Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
If someone taking a selfie bothers you, ignore it. But no one gives anyone a right to shame them as narcissistic. That's suppressing their voice.
If someone taking a selfie bothers you, ignore it. But no one gives anyone a right to shame them as narcissistic. That’s suppressing their voice.
I see a lot of posts which unnecessarily mock people as narcissists because of selfies. For whoever cares to read, here is the data; because reporting thrives on negativity and calling names, selfies have been called narcissistic repeatedly, especially if these are women.
Sorry to break the bubble of men on this – one of the original papers that reported it (which is the most ‘cited’ in fashionable news editions) had the article titled ‘Selfie posting behaviors are associated with narcissism among men’ published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences in 2015.
Since then multiple studies have been performed with methodologies and statistics all over the place.
It has slowly evolved that although narcissists may be more prone to taking selfies, anyone taking selfies does not automatically mean they are narcissist with a negative connotation.
This recent publication in Addictive Behaviors Report, 2020, titled ‘Selfie-engagement on social media: Pathological narcissism, positive expectation, and body objectification – Which is more influential?’ does a more complete and compact analysis with sound statistics.
They found that “Pathological narcissism was not a significant predictor of selfie-engagement”, and that younger women’s selfies are often primarily associated with body positivity, while men’s associated primarily with body-objectification. Says a lot, about society!
Both papers are available to all at the links provided. The 2020 paper summarizes the literature in the field well too, so most of the associated data will be found in that paper.
Here is the thing in my experience, selfie is a form of self expression. Many who did not have voices before have found a way; society’s knees are weak and always quiver whenever someone self-expresses, especially those whose voices are suppressed.
I know many people, from many ethnicities, from many societies who have found self-love (something societies have traditionally sucked at teaching young minds) in own pictures. Like everything else it can be used to empower or take power away. Sure, some narcissists may have grandiose tendencies using selfies as a tool, but I have always thought the data that gets cited is not sound.
So it appears too… and it is an evolving data set.
If someone else’s selfie bothers you-I would suggest not looking. If you want to go mock people for selfies- go ahead. Your life, your call. But I’ll let you know that it is unkind thing to do without knowing about their background, where they are coming from, or their story… as simple as that.
To all my friends and again whoever cares to read… let nothing, including unnecessary judgement of you taking your picture, stop you from living your life. We get one chance!
I don’t care why you took it, you felt good, and that is enough for me to be appreciative of it.
Meanwhile here’s me… On a scale of zero to ‘should I just dry freeze and snort caffeine already’ kind of a day!
Header image source: a still from Four More Shots Please
I have a pen as a tattoo, because I love to write. Professionally I am a scientist. Some clear logic, some blue thoughts, some scarlet sarcasm, some pink sword, some black satin- I like to read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
The plight of Indian women's mental health often goes unnoticed. Co-founders Vivek Satya Mitram and Pooja Priyamvada conceived the idea of the Bharat Dialogues Women & Mental Health Summit to address this.
Trigger Warning: This contains descriptions of mental health trauma and suicide, and may be triggering for survivors.
Author’s note: The language and phraseology used are not the author’s words but the terms and narrative popularly used for people living with mental illnesses, and may feel non-inclusive. It is merely for putting our point across better.
I have seen how horrifying was the treatment given to those with mental illness.
People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
Please enter your email address