WHEN IS A 'GIRL' NOT A 'GIRL'?
Policy Watch SA questions the motives underpinning a popular AI text-to-image community art platform's dedication of an entire website browsing page to 'girl' (the platform also has separate 'woman' and 'female' browsing pages)
*Disclaimer: By providing examples of the way women are portrayed by AI text-to-image art generators and on community platforms providing access to the software, Policy Watch SA is simply drawing attention to apparently widespread concerns about the underpinning issues explored here. This should not be misinterpreted as condemnation of a specific software model, community platform or their users/members.
In the art world, nude portrayals of the female body tend to be associated with fine art. By contrast, semi-nude portrayals of the female body are "more commonly found in commercial contexts and ... used to evoke desire and allure" (ThisVsThat). "Both forms of representation have had a significant impact on art and popular culture, sparking debates about beauty standards, objectification, and the role of women in society".
surely this little girl doesn't belong here?
users tag their images #girl so that they'll appear on the 'girl' page
the rows of images below are copied from the 'girl' page of a popular AI text-to-image community art platform – illustrating how the images of pre-adolescent girl children and conservatively dressed adolescent girls appear among over-sexualised images of young women
anime girl images often send mixed messages
another little girl in worrying company
does this fresh-faced teenager really belong here?
for more information on what's meant by NSFW, see the red section at the bottom of this page
another confusing anime
in this row, we have 'girls' working out (and a cabaret singer) ...
NSFW means content not safe/suitable for viewing in a public, formal, or controlled environment such as a workplace, school or family setting. Many workplaces and schools have policies prohibiting access to sexual and graphic subject matter (Wikipedia)
more sources of information on NSFW and related issues include:
Understanding US law on NSFW content: a 2025 guide for AI and image generation users (David Fornelli)
The algorithmic gaze: representations of women in AI art (Danielle King)
SELF-OBJECTIFICATION
IN AI TEXT-TO-IMAGE ART
Policy Watch SA explores the extent to which some AI art community platforms may be encouraging this – albeit unwittingly
"Objectification refers to the process of treating a person as an object, stripping them of their autonomy, agency, and dignity" (NumberAnalytics).
Fascination with the female body has been a feature of human society for centuries, regardless of cultural and regional differences. Often referred to as 'external objectification', this phenomenon may be responsible for the prevalence of people-pleasing behaviour among adolescent girls and young women conditioned from childhood to believe that worth is linked to appearance. Internalising the message leads to self-objectification (seeing oneself "as a physical object, first; as a human being, second"(The SWDL).
The widespread use of image enhancing software on social media is widely perceived to have promoted this trend (ValueFaith). On social media, not only can a young woman create a fake face, body and lifestyle (possibly even anonymously); online she can communicate and behave in ways that might well be out-of-character or even frowned upon in real life. External sexual objectification under a male or female gaze (The Conversation) may play a role in this.
By providing chat rooms and the option to 'follow' users and 'like' or comment on their published images, some AI text-to-image art platforms may well be fuelling the fires of not only of external objectification (which we have explored here, here
and here) but also encouraging self-objectification.
The perils of external objectification for mental health are explored here, where there are links to articles about the negative impact on women of being treated as objects. Self-objectification worsens these dangers.
Writing for The Conversation, Peter Coval, Elise Holland and Michelle Stratemeyer refer to empirical research proving that when women are sexually objectified by others, "they momentarily view their own bodies from the perspective of the person objectifying them".
While this may trigger "both positive and negative emotions ... the self-objectification that arises as a result of being objectified by someone else appears to have an exclusively negative impact on emotions". The targeted woman becomes "preoccupied with ... (her) physical appearance and sexual value to others" – often leading to shame, anxiety and long-term psychological harm.