internet, where anything is possible – from leaking pictures to sharing on open platforms.
The minute you hit ‘send’ on your phone, you lose control over that photo. No, don’t be scared, but instead, look at ways that can guide you better. We’re here to help.
1. Check with yourself
Your intuition is the answer to everything! It’s important to listen to yourself. Ask yourself whether or not you’re comfortable sending an intimate picture? Do you feel safe doing it? Is this decision authentic, genuine and only for yourself? Are you in tune with yourself and ready?
It’s important to be connected with your feelings, wants and needs and get to the bottom of why you want to send pictures. You need to think it through.
If you love your body and want to document it and share it with your partner, that’s okay. But if you’re doing it for unhealthy reasons like the need for acceptance, peer pressure or validation, it would be better to focus on becoming secure and confident first.
2. Trust is extremely important
Do you trust your partner? Do you trust your partner to keep your privacy and pictures safe even if you decide to separate in the future? How well you know your partner is very important.
If you’ve known your partner for only a few weeks or months, then give your decision serious thought. Make sure you know their friends too. Even if you trust your partner, their friends might intrude.
3. Are you being pressured?
Is your partner manipulating you or pressuring you? Do they act being upset to guilt you into sending pictures? Do they threaten to break up or leave you if you refuse to do so? If any of this is the case, then it’s very unhealthy.
Rethink your relationship with your partner. You should not do anything that you don’t feel comfortable doing, nor should anyone make you feel bad about your choices. Especially not your partner.
4. Is there any other alternative?
Sending intimate pictures isn’t the only way for staying connected or build intimacy. If you’re in an online or long-distance relationship and cannot meet your partner, there are plenty of other ways you can spice up your relationship.
Research about different alternatives that you can indulge into. Get to know the alternatives, if you aren’t very comfortable with sending pictures.
5. Do not show your face
If all the earlier points made you firm on your decision of taking pictures, then take a few rules into consideration before going ahead. So, the first and foremost rule of sending intimate pictures; NOT to show your face. Hide your scars and birthmarks too.
That way, your privacy and your identification stay protected. So, it would be difficult to recognise who is in the photo. That way, even if someone other than your partner gets a hold of those pictures, your identity and privacy would remain safe.
6. Blur the background
You need to leave not a single piece of evidence in your pictures. Your photo shouldn’t give away your room, house or any other piece of information.
Either completely blur the background or set up a different one. Cover your wall with papers or anything else, to keep it hidden.
7. Turn off your location
If you’re taking pictures on your phone, it’s very important to turn off the location. When you send pictures, your location and information go with it, which makes tracking down your address easier. This is why switching off your location is as important as hiding your face and blurring the background.
