What is this feminist photo a day thing?

I’ve written about photo a day memes on social media here before, but I recently decided to join another one.  Unlike other photo a day things, this one doesn’t have a daily theme…other than myself.

The hashtag is #365FeministSelfie. I saw a few people I follow on social media with the tag and read a blog post about it on Slightly Askew Woman by K.M. O’Sullivan.  It seemed interesting, so I decided to investigate further.

Now, I know selfie has some what of a negative connotation to it. It brings to mind images of self-absorbed people who constantly post photos of themselves on social media, sometimes in inappropriate places.

But, the #365FeministSelfie was started by Veronica I. Arreola  at Viva La Feminista.  I encourage you to go to her blog and read the post.

Basically, the reason I decided to join this meme is because I realized that there aren’t many photos of myself on my social media outlets, compared to photos of my surroundings and food/booze.  My friends and family in far away places would like to see my smiling (or sleepy) face since they don’t get to see it on a regular basis anymore.  Plus, it’s giving me another way to be creative.  And yes, it’s a little empowering.

I used to take selfies to post on my online dating profiles, but now that I’m done dating (thank you, Paul), it’s rare that I have a reason to put up a selfie on social media.  If there isn’t something to celebrate, it feels a little weird to put up a selfie, but it shouldn’t. I want to share life moments with my family and friends, isn’t that the point of social media?

Not all of my photos will be flattering because the body image in my mind is a little skewed…as it is for most women. Some of them will be set up, some of them will be boring. Either way, I want to see how my creativity stretches.