The article, “Fear and Selfie-Loathing in American:
Identifying the Interstices of Othering, Iconoclasm, and the Selfie,” by
Jessica Leigh Maddox, begins with giving many examples on when news teams, in
2013 and 2014, called the selfie a narcissistic epidemic. This was when the
selfies first became big, however I disagree that it was ever an epidemic or a
problem. However, it was just a change. I liked how on the second page it is
explained how Fortune Magazine’s post
of the selfie showed how it was a “jumping off point to examine these new
photographic practices and and their representations in the mass media and
popular culture.” (27) Before selfies were shown in only a bad light, however
this is where the reader first see’s that the selfie could be a good thing.
On page 33, the article discusses
how debates over what constitutes a photograph have being going on since the creation
of photography. Then, it mentions how a selfie will always be viewed different
or less than a traditional photograph by some people who do not understand
selfies Some people don’t think a selfie
is a real photograph because the lived experience that is shown in photographs
is less visible. The point is brought back up on page 36. People were skeptical
at first because they felt some people used selfies to achieve “mirco-celebrity”
on their own social media pages. However, today, anyone can be a
self-proclaimed star, on the other hand others still use it for self-validation
instead of validation from others.
On page 40-41 there are three memes
being displayed about photography. All three are very funny, however if I was a
big selfie taker and a girl, I might be somewhat offended. The first meme is a
picture of a girl taking a selfie with the formula N=S/h, shows that one can
calculate someone’s narcissism with the number of selfies per hour. The second
meme is a picture of Ryan Gosling saying, “Hey Girl, you take too many God damn
selfies.” Third, is a picture of a girl that says “dumb selfie anonymous.” All
three of these memes are somewhat funny but also offensive to women and those
who take selfies. All of these depict selfies as a bad or shameful thing..
Also, the women are depicted as narcissistic if they want to take a selfie. It
was mentioned earlier in the article that selfies are for girls, or that men do
not take selfies So, that is why the three of these are directed towards women,
but could be even more offensive to a man who likes to take selfies.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this
articles and learning more about the selfie through Othering, commodification,
and iconoclasm. It was interesting to read about how the selfie being
introduced into the world can make us reconsider how we hold different images
to old standards and new ones to the new standards.
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