Back in the day, selifies were looked on as a pretty negative thing.  The Daily Star reports, "The selfie not only displays a picture of yourself, but it entails your own story. It is very direct and people see exactly what you want to portray within your frame" and I think the key point is the part I put in bold. The implication is that a selfie is not the real you, it's the "you" you want people to see.

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In the Encounters 8, we do The Identity Project that explores this idea in some depth.

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Rachel Ehmke wrote an article for the Child Mind Institute titled "What Selfies Are Doing to Self-Esteem" in which she writes, "The average woman between 16 and 25 years old spends over five hours a week taking (and improving!) selfies. While selfies can be silly and lighthearted, there’s a darker side. With multiple attempts, makeup, retouching and filters, it’s become a competition for the perfect image. And the chances of feeling like you don’t measure up are very high. This makes experts worry about kids’ self-esteem."

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The selfie that concerns people, then, is not a picture of you on vacation or with your friends at the bowling alley; it's the picture you take over and over, trying out different poses and filters, until you get a picture that makes you look perfect.

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This poem by Megan Falley, "Ode to the Selfie", takes a different view point.

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Ode to The Selfie

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Today you thought, I look beautiful. 

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Today you thought, I look so beautiful

I want to remember it forever.

Today you thought, I look so beautiful

I want everyone to see.

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Today your hair was a river down your back.

Today your eyes were the still point of the turning world.

Today you can see the resemblance to your ancestors -

can tell you are a direct descendant of stars.

Today your winged eyeliner nearly flew off your face

it was so fly.

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Today there was a lipstick named after your pout.

Today you loved the gap in your teeth.  

Today your freckles were sprinkles on ice cream.

Today you had #nomakeup

and #nofilter

and you looked

#flawless.  

Today you woke up like this.

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Today you took a selfie from above because maybe that’s how God sees you.

Today you chose the ‘Rise’ filter because that’s what you’re gonna do.

Today the iPhone is the Louvre and you are Mona Lisa.

Today, Frida Kahlo would call your selfie stick a magic wand.

Today the magazines are glossy haters.

Today you are the front page babe of all your followers feeds

Today 62 people admit that

they like your face.

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Today pride is no longer a sin.

Today you don’t want to be full of anything—

but yourself.

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Today you control the lens, the light, the angle, the pose,

the gaze, the face, the filter, the feeling, the caption.

Today you are the boss of your own incredible body.

Today millions of girls loved themselves

in the face of a world who tells them not to.

And isn’t that small revolution enough?

And isn’t that the greatest revolution of all?

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Rise Up by Cassandra Monique Batie / Jennifer Decilveo

Performed by Andra Day

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You're broken down and tired
Of living life on a merry go round
And you can't find the fighter
But I see it in you so we gonna walk it out
And move mountains
We gonna walk it out
And move mountains

And I'll rise up
I'll rise like the day I'll rise up
I'll rise unafraid I'll rise up
And I'll do it a thousand times again
And I'll rise up High like the waves
I'll rise up In spite of the ache
I'll rise up And I'll do it a thousand times again

For you
 

When the silence isn't quiet
And it feels like it's getting hard to breathe
And I know you feel like dying
But I promise we'll take the world to its feet
And move mountains
Bring it to its feet
And move mountains And I'll rise up
I'll rise like the day I'll rise up
I'll rise unafraid I'll rise up
And I'll do it a thousand times again

For you
 

All we need, all we need is hope
And for that we have each other
And for that we have each other
And we will rise
We will rise
I'll rise up
In spite of the ache
I will rise a thousand times again
And we'll rise up
High like the waves We'll rise up
In spite of the ache We'll rise up
And we'll do it a thousand times again

For you
 

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Songwriters: Cassandra Monique Batie / Jennifer Decilveo

Rise Up lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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