Can A Selfie Empower?

Established queen of the viral beauty video Dove are back with a seven minute long documentary celebrating the selfie. Yes, you read that right, the selfie. Spurning the critique that the trend towards the sepia-tinted self-portrait is a modern exercise in self-absorption and vanity, Dove are now leading the brigade, with hashtag #BeautyIs, to reclaim the selfie as a rallying cry against traditional and limited notions of beauty.

In the short, shot by Oscar-winner Cynthia Wade and debuted at the Sundance Festival, ‘mothers and daughters are interviewed and asked about their insecurities. The camera captures daughters listening to their leading role-models complain about their frizzy hair and eyebrows. Then the daughters are encouraged en masse to take an honest selfie – no filters, no edits – and to celebrate real beauty.

What do you think? Should we celebrate the selfie or start campaigning for Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth to be put on the national curriculum instead?

Jeanne Sutton @jeannedesutun