Reasons Why There's Nothing Wrong with Taking a Selfie

Between her traditional role in a 17th century marriage and her modern role in a 21st century action movie, the Western woman has been taught throughout history that her value lies in her outward appearance. As soon as her behaviour starts to support that notion, though, her centuries of deep-rooted principles suddenly turn on her, and she is deemed "narcissistic," "egotistical," and "conceited." At least, those are some of the most consistent words that pop up when you Google search the word selfie.


I think that's the root of the problem when it comes to addressing the steadily increasing relevance of selfies in our culture. Because at the same time that girls are taught to strive for conventional beauty, they are also advised to deflect compliments, deny praise, and manifest excess modesty in everything they do, lest they come across as arrogant. For most young women⁠—  and anyone for that matter⁠— taking a selfie is simply a step towards debunking that teaching, and recognizing that they are worth a picture.

Most of us have already heard of the selfie's widely debated role in restoring confidence, though. Instead, I want to touch on some of the less scrutinized benefits of selfies in today's media-based society.

I'm sure you're aware of social media's more toxic edge. When your feed exclusively consists of people's good sides, from the good side of their faces to the good side of their lives in general, it's hard not to compare their best to your worst. And although that dangerous tendency is important to acknowledge, there's another largely unexplored angle to consider, which exhibits itself in hospital patient Day Bishop's reliance on media during his crainiotomy. "With medical stuff, people don't know how to talk about it and don't know how to start the conversation. Putting it out there on social media really helps ... I would click on different hashtags and see so many people's pictures of their scars ... I was looking for affirmation from someone else."

In the same way that new mothers go to mom groups or recovering addicts go to group therapy, seeing someone facing the same trials as you⁠— even if it's through the form of a stranger's hospital selfies⁠— can provide a really authentic sense of reassurance and comfort.

That deep-seated comfort can also come from a more abstract place. If you've ever seen a face in the license plate and rear lights of your car, then you've experienced at least a mild form of pareidolia, which is a human's natural tendency to perceive faces everywhere. Our brains are hardwired to pick them out of splatters of paint, clouds, patterns, and anything and everything else. Pareidolia is a primitive, instinctual response that has protected human beings for centuries. Christopher French puts it like this: "A classic example is the Stone Age guy standing there, scratching his beard, wondering whether that rustling in the bushes really is a sabre-toothed tiger. You're much more likely to survive if you assume it's a sabre-toothed tiger and get out of there." Nowadays we don't have to worry about prehistoric predators, but that inherent comfort that comes from a human visage is still relevant today.

Netflix incorporates this phenomenon into its company's marketing strategies, because show cards and titles that involve human faces consistently have higher rates and better profits than those that don't. And it's the same thing on Instagram. Especially in today's age of texts and phone calls, where face to face contact simply isn't valued the way it used to be, we need to see each other's faces. There's no better way to put it.

All of this reasoning and explanation is ultimately unnecessary, though. In its simplest terms, a selfie is easy and fun. Somehow taking a photograph with a front facing camera has come to be frowned on, but in no way should it be taboo for anyone to snap a photo when they're feeling themselves.

Beauty in all forms is worth celebrating, and that's why there's nothing wrong with taking a selfie.