A girl next to me at the grocery store the other day had on the cutest yellow dress. She’d braided her hair in an intricate crown around her head and her winged eyeliner was on point. In short, she looked awesome. Four seconds into our wait, she smiled at her phone and snapped a selfie. The guy behind her rolled his eyes and may have even muttered something about the growing narcissism of the “selfie generation.” I mean, I didn’t exactly hear him, but he totally looked grumpy enough.
It’s an observation I’ve heard and read about a lot lately. Some people equate selfies with being vain and narcissistic. Given the way these articles talk about people snapping pictures of their faces all day, it’s easy to see why selfies are associated with the self-absorbed. But people who frown every time they see someone take a picture of themselves are missing the point.
…cries of narcissism lurk in the comments section…
Taking a selfie and sharing it is, first and foremost, an act of self-love. It’s a moment you wanted to preserve, a day you felt confidence in your appearance. Group selfies capture close friendships—quite literally, with everyone crowding to get in frame. Solo selfies capture happiness and self-confidence. Call me crazy, but these sound like feelings worth celebrating.
Posting a selfie on social media is the traditional next step. Here again, cries of narcissism and vanity lurk in the comments section. By sharing a moment in which you felt confident, you pass on a message of confidence to your friends and followers. And don’t stop at your own selfies. Appreciating the beauty that others feel in themselves is just as important. My best friends are gorgeous and live far away: their selfies never fail to brighten my mood. Let the moments when other women felt good inspire you to see beauty in others. It can only lead to seeing beauty in yourself.
Taking a selfie and sharing it is, first and foremost, an act of self-love.
Sharing selfies does more than just give you a confidence boost, though. By papering the Internet with mostly unedited images of women, the selfie trend is the first step in reversing what Photoshopped advertisements have done.
Instead of preying on women’s insecurities, selfies thrive on our confidence. The influx of women feeling good and sharing the feeling with their friends spreads a positive message across a medium traditionally used for body shaming. It’s the first step towards tossing aside Photoshopped beauty ideals and embracing self-confidence instead.
The best way to contribute to the movement is to take genuine selfies in moments when you feel beautiful or happy. Don’t self-objectify by Photoshopping or hyper-sexualizing your selfies to match magazine models. Don’t use selfies to get likes and combat your insecurity. It is possible to go overboard, so make sure that you’re not flooding your Instagram or letting selfie-snapping take over every moment. Instead, make sure that every selfie you take and share is one that celebrates a feeling of happiness, confidence, and love. Enjoying those moments is the first step to building more happiness, confidence, and love in every aspect of your life.
Make sure that every selfie you take and share is one that celebrates a feeling of happiness, confidence, and love.
Selfies are hardly a new trend: people have been getting in front of cameras for a long time (and, before the camera, commissioning portraits of themselves). But never has it been more important. Those who cry “Narcissist!” when they see someone holding their phone out at arm’s length and smiling don’t understand the importance of the movement. It’s more than just the moment you feel cute, though that is the foundation. It’s about spreading self-love and celebrating the beauty in you. What could be more worthwhile than that?
What prompts you to take a selfie and share it?
I can’t comprehend why someone needs thousands of images of themselves pouting and showing off their “curves”. Same with the obsession of taking shots of their food… Why?
If loving yourself is vanity, then I’m vain. Vanity and narcissism isn’t the same thing though. Narcissists and sociopaths are dangerous as hell. Vain people are just people who love themselves so much!
The Selfie Culture has been alive and well since the beginning of time and will never die, ever. It’s not about photography, it’s about vanity, narcissism and selfishness.
Fishing for likes. Desperate need for attention. 95% of them are hags without makeup.
Technology brings out the absolute worst characteristics in human beings…we are more lazy, narcissistic, have less meaningful relationships, losing communication skills, more Isolated, we no longer value privacy, and many other things.
Selfies is just a current trend, it won’t last! I think the first modern day selfie was born on MySpace.
Everybody’s talking about female narcissism… But male narcissism online is not rare either, although women do dominate that area. Think about all the male gym photos, taking pictures of their expensive gold watches, expensive luxury clothing, their cars and accessories. Men are starting to do this more and more. I even know blue pill men who like their own photos and selfies on instagram. Makes me cringe. These guys have no idea what their doing to themselves. It baffles me that too many men are willing to externalise their power which is self sabotaging in the long run.
Only one way of getting rid of selfie culture is to stop putting cameras on phones then we’ll see what happens ahahahah.
I have nothing against selfie culture. I’m a selfie lover too. But I mean, come on! 80 selfies a day! every second is not normal. Right???
Do you think there will be a demand in the future for people who are trained to “photoshop” oculus rift 3D images of people. For a 3D image women can’t hide their body shape with angle shots. Also photoshopping a person’s body in a 3D file will be more difficult so women won’t be able to do it on their own. I smell a profitable venture.