The filtered self: selfies and gendered media production

ABSTRACT

In 2013, the Oxford English Dictionary selected ‘selfie’ as the word of the year. Since that time, selfies have been much discussed in the media and increasingly in academia. Selfie culture is gendered not only because women take more selfies than men but also because women’s selfie-taking is both criticized (as narcissistic) and defended (as empowering) on feminist grounds. In this paper, we draw upon the existing literature on selfies as well as 260, short ‘person-on-the-street’ interviews with young people (mostly Latinas, mostly in California) about their selfie-taking practices to demonstrate that selfies are indeed a gendered genre and an important if the overlooked form of gendered media production in a postfeminist context. The data reveal the disciplinary function of the narcissism narrative for young women, their navigation of gendered and sexual double-standards as well their understandings of ‘publicness’ when posting selfies, their ambivalence about feedback, and their commitment to individualized notions of empowerment realized through ‘control’ of the gaze. We argue that self-production is never simply about the self because cultural filters are at work that shape in systematic ways how women envision and enact female subjectivity and visibility. Our goal is not to determine whether selfies are good or bad; rather, we explore what they suggest about the gendered politics of self-production for young women of color in the new ‘gaze economy’ of social media.

KEYWORDS:

• Selfies
• digital culture
• male gaze
• postfeminism
• Latinas

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 See https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/research/

The driving force behind the research conducted at the Center is executive director Dr. Martha Lauzen, PhD.

2 YouTube, for example, which is owned by Google, is highly gendered both in terms of the genres that male versus female creators dominate – sports and gaming channels versus beauty and lifestyle channels – and in terms of creators’ ability to successfully monetize their content. According to Business Insider, which tracks the most popular (high-earning) YouTube stars globally, there were no women among the 10 top-earning creators in 2019, and only two women among the top 20 (Webb, 2019).

3 Of the 260 people interviewed, 70% identified as women, 28% as men, and 2% as non-binary, gender-queer, or ‘other.’ Because students interviewed people in their own personal and professional networks, the racial/ethnic composition of the interviewees loosely corresponded to that of the students themselves: 52% Latino/a, 20% Asian (with East Asian comprising the largest group), 10% white, 5% Middle-Eastern, 2% black, less than 1% Native American, 9% ‘mixed’ (split roughly evenly between Latino and Asian respondents who also claimed white heritage), and 2% undeclared. Of the people interviewed, the vast majority (84%) were 18–24 years of age. The next largest category was 25–34 (8%), followed by 35–54 (5%). Only one person (less than 0.5%) was 55 years or older. The remaining percent consists of people who didn’t state their age. Aside from basic demographic information, interview respondents were asked which social media platforms they use; why and under what circumstances they post selfies; whether they use filters; and whether comments/feedback are important to them. They were also asked about stereotypes of selfie-takers and whether they saw gender differences in selfie-taking. The students covered similar topics in their own self-reflections.

4 Only one respondent specifically characterized the concern with appearance typified by selfies as an issue of gender performance, not sex/gender category per se, a performance that sets straight men apart from both straight women and gay men. In her view, when straight men take selfies, it has to appear ‘masculine,’ not ‘cute’ because looking cute = feminine. By contrast, she said, ‘queer folk and fems don’t really give a shit. They’re like, I look good and I want to share it (laughing).’ She concluded, ‘I feel like it has to do less with men and women and more with [straight] men and everybody else.’

5 Such tensions between the sexual and the respectable female body – a gendered manifestation of the opposition between nature and culture – are not limited to Latinas in the U. S., of course. Black women in particular have served as targets of racialized misogyny as expressed through controlling images that equate whiteness with civility and blackness with uncivilized savagery (Collins, 1990/2000).

6 When Snapchat first emerged, content disappeared immediately after being viewed, without the option of screen-shooting or saving. According to students, this made Snapchat the favored platform for exchanging nude or ‘x-rated’ content to others because they could control its circulation. Now, sexting on Snapchat is more ‘risky’ though still understood to be less ‘serious’ than explicit content on the more public-facing platforms.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by UC Davis Office of Research [Small Grant in Aid of Research].

Notes on contributors

Laura Grindstaff

Laura Grindstaff is professor of Sociology at the University of California, Davis and a faculty affiliate in Gender Studies, Cultural Studies, and Performance Studies. Her research and teaching focus on the cultural dimensions of sex/gender, race, and class inequality with a particular emphasis on American media and popular culture. She is the author of The Money Shot: Trash, Class, and the Making of TV Talk Shows as well as numerous articles on topics ranging from sports and cheerleading to reality TV and social media.

Gabriella Torres Valencia

Gabriella Torres Valencia is a 4th-year undergraduate student at UC Davis majoring in sociology and minoring in public health science. She is currently writing a senior thesis on the topic of intimate partner violence in Latinx communities. After graduation, Gabriella hopes to attend law school to study civil rights and family law, eventually working as a civil rights attorney. Gabriella is currently a member of the UC Davis Pre-Law Society, Prytanean Honors society, and the UC Davis Mock Trial Club. This is her first peer-reviewed publication.