Yes, I have my own folder in my phone for selfies

A long time ago, I stumbled across an article from Allure that inspired me to write this blog post nearly a year later. Entitled "Selfie Stigma: Who Loses When We Condemn Vanity?", it states that selfies come of as a result of vanity, and vanity comes off as something that is egotistic and silly like who has all the energy and power to take 1282939383939 selfies of herself?

What prompted me to write this is as a self-confessed selfie addict, I don't exactly take two hours to get ready everyday nor do I obsess with my looks every minute. If I do, I see  nothing wrong with it. So why do people have the impression that as someone whose IG stories or Snapchats are filled with my face, I'm someone who does not care about anything more?

Like what the writer Sable Yong says "Selfies are harmless." They ARE harmless, yes, but somehow people take so much offense or disgust when all you put out in your social media content is your face.

What also urged me to write this down is how one night out with a friend, he said with an underlying annoyance "Yeah you do post a lot of selfies! You're so vain." Sometimes, I hear conversations of people I know in social media, proudly saying they unfollow people because all they do is post about their face.

I write about this today because it came to the point that people ask me if my life is anything more interesting to post about other than my face. To be honest, it kinda hurts as a girl who took years to finally accept what she looked like. Years ago, I can't even look at myself in the mirror. I don't smile properly nor do I know my angles. I run like lightning at the mere point of some camera facing me.

I learned to take that around. I learned to practice smiling or angle my face so I don't look sloppy. The more I practiced, the more I loosened up when people took pics of me and ultimately, I learned to utilize my camera phone for my own selfie pleasure.

So yes, selfies for me are personal.

Para solb lahat; selfie without a face! Charot!

But why do people seem to have a problem with it? To be honest, I can never tell and just like my selfies, these people have their own personal reasons. I guess what makes me offended is how they take pride that they are better off people by saying they don't need to post their pictures as much as I do--and I don't even post as much as others!

I do believe it is wrong to judge people by how much they post pictures of themselves. I wonder how come others make a huge deal out of what others do that isn't even hurting anyone. We're free to respond a certain way to actions of others but I do feel it is uncalled for to fit a person's personality by how much they are so absorbed in taking photos. It's also wrong when you measure your whole self as a person by thinking you're better than people who do things you don't do--especially if that activity isn't even a crime!

But when are posting selfies wrong? Personally, I think it becomes wrong when your whole worth as a person is reliant on the reception of your selfies. I guess many have been been there: posted a nice picture of themselves and not getting the ideal amount of likes and hearts. I haven't gone to that stage to be honest, because whether I get no likes or over 400 my face is still MY FACE. At least, I'm aware that how I think I look pretty in a selfie doesn't always equate to my real worth and being--I know I'm much more than a click or your reaction to it.

Also, selfies become wrong if you think beauty is only in the eyes of the camera phone. I can tell you that no matter how much I try to take the perfect photo of myself, it can never truly encapsulate how I look in person. If people think I'm more beautiful or less gorge in person, it's up to them. All I know is I just took a damn selfie. Why do I need to calculate my fairness meter through it?

To those people who make a huge deal with their friends posting vanity pics, why not support them? Sure it can get on your nerves, the never ending "Mukha na naman!" feeling, but remember: selfies are personal and harmless. If it didn't bother them posting their own face out there for the world to see, then it shouldn't bother you too.

Accepting that how I look isn't determined by how I look in the camera, filter or no filter