In defense of selfies - they aren’t all narcissistic

IT sounds rude — to have ‘done a selfie’. It means a photograph you take of yourself, usually with a camera-phone (not to be confused with ‘selkie’, which is a photo of herself taken by a mythical, seal-like creature, once she assumes human form, goes on land and gets her first camera phone). It’s in the news because of the 100 women whose photos were stolen by hackers.

But there were selfies in the good old days. Some of us have stood outside a chemist’s, checking through the developed roll of film. Among the photos of closed eyes and top-sliced heads, occasionally there was one of the photographer’s face as they inadvertently snapped themselves. ‘Camera-cameras’ have also had self-timer functions for years. Those selfies were usually group affairs and everyone wore an expression of doubtful expectation, as they wondered if the yoke was going to go off at all.

The modern selfie is supposed to be flattering. For women (and some men), this is the duck-face — head at an angle, lips thrust out — a pose to enhance sexiness, a pouting insouciance, or, in a few rare cases, the subject really wants to look like a duck. For men (and some women) it’s about the gym-body. The photo is shared through social media with the world, so that supportive friends can tell you how amazing you look, while less-than-supportive friends quietly remove you from their list, because all they see of you is photos of you looking like a duck/gym-nut.