R7: My Selfies and I

When I take selfies, it doesn't matter who's around, I'm going to always be my true self. However, nobody sees most of the selfies I take. I choose to keep most of them private either because they aren't "perfect" (to societal standards) and I just like to have them as memories.



Most of the people who know me, aren't surprise to see me make a funny face. I'm a goofy girl and you can see from my skin tone that I'm a person of color, a Black-American. I usually wear beanies, so the texture of my hair is not shown. I have on a thick coat because it's cold outside and the coat could be real/faux leather. Other than that my "outfit" isn't a real indicator of my socioeconomic status. Also my eyebrows are "on fleek" and they aren't unruly which could be an indicator of my gender, which is female. I chose this selfie because this is a normal reaction from my best friend when I make weird faces. I can be my true self around her compared to others, even in my own family. If my mom was to see this picture on Facebook, she would tell me to delete it immediately. She isn't one for taking pictures, but a lot of people who work with her that are around her age do take selfies and post them on social media (even more than I do).

The selfie shows more of my hair and gives you an indication that I'm a person of color (Black) and of my gender (female). The shape of the curls can sometimes indicate that in my DNA there's more than meets the eye. Besides making funny faces, I try to give my selfies a little bit of attitude sometimes. Pretty much I'm just trying to find the "right angle". This still doesn't show my socioeconomic status and most of selfies wouldn't unless I have makeup on or if my outfit is showing a designer's name. I also take a lot of selfies from the waist up, so this doesn't show that I'm a plus sized woman. The reason I do this is because the whole world doesn't need to see my insecurities. If I did do a full body selfie, either I'm eating really well to older standards and that my socioeconomic status would mean I'm taking "good" care of myself; or that I'm overweight/obese and I don't have the means to take care of myself.

In this selfie, you can see a softer side of me (working on my model face). I have my hair pulled back into a ponytail/bun to hide the curls that helps to define my ethnicity. This is another fresh face look, (with just a little bit of lip balm) just like the other two above. I'm wearing a chain/necklace that is more identified with women, even though it's unisex and I wear it every day. My skin tone again is a indicator that I'm Black. I think my mom would be ok with this selfie being posted on social media, even though she doesn't like me posting anything at all (including any type of pictures). However, my friends and hers both would probably give a like on this selfie.

Most of the people who follow my Instagram are friends that I went to high school with, so it's nice to see what everyone's up to. We like to give each other "props" for being ourselves whether thats having a ton of makeup on or not, having weaves or being au naturel, or being out and about. I rarely post on my Instagram but I have an IG account for my blog so the relationships I'm trying to build are for more professional purposes even though I'm still being myself. That way I can have complete separation of the two accounts. I used to feel that if the IG user got a lot of likes on a picture/selfie, that it would be gratifying and defining the kind of attention that people would want. Now, I just want that attention on my blog's IG to get noticed professionally and off my of personal IG. I wouldn't necessarily say that my identity is completely different than my mom's generation. I sometimes feel that the people she knows and works with post too much information about their lives, which helps identify their identity. For me, how I am online is the same way offline. I can't say it's always been that way but I now realize I can only be me.