Soooo, you all have probably heard of the #feministselfies that took to Twitter last week and I just wanted to see what you all thought of this as a form of activism. Never though a hashtag could be activism but, if you think about it, it's a GREAT WAY to get people at least talking and thinking about things they maybe wouldn't before. Or get Google going crazy with all sorts of feminist theory definitions and stuff. Hahaha, I thought back to the feminist Ryan Gosling meme and the impact that had...
Anyway, for those of you not familiar, #feministselfies took to Twitter after an article on Jezebel was written
claiming that “Selfies aren’t empowering; they’re a high tech reflection of the fucked up way society teaches women that their most important quality is their physical attractiveness,” which, prior to looking into this, I definitely agree with to some extent. But the #feministselfies concept is that women who don't fit the beauty standard in this country- women who are heavy, short, dark-skinned, hair other than straight or perfectly curly hair, taking pictures of themselves, claiming their bodies and faces as beautiful for themselves and empowering themselves in the process. Here's an interesting article in response to the Jezebel article:
http://www.bustle.com/articles/9421-feministselfie-reinforces-why-selfies-are-empowering
And another cool one:
http://hyperallergic.com/95150/the-radical-politics-of-selfies/
And another:
http://www.mommyish.com/2013/11/21/feminist-selfie/
Google #feministselfies on "images" and some pretty neat women have showcased themselves defiantly and oh so badass.
I personally never take selfies, because I think that it reinforces beauty standards as the only way that a woman can feel beautiful. But, in the same breath, I fit the traditional beauty standard. I look in the mirror and love what I see. I think hard about this, especially since my sister struggles with body image- but I never feel like it's my place to talk about it since- it's easy for me to say with my size 2 jeans and extra small-small tops.. What are ya'll's thoughts on this? Definitely a great form of activism!
Body issues are so complex! I have always struggled with body image, and since becoming a feminist, I really want to conquer those issues. I tell myself I want to look a certain way, because I want to be comfortable with how I look, but then I'm conflicted, because where is that comfort coming from? I don't know how to forget the years of brainwashing I have been put through since age 9.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's been difficult to think about WHY I love what I see when I look in the mirror and realizing it's all relative. I've had to think about my own privilege, having never struggled with body image myself, how it dictates my thinking and how it contributes to patriarchy and a heavily weighed importance on a woman's body, and yeah, how I've been brainwashed!
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