I may be a little late to the game, but I just read this article that Jezebel posted about selfies. The title reads: Selfies Aren't Empowering. They're a Cry For Help.
Two things. One, I think the title may be a little dramatic and doesn't exactly address what the article goes on to talk about. And two, selfies are not a cry for help in most cases.
A quick summary of the article if you don't feel like reading: selfies are bad because they're a reflection of societies pressure on girls to be perfect looking. Girls post selfies to be compliment on their looks. If these girls really had confidence, they wouldn't need to be posting pictures of themselves on the internet.
Or would they? I guess I just don't see what is inherently wrong with a girl saying "Hey, I look better than normal today, let's show everyone!" or "I just got a new shade of lipstick I want people to see." I do see where she is coming from in regards to people posting selfies just for attention and validation, but I think she is overstating and overgeneralizing. I definitely do not think that every single selfie ever posted is a cry for attention. I think that selfies definitely can be empowering and a way to display confidence. Yes, I can see where they reinforce that a girl's worth is her beauty, but isn't just the feeling of beauty that a girl has a reinforcement of this patriarchal standard? Isn't just simply feeling more beautiful one day a representation of a girl's need to be considered beautiful to be worth something?
I'm not sure if I'm articulating myself very well, but I think that selfies are fine and a normal part of modern culture. I'm not so convinced that they represent something deeper, except in special cases. However, this is just my opinion as usual, so let me know what you think in the comments.
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