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a question for the vain
I was just scrolling through my phone one day when this picture popped up, and underneath it was the following quote:
The thing about this is that sculptures like these in art history were for the male gaze. Photoshop a phone to it and suddenly she’s seen as vain and conceited. That’s why I’m 100% for selfie culture because apparently men can gawk at women but when we realize how beautiful we are we’re suddenly full of ourselves…
Following that quote was this one:
“You painted a naked woman because you enjoyed looking at her, put a mirror in her hand and you called the painting “Vanity,” thus morally condemning the woman whose nakedness you had depicted for you own pleasure.” ― John Berger, Ways of Seeing
It struck me then how often I hear people--mostly adults, and mostly older men, to be completely forthright--often giving people (mostly young women) a rough time for taking selfies. Our generation is consistently dubbed the "vain" or "selfish" generation, and in that conversation, the topic of selcas almost always crops up.
I'm a pretty vehement supporter of selcas, and despite what you may think, it isn't singularly because I think I'm really, really, ridiculously good looking ㅋㅋㅋㅋ but it's more that I find that if there's any capacity to which young people are encouraged to love themselves rather than feel insecurity or shame, it's valuable. Selcas do that: They allow young people--and more specifically, young women--to say, "Hey, I look awesome today, I feel good about myself"--as a social norm. That's really important.
What are your thoughts?
Following that quote was this one:
“You painted a naked woman because you enjoyed looking at her, put a mirror in her hand and you called the painting “Vanity,” thus morally condemning the woman whose nakedness you had depicted for you own pleasure.” ― John Berger, Ways of Seeing
It struck me then how often I hear people--mostly adults, and mostly older men, to be completely forthright--often giving people (mostly young women) a rough time for taking selfies. Our generation is consistently dubbed the "vain" or "selfish" generation, and in that conversation, the topic of selcas almost always crops up.
I'm a pretty vehement supporter of selcas, and despite what you may think, it isn't singularly because I think I'm really, really, ridiculously good looking ㅋㅋㅋㅋ but it's more that I find that if there's any capacity to which young people are encouraged to love themselves rather than feel insecurity or shame, it's valuable. Selcas do that: They allow young people--and more specifically, young women--to say, "Hey, I look awesome today, I feel good about myself"--as a social norm. That's really important.
What are your thoughts?
no subject