Scrolling through Instagram, I see my best friend’s face smiling as she holds her phone in front of her face. I toss a few heart eye emojis underneath and a “slay” comment, as well. I scroll a few more and see my roommate posing by the ocean. I, of course, leave “that is my girl” on it in the comments section. I love selfies. I love seeing my friends from all around posting pictures of their faces that I miss so much! I love seeing girls feel confident and comfortable. You got a new outfit? Lemme see! You like that shade of lipstick? Tell me about it! You’ve been working out? GO ON! I’M LISTENING!!!
Selfie culture at a surface level might seem a little lame or self centered. But lets take a closer look. In the past, the only women we have a million photos of are celebrities. We see photos all over the place of Marilyn Monroe, Jennifer Aniston and Kim Kardashian. Their tummies tucked in perfectly, hair always quaffed and fingernails painted red. That kind of stinks to look at growing up. My hair isn’t blonde like Marilyn’s, my face isn’t All-American like Jen’s and my body is very different than Kim’s. I’m confident, believe me, but I’ve just never seen a proper representation of a girl like me in the media. I’ve never seen a girl like my friends, sisters, or cousins, either, for that matter. That is until selfies became popular. Now I can literally see my friends modeling on my newsfeed.
I scroll and I see girls with silly smiles, gap teeth, braces, muffin tops, no makeup and more. It is amazing. I get to see people who I haven’t seen in weeks, months, or sometimes even year posting a close up of their sun kissed face on the beach. If nothing else selfie culture is just plain fun.
On a deeper level, selfie culture is about girls having confidence in a world that has been teaching them not to. Growing up, I looked at People Magazine and only saw photos of tall, thin, rich, white women with filled lips. You can tell a little girl “that isn't real” as many times as you’d like but no matter how confident it is going to affect them. I didn’t think my body type was normal—turns out it is. I didn’t think my course, thick hair was common- but again, it is. I didn’t think other girls wore thick glasses, and had piercings and crooked smiles—but they do. Being able to be exposed to normal girls with real features is one amazing thing.
I know some mornings I wake up and I don’t feel pretty. I think my hairs flat, my makeups wrong, my skins blotchy… and whatever else I can find staring in the mirror. Other mornings I wake up and I love what I see in the mirror. I take a photo and get to feel confident posting it, or not, and that alone is an incredible feeling. I get to know that both of those girls actually look exactly the same—it was just the day of the week and how I felt waking up. I know a lot of girls my age feel that way somedays, too. To try and tell someone feeling confident is selfish or vain is lame! Let them feel confident—and let them share that confidence with whoever they damn well please.
Selfie culture isn't about editing a photo until you look nothing like yourself, its about feeling good on the outside and the inside. It is about posting photos of the real you, the “you” your friends want to see. It is about scrolling down your newsfeed and seeing real people with real smiles. It’s about knowing you can post a photo with your tummy showing, your hair messy, your skin not so perfect because that is you. We don’t all look like Kendall and Kylie but we sure can selfie like them.
