I need to apologize. I need to apologize to all the girls I have called vain because they posted a selfie. I need to apologize to the ones where I've written them off as insecure, or desperate for attention, or worse. And I need to apologize to all women, for playing into a dialog in which women are yet again not celebrated. Friends, I have had a change of heart, and I am ashamed I ever felt differently. Maybe I didn't understand. Or, more likely, maybe I was jealous. I was jealous of the comments, or the confidence, or the looks. I was self-righteous, ready to look down on and judge any woman who decided it was necessary to post selfie after selfie. Deciding I was better than them, because I didn't need to do that to feel beautiful, I went on with my life, holding myself on my invisible self-given, and unearned pedestal - and for that I am truly sorry. Instead, I should have been contributing to the movement of women celebrating themselves, and other women. In a society like ours, it can be hard to catch a break - we're never this enough, or that enough - too this, not enough that. As women, it feels like we can never win. So, why then, when a girl is feeling herself and wants to share her look with the world, are we so quick to judge and dismiss it? We can't be doing this, ladies. Selfie-culture is one in which we have the opportunity not only to grow as individuals (because let me tell you, it takes some guts to put pictures of yourself on the internet), but also collectively. Thanks to social media and the internet, we have been given this new chance to publicly celebrate one another, and build eachother up. The media, the fashion industry, men, all tell us we aren't good enough. It's time we tell them we are. It's time we fight back and say, hey, look at me, I look good and I know it. It's time we tell them they can't make us feel bad about ourselves anymore - this is us, and we're proud of it. It's time we stop judging other girls for their selfies, but cheer them on instead. Maybe selfie-culture breeds vanity, but maybe that's not so bad. It's about time women start feeling happy with their looks, and it's about time we start feeling happy for them. The jealousy, the pettiness, it's gotta go - those are toxic to the mission of creating a culture in which we celebrate eachother. We need eachother, ladies. Let's cheer eachother on, instead of tearing eachother down. They all tell us we aren't good enough. It's time we tell them we are. It's time we fight back and say, hey, look at me, I look good and I know it. It's time we tell them they can't make us feel bad about ourselves anymore - this is us, and we're proud of it. Lady friends, you are beautiful. You deserve to be told that. You deserve the space to be free to celebrate yourself. It's healthy; it's necessary.
Join me on a journey in which we say, #Ilovemyselfie. We are beautiful. And we are not ashamed to think so.
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AuthorHello! I'm Becca -humanitarian, caffeine addict, lover of books, people, and all things Jesus. You can find me in my pajamas, day dreaming about rainy days and saving the world. Archives
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