adminChipo Mapondera Fashion
The social media landscape has become ubiquitous with the sharing of ideas, and being a proponent of trends that relate to the global society’s thoughts and perspectives.
It has become a gauge for what are the most important or most topical discussions, whether those are the Olympics or presidential elections, or the Harlem Shake and Neknominate.
Over the past couple of weeks I have been writing quite a bit about self-image. As I do not live in a vacuum, it must be the result of my coming across some sort of meme (definition: an element of a culture or system of behaviour that may be passed from one individual to another by non-genetic means) that is going around. Much like how social media trends or memes, as they are also referred to, go around.
The topic of image is certainly hot on everyone’s lips, not only on sharing platforms but also through the new faces we are seeing in the media and through consumer-led dialogues, like on online blogs.
The latest social media craze is the No Makeup Selfie (#nomakeupselfie), where women post bare-faced self-portraits and nominate friends to do the same. Although it is now a campaign encouraging people to donate to cancer research, the concept was sparked by an image posted on Twitter by author Laura Lippman in early March.
She posted it in support of actress Kim Novak who had been slated for her “shocking” appearance at this year’s Oscars. Lippman’s was a reaction to what she perceived as the cruelty of the media towards aging women. The general assumption is that Novak, who has clearly undergone multiple cosmetic surgeries,has fallen prey to the pressures to adhere to media-driven standards of beauty, and has disfigured her face as a result.
It turns out Laura Lippman was not alone in how she felt about the attacks towards Novak, and images continue to pour in, in their thousands, from women and men who stand in solidarity to “voice” their frustration over the pressure to be perfect.
Being camera-shy myself, I am not a big selfie fan. I find it extremely revealing, especially if I look less than glamorous. In fact, I think social media and selfies have made us even more aware of how we look at any given moment. You never know what sharing platform your face will end up on, nor how many people will Glu see it.
Furthermore, whether or not one has a high following, our social platforms have become carefully curated portals where we put our best selves forward. The risk is that we can more easily be judged or ridiculed and therefore we avoid being too “real”. Ordinary women start to have more in common with celebrities, and maybe begin to think of themselves in that way, always having to look the part.
For Lippman, going through hundreds of photos made her begin to change her perspective on beauty. She was quoted saying, “The faces became more beautiful to me. My eye was changing. My aesthetics were changing.” She also added, “The point isn’t that I look good without makeup. The point is this is what I look like.”
Does this mean we find it hard to come to terms with what we really look like, as we sculpt our brows and cheekbones, and smooth our complexions? Or are we afraid of people finding us unattractive? Also, why this affects women more than men is hard to say.
Perhaps women succumb more readily to competition with our female cohorts, where looks present extremely high stakes or maybe we are more prone to media influence.
I find that in less media driven societies, such as our own, women are not as aware of beauty products and trends, and therefore they have less significance than in places like South Africa and Nigeria, or in Europe and Asia.
Whatever the case is, #nomakeupselfie is a positive step towards us learning to accept more realistic standards. What remains to be determined is whether the fad will continue and become the norm.
As I click through a range of #nomakeupselfies of celebrities and ordinary people on the Internet, I find most of them are beautiful. Even those that one might not label as drop-dead-gorgeous are nowhere near hideous. Also, I pick out nice lashes, or glowing skin before noticing anything negative.
It gives me more assurance as I consider my best angle before I take my own. It takes a few tries and I pick the least off-putting one but it really isn’t that bad, just a little rough around the edges.
This may not become my new everyday look, but at the same time, I am happy with the face that looks back at me and I have no problem with it being out there. So now that I have posted mine, I nominate you to reveal your #nomakeupselfie.
Online Reporter