Can Selfies Redefine Beauty? Dove Thinks So

As you may have noticed from previous posts, I am pro-selfie.  Selfies are those pictures you take of yourself with a camera phone and flip around lens.   I’m not in favor of selfies because I like to take them.  I like selfies because they are a form of expression enabled by new technology.  And I love that people are starting to do some fun and interesting things with them. Selfies represent a shift in how we think about self, identity and portraiture.  But more to the point, I have even argued that selfies can be used for good. (See Eight Ways Selfies Can Make Your Life Better).   So I was very happy to see Dove use Selfies as a challenge to young women to begin to redefine beauty in Dove’s #beautyis campaign.  The Dove Challenge is for adolescent girls to take an honest selfie with no filters or edits and have their moms do the same. The video is charming and shows that women of all ages feel pressure to be more “beautiful.” I hope you watch it.