The amount of disparaging remarks I’ve heard about millennials is maddening. The laundry list of our generation’s shortcomings is laughable. Aare we really all lazy, self-entitled narcissists? We didn’t proclaim ourselves the “Me, Me, Me Generation” after all. According to older generations, the only work ethic we have is our strive to get as many followers on Twitter and likes on Facebook statuses as possible. (First off, if you’re going to insult me at least, be up to date with the technology. I, and many of the peers of my generation, could not care less about Facebook notifications.) Another common millennial practice the older generation likes to gripe about is -- yes, you guessed it -- the selfie.
Now, most of the time when I hear a biting comment about “today’s youth and their blasted social media” (which is normally posted on one of the very social media platforms their complaining about, might I add) I just look off into the distance as if I’m on "The Office." However, the absolute hatred some people harbor about selfies is where I draw the line.
I am 100 percent pro-selfie, and I will not stand for people bashing this practice of our generation. Often when I get vehemently defensive of selfies, people immediately say to me, “Dude, calm down. It’s just a selfie. What’s the big deal?” That right there is exactly my point. It’s not a big deal. It’s a picture. Who cares? And yet when waiting in line for over an hour, my two best friends and I amidst talking and laughing decided to take a selfie to pass the time, and, to my shock and surprise, we were shouted at and called “disgusting.” I couldn’t believe it. It is such a harmless thing -- why get so up in arms about it?
If I am feeling confident about the way I look, why is that a bad thing? Why does my appreciation of myself anger you? Why am I only allowed to look good for the gaze of others and not myself?
In a world where we are bombarded with the message that you need to be fixed, a little pushback is necessary. The media is constantly influencing the values of society through images, products, commercials and various forms of entertainment. There’s always something that’s wrong with you that only this one product can fix! Every magazine, every advertisement is so digitally altered that it creates unattainable goal, which we are all expected to reach. Furthermore, the media is flooded with a narrow view of beauty, often devoid of much representation of nonbinary people, people of color, or people with disabilities. It creates a society and culture that values only one type of beauty, one type that is completely unattainable yet is also the bare minimum of what we should try to be. It thrives on otherness, self-hatred and the feeling of inadequacy.
It’s toxic, and it this toxic world, taking a picture of yourself and liking the way you look should be celebrated! Are your eyebrows on fleek today? Snap a selfie. You’re rocking a daring new lipstick or you feeling beautiful with nothing but the sheen of chapstick on your lips? Take a selfie. A selfie that makes you feel great about yourself is the kind of positivity I want to see when I’m on Instagram. Selfies are such a beautiful expression of self-love, and by deeming people who like to take selfies as vain and vapid, you’re perpetuating the value of negative body image. You’re encouraging people to be unhappy with themselves, to make them want to change what is already perfect.
I fully encourage the art of the selfie, and encourage others share their photos that make them feel confident, happy and at peace with themselves. Our generation is ridiculed for our “narcissism,” but if loving myself and feeling confident in myself is narcissistic, then I will wear that term with a badge of honor.
