Selfies are Faux Paw
Mooney, the King of the Backyard and conscientious mouse hunter
I can count on one hand how many selfies I’ve taken since they became commonplace for sharing among friends and on socials. Correction—the low count is for the selfies I saved to my camera role, but the deleted attempts far exceed the triple digits. Even with a selfie-stick (which may have been a game changer had I purchased one), I admit that I do not fit into that coveted group of facial symmetry—the beauties who have the streamlined cheekbones, lovely molded noses, and squint-free eyes. I have selfie envy.
The many filters from successful companies such as Snapchat, Facetune, VSCO, YouCam, Instagram, etc, have beget many competitors who boast facial editors on the App Store. It would seem to be counterproductive to post an unadulterated photo at this point, after many years of displaying pore free skin and wrinkle free expressions. Unless you’ve been under a rock, the emotional harm to one’s self-esteem to maintain “perfect” on social media has taken its toll on teenagers and young adults. It’s a runaway train that is traveling full speed down the tracks, heading toward a brick wall. It’s time to jump off.
The recently adopted trend of posting make-up free photos on socials was introduced in 2022 by the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez, and Tyra Banks (to name a few). They may not know the social service they’ve given the younger generation who’ve been on that train for many years: freedom to embrace their natural look; freedom to age.
Filters or no filters, I still won’t post a selfie. But I am relieved that I’m not beholden to the many steps—the many processes—before a photo is added to my Instagram feed. Click. Post.
“Hello good-lookings. I’m just a poor, helpless beauty. And you’re so big and strong and wonderful good-lookings.”
Madame Yes