1. 7 8s l o w

2. 7 9T h e m a g a z i n e f o r e x t r e m e l y b u s y p e o p l e
“J
ust a casual, everyday shot
of me,” says the picture, its
subject’s face beaming out
from some exotic location
while the wind dances
through gorgeous flowing
hair. “Of course I look like this all the time,
and I only took this photo once because I’m
beautiful and my life is absolutely perfect,” is
the message it conveys.
I don’t know whether to be annoyed or to
simply sigh in exasperation and accept the
age in which we find ourselves. The selfie is
now as much a part of life as breathing or our
morning coffee. It is impossible to escape.
Even institutions like the Oxford Dictionary,
which has been the final word on words for
more than a century, are embracing the
change , with "selfie" named word of the year
for 2013.
As much as it is a light-hearted social
phenomenon, it is also indicative of a deeper
psychological change, an acceptance and
embracing of a narcissistic worldview where
the focus is inward and only the individual
matters. It can’t be healthy to want to
plaster our image on everything we do.
No one, perhaps, knows this better than
Danny Bowman, a 19-year-old Englishman
diagnosed with Body Dysmorphic Disorder
and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
who struggled from a ‘"selfie addiction",
sometimes taking up to 200 photos of
himself a day. When he failed to take the
perfect expression of self, he became
suicidal. “I was constantly in search of
taking the perfect selfie and when I realised
I couldn’t, I wanted to die,” Bowman told the
Daily Mirror. “I lost my friends, my education,
my health, and almost my life.”
A UK study seems to confirm this
addiction, revealing that when it comes
to taking photos, 39% of the participants
preferred to take pictures of themselves,
rather than of their family, partners or pets.
When questioned on how they felt about
themselves, though, as many as 60% said
they had low self-esteem and didn’t feel
confident in their own skin. And yet we are
compelled to be a part of the selfie trend
because of the approval it brings. A sexy pout
with head tilted slightly until it’s at the right
angle and lighting perfected, and a couple
(10? 20? 200?) of shots later, you’ve got
the perfect selfie. A quick filter is applied,
colours and outlines softened to the ideal
supermodel self and the hashtag #selfie
– or better yet, #nomakeupselfie (despite
glistening pink lips and unnaturally flawless
complexion) – is popped into the caption
line. Your image is tagged, shared, tweeted,
retweeted. Your screen is crowded with
thumbs ups, and little red hearts offer their
approval. I can see why it would be addictive
– who doesn’t want to be liked? As human
beings we are naturally driven towards
acceptance, belonging and affirmation.
But while a turn for the narcissistic is one
explanation, it’s not the only one. Rebecca
Brown, a 23-year-old graduate trainee from
Birmingham, explains that to her, the selfie
is simply a means of self-exploration. "It's
almost like a visual diary," she says. "I can look
back and see what I looked like at a particular
time, what I was wearing. It's exploring your
identityindigitalform.Peoplethinkifyoutake
pictures of yourself, you're self-obsessed,
but that's like saying if you write a diary or an
autobiography, you're self-obsessed. Not
necessarily.Aselfieisaformatandaplatform
to share who you are."
She has a point. In as much as it can be
vain and self-absorbed, it’s also a way of
imparting to others a sense of who we
are and what we’re about. It’s not that the
edited version is not true; it’s just the best
parts of our lives and personalities, the
parts we want the world to see. Because
as much as I am a regular person who has
fat days and bad hair moments, this person
isn’t the one I want the world to know. And if
the Obamas and the Pope can embrace the
selfie, I suppose I can too.
Text: Dominique du Plessis
Image © iStockphoto
Obsession
or Expression?