Name: Olivia Whitton
Hometown: South Portland, Maine
Major: English
Class: Senior
So Olivia, tell me about #foryourselfie and where/how this idea started? What interested you about it?
Well, the idea came from my women’s studies class last week. The topic of the class was body image and we were instructed to take a natural looking selfie and bring it in. I just snapped a picture of myself in the library because I was in a flannel with my hair in a bun and there’s nothing more “Natural Olivia” than that. But anyway, we all showed our selfies and walked around and looked at each others’ and talked about how it felt to take them. I was surprised by how many people in the class had felt uncomfortable taking them and how many each person took before settling on the one he or she brought into class. We started talking about how selfies are stigmatized and I felt this overwhelming feeling of, This is your chance to do something, so I just sort of made the decision to do it.
Talk to me about the stigma around selfies and the role that it plays in our society, and even at UNH?
I think that the stigma surrounding selfies is that people who take them are narcissistic and/or fishing for compliments. That was the general consensus of the class discussion. I just feel like people think that if you’re taking a selfie and posting it on social media, or even taking one at all, that you have some type of ulterior motive. But there was a girl in my class who spoke about just enjoying photography and taking selfies to show what she’s up to or whatever. And then there was another girl who said she’s prone to taking selfies if she feels really good about herself one day, and I think that both of those are completely valid, awesome reasons for taking selfies. Any reason is a valid, awesome reason. We also discussed the power of social media and how selfies could be used as a way to bring more representation to minorities and groups that may not have as much representation in the mainstream media. This is hugely important to me because I think that, the more diversity you have in your life, the better. I feel like, as this relates to UNH, people are quick to judge our campus as lacking diversity and I want to show them that UNH does have a diverse student population and we do need to pay attention to that and to celebrate it.
Why do people feel weird about posting selfies? Why do you think there is such a judgmental atmosphere surrounding them and how do we get rid of it?
You know, I think that stigmatization is one of the biggest issues in our society right now and I think that it prevents a lot of people from doing what they love and being who they are. I’ve definitely had moments where I’ve been like, Wow I’d really like to post a selfie right now for one reason or another, but I never do because I just don’t want the negativity that comes with it. But now, after our class discussion, I’m ready to change that way of thinking for myself and for other people. I think we get rid of any type of stigma or shaming by changing the conversation, and that’s what I’m trying to do.
What role do you think that the selfie plays in women’s lives today and even for yourself?
Selfies are huge. They’re everywhere. We talk about celebrities taking selfies, we talk about our friends taking selfies. They’re just a huge part of today’s culture and I think that, if we can change the conversation around them, we can make them a powerful thing for everyone. I would definitely say that women seem to be more apt to take selfies than men, but I think that also comes from stigmatization and societally imposed gender norms. For me, I’ve never been a huge selfie person. I think that’s because, like I said, I’ve chosen not to post them when I’ve really wanted to in order to avoid any negativity, but also because I’m not an overly confident person. I’m confident in my intelligence and in most parts of my personality, but not so much about my face and body. So that’s something that I’m trying to work on via this project, too. Everyone is beautiful and that beauty should be shown off!
What has the response been like to #foryourselfie?
It’s been awesome. I mean, I have way more submissions than I thought I would and it’s only been a few days. My roommates and friends have been amazing at spreading the word and contributing their selfies. At this point, there are quite a few people on the site that I don’t know. Some are friends of friends of friends, some are anonymous submissions from people that, I would imagine, stumbled across the site via Tumblr or Instagram. It’s been very cool.
Any negative responses?
I mean, yes. With anything like this you’re bound to have some people that just don’t get it or don’t see the point. I guess I’m lucky, though, because it’s not in my personality to care about that kind of feedback. I’m a big proponent of live and let live so I usually don’t take it too personally when someone doesn’t agree with what I’m doing. But yes, there have been a few people that subscribe to the stigmas that I’ve talked about, and that’s fine. I don’t expect to change everyone’s mind, but I am grateful for any minds that I do happen to change by doing this project.
How can people get involved and contribute?
Well, the easiest thing to do is to head over to the website (foryourselfie.tumblr.com) and click the ‘Add Yours’ button in the top right corner. It’ll prompt you to upload your selfie and it’s super easy. I know taking selfies on our phones is a big thing, so they can also be emailed to me (oek2@unh.edu). The other thing that’s pretty easy to do is to just spread the word. The point of the project is diversity and that can only be achieved by receiving a lot of different submissions from a lot of different people. So link the project to your Facebook, Twitter, whatever…and let people know about it.
For more information and to contribute to #foryourselfie, click on the link below: