Selfie taken by Kristina Bugante
In high school, I was always taking pictures. My friends would always ask me to bring my camera whenever there was something special going on, and I was happy to. I had a lot of fun because I was doing what I love best – documenting.
But it wasn’t until after I graduated when I realized that I myself was in only a fraction of the pictures I took.
Yes, I loved taking pictures of my friends, my peers and the situations around me. It’s the journalist in me who’d rather be observing situations than participate in them. But it is a little disappointing to me now that I don’t have a lot of pictures of my high school self.
As someone who’d rather be behind the camera than in front of it, “selfies” baffled me at first. I thought they were narcissistic. It was really annoying scrolling through Facebook and seeing selfie after selfie or seeing someone’s Instagram filled with pictures of themselves pouting under the same “from above” angle that seems to flatter everyone.
So I never took selfies. I didn’t want to be THAT person. And every time I felt tempted to take one, I’d shake my head and laugh at myself as soon as I saw my face take over the front camera of my iPhone. Was it crippling self-esteem that stopped me from pressing the shutter? Was it the fear of getting little to no “likes” if the selfie ever saw the light of day (aka social media)? I’m not sure, but for someone who proclaims to be an aspiring journalist and documentarian, I sure as hell was too proud to do anything about documenting myself and my personal growth.
Recently, I watched peer sex educator and YouTuber Laci Green’s video, “The Selfie Revolution,” which definitely changed my opinion on selfies.
“Why, yes, it actually is okay to celebrate yourself amidst all the messages that you should hate yourself,” she says.
I think many people find selfies so annoying because we are taught that we aren’t good enough, to be self-deprecating and that loving and appreciating yourself for who you are makes you obnoxious, narcissistic and a snob. Is it really so embarrassing for you that the girl in your English class decided to put on some lipstick and take a picture of herself? Why should we care so much about what others post on their own social media? And why should we care about what others think when we want to post a selfie?
It’s as simple as this: you take a picture of yourself and share it with your friends. But by the simple act of taking a selfie, you are celebrating yourself. Taking your beauty into your own hands and to your own standards and not by someone else’s is so empowering.
Not only does Laci encourage us to take as many pictures of ourselves as possible, she also encourages us challenge ourselves and the way we perceive beauty by looking at other people’s selfies. Selfies can allow us to embrace all types of beauty regardless of the person’s shape, size, color, sexuality, gender and more.
Admittedly, it’s still going to take me a little while to fully embrace selfies. I’ve improved from taking absolutely no selfies to maybe five a year. That’s virtually nothing compared to the amount most of my friends take. I may not take a lot of selfies, but I genuinely applaud and admire the people who do.