The Moral Meaning of a Selfie
Photo taken by author
A few days ago, I posted a selfie on Instagram.
I am in a new white tank top and adorned with three simple gold necklaces. My mouth is slightly agape, and my head is tilted to the right. My hair is cascading down my shoulder and I’m beaming at the camera, my eyes looking straight into the lens. Or were they looking slightly down? Did they look despondent? What is that on my temple—-the beginnings of a pimple? Were my teeth white enough? My skin tan enough? I have never posted a selfie before, and I don’t know why I felt the need to.
Posting a selfie online is more times than not a source of dread for women, especially teenage girls. In 2015, Common Sense Media found that 35% of teen girls were anxious about being tagged in unattractive photos and 27% worried about how they looked in photos they had posted themselves. 22% of the same audience reported that their self-esteem significantly lowered when their selfies were ignored or they didn’t get the expected amount of likes/comments. Posting a selfie for teenage girls is to be vulnerable, putting yourself out there for public scrutiny. Just a few less likes than usual on a picture is all it takes for their sense of self-worth and self-confidence to plummet.
Some perceive selfie-taking and posting as a cry for attention, that they may perceive themselves as well as their body in a negative light. They may also become increasingly detached from the world and themselves as they look at their selfies from the outside perspective and not their own. According to Nancy S. Molitor, PhD, the clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University in Healthline, “They don’t even realize they’re not being authentic and they’re not experiencing the moment. And that’s the thing I worry about especially, is they’re going to be so focused on the outer world (How am I looking? What do people think of me?) that they’ll lose touch with themselves. They’ll lose the impact of developing natural, authentic relationships.” What is we instead flip this perception on its head? What if we didn’t think of the act of selfie-taking as selfish and egotistic?
If you were to picture someone taking a selfie, who would come to mind? For most, it’s a girl. Statistics and research centered around selfies in relation to teenage girls is much more readily available and accessible than for teenage boys. This is likely linked to the fact that so much of a woman’s worth is still placed on her appearance. Besides any public criticism, 97% of women scrutinize their own body daily. Coupled by the fact that women report that when they see other women posting revealing or sexy selfies, they view them as less competent and less physically attractive, it’s a wonder any women posts pictures of themselves at all. A girl who posts a selfie has to look pretty, but not too revealing. Their body has to confine with societal standards: it can’t be too skinny or too large—It’s impossible to appease everyone. That’s why, after posting my own selfie and experiencing how powerful it made me feel, I think we’re looking at selfies all wrong.
As one savvy Quora user writes, “For women, beauty [equals] power.” When a young woman/woman is feeling confident enough in herself to post a picture despite societal standards and despite their own internalized insecurities, that is a beautiful and commendable thing. Leave a like and maybe even a comment every time you see a selfie/a picture of the user. They may not need it, but it’s a nice thing to do and takes virtually no time.
Now I know why I felt like I needed to post that selfie. Because I wanted to. Because I can. Because it is an act of defiance.
Sources/Further Reading:
http://resources.uknowkids.com/hs-fs/hub/176530/file-1662731089-pdf/selfie_safety_infographic.pdf
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/taking-too-many-selfies-may-be-bad-for-your-teens-health#4
https://www.quora.com/Why-do-girls-post-more-selfies-than-boys
https://www.glamour.com/story/shocking-body-image-news-97-percent-of-women-will-be-cruel-to-their-bodies-today
