Life

Do It #ForYourSelfie

by Emma Cueto

Like many technologically driven phenomenons of the twenty-first century, selfies have the power to be fairly revolutionary, even if they get a bad rap from "the olds." As people on the #FeministSelfie, #FeministInTheWild, and other hashtags have pointed out, selfies allow anyone, anywhere, to photograph themselves and share whatever image of themselves they want with the world. There are no gatekeepers. And so for people who have been consistently under- or misrepresented in the mainstream media, such as women or people of color, that is pretty freaking cool.

Now a new website, For Your Selfie is looking to provide a more permanent place for all this revolutionary potential than various Twitter hashtag. The site seeks to "reestablish the selfie as a tool for change" and their website is already full of selfies from people eager to participate.

"I believe that the selfie can be used to redefine the popular notion of beauty, to increase diversity in the media, and to improve self-esteem and increase self-love for everyone," says founder Olivia Whitton. Amen to that.

It seems funny sometimes that something as simple as taking a picture of yourself has launched so many debates and think pieces, but then when we talk about selfies, we aren't really just talking about selfies. Selfies are part of a larger trend of the democratization of media. So whether we're talking about hashtag activists or tweens with an Instagram account, the real conversation is about who gets to control the narrative, to have a platform, and to represent the world.

So from that perspective, selfies are pretty radical – they're a way to represent yourself however you want, no censors, no gatekeepers, no filters (except the ones you pick on Instagram). It's a whole new world we're living in, huh?

And if you're looking to share some radical images of your radical self, or just appreciate everyone else's real world beauty, you can head over to ForYourSelfie.com or check out their hashtag #ForYourSelfie. Because this is the 21st century, there will always be a hashtag.

Here's some of the photos already on the site.

And what the hell, here's one of mine. I'm having a good hair day, you know?

Images: ForYourSelfie.com