Belle Brita

A Christian Feminist Lifestyle Blog


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7 Reasons Why I Take Selfies

Born in 1987, I am a 28-year-old woman. I am a Millennial. That makes me part of the Selfie Generation.

I love selfies.

I love seeing selfies in my Instagram feed (and on Facebook and on Twitter).

I love taking selfies. I love taking selfies of just me. I love taking selfies of my husband and me. I love taking selfies with my friends.

And people love to criticize those of us who take selfies.

We’re narcissistic.

Entitled.

Shallow.

Spoiled.

Selfish.

But self-portraiture is a time-honored art. Do we deride great artists as narcissistic or shallow for painting self-portraits?

Furthermore, the choice to control our own image is a deliberate one.

As a woman with curves, I’ve spent over a decade with people trying to control my image. I was 16 when people started judging my character based on the silhouette of my body. And now these assumptions have expanded to include my commitment to my marriage, my belief system, and the inner workings of my heart.

I can’t speak for anyone except for myself. I don’t know why other young people take selfies. But reclaiming control over my own image–and my true self–is certainly a motivating factor for me.

I'm part of the Selfie Generation. Do our selfies make us narcissistic? I argue differently. | Belle Brita

Why do I take selfies?

For one of the following reasons.

1. To express my personality.

 

I frequently use selfies to show my silly side. I love making faces in selfies. They’re fun and light-hearted! For me, my silly selfies are actually the chance not to look perfect or beautiful or made-up. That’s not how I look all of the time, or even most of the time. Making faces and being silly? That’s totally me. I love capturing that side of me through my selfies.

2. To be honest about my Crohn’s journey.

https://instagram.com/p/0qTfdVro1M/

 

I take selfies pretty much every time I’m in the hospital. I didn’t take a selfie before my last colonoscopy, but I did live-tweet everything, up until the anesthesia. I took a selfie before my MRE. I took a selfie before my bone density scan. I take selfies while waiting to see my gastroenterologist.

Having Crohn’s Disease sucks. It just does. But I’ve spent the last 20 years fighting to live a normal life. My idea of normal just differs from the typical American dream. Popping pills and visiting doctors all the time is normal… For me. Sharing my life with Crohn’s matters. I can’t end the stigma of Irritable Bowel Diseases (IBDs) if I’m not upfront with how Crohn’s affects my daily life.

A picture is worth 1,000 words, right?

My selfies help tell my story.

3. To share my cute outfits

I spend most of the summer living in shorts and tank tops. I spend most of the winter living in jeans and hoodies. When I wear anything else, I like to take pictures of my cute clothes.

Besides, usually my cute clothes have a story. For example, I’ve started attempting to put on a full outfit, including shoes and accessories, every day. If you’ve ever heard of The FlyLady, then you know why.

 

Other times I’ll share my outfits for special events, like weddings.

Sometimes I just look really cute, and I want to share that.

4. To prove I know how to apply makeup

I rarely wear makeup. Most of the time, I just can’t be bothered. So when I do actually apply makeup, I like to take selfies. I do love how I look in makeup. I like commemorating those occasions, even if it’s just on social media.

https://instagram.com/p/2qi5JOLo1V/

5. To practice what I preach

I would feel pretty disingenuous if I talked all the time about not wearing makeup… But only took selfies while wearing makeup. So I take bare-faced selfies too!

https://instagram.com/p/1WarrYro58/

 

If women want to wear makeup, that’s awesome. If women don’t want to wear makeup, that’s awesome too. Women shouldn’t be pressured into one choice or the other. Unfortunately, the beauty industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, with the sole purpose of making women feel insecure so we’ll buy more products.

https://instagram.com/p/55MM25ro7e/

6. To share products I use

Remember that multi-billion dollar beauty industry? Yeah, they keep sending me free stuff to try out and share with people who value my opinion. (If you want free products, use my referral link to sign up for Influenster. It’s not just for bloggers!).

https://instagram.com/p/6PgXcRLo2I/

 

When I genuinely like these products, I try and share them in interesting ways on Instagram. This often looks like posing with products in selfies, particularly right after using said products.

https://instagram.com/p/1Onkc5roxi/

 

Plus, sharing creative posts of the products from Influenster increases my odds of getting more free products!

7. To describe what’s going on in my life

https://instagram.com/p/11N81jro_D/

 

Sometimes nothing sums up my feelings, my adventures, my days–basically, my life–better than a selfie.

I love taking selfies by myself, with Dan, or with friends when we’re out doing something fun. I wear my heart on my sleeve. It’s so much easier for me to show you how I feel than tell you how I feel… Especially since tweets are limited to 140 characters!

 

If you still want to judge those of us who take selfies, I have a video for you. Laci Green explains why your shaming of selfies probably has sexist undertones.

 

How do you feel about selfies? If you’re pro-selfie, share a link to a recent selfie in the comments! Let me see your beautiful faces.

Blog of Brita Long

Comments

  1. Rachel G says

    I’m pro-pictures in general, so no one will ever hear me complaining about anyone taking too many photos. I love photos of my friends and family. I don’t take a whole lot of “selfies” specifically because holding the camera and balancing it and all that makes me nervous (like, nervous I’ll drop the camera) and you can see the nervousness in my face most of the time. But I will happily pose for pictures or ask other people to take pictures of me or with me, as long as anyone else is holding the camera I feel more comfortable–I love paging through (or, these days, clicking through) old photos of me and my family, and the only way to get that experience later is to take photos now. I have a huge gallery wall in the living room–more than 80 photos–all of my family and me and friends and Angel. Everyone who comes by stops to look at it…and then complains if they can’t find themselves on the wall, so it sounds like I need to take and add more photos! Here’s a real “selfie” though, since there are a couple on my instagram: https://instagram.com/p/8pdve2Bmry/?taken-by=randomlyrachels

    • Brita Long says

      I love that you have a gallery wall! Your friends and family must feel so special to see themselves represented in your life.

      Thank you for sharing your selfie with me. 🙂 I do love the fashion pictures you share on your blog, even if they’re not selfies per se!

  3. Cristina says

    Ugh… I’m so not a selfie person! Part of me wishes I was, but I’m too critical of my appearance to be confident in them! Especially sharing them on my blog’s instagram or what have you. We’ve travelled all sorts of wonderful places and have no pictures of us there because I hate pictures of myself so much! There should be a selfie confidence course, haha! Thanks for sharing with the #wednesdayshowcaseparty!

    • Brita Long says

      Try going for the silly face. If I just feel like taking a selfie with messy hair and no make-up, without a compelling story to share, I make a funny face! Maybe then you won’t be so critical of yourself. 😛