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Women’s self-representation on Instagram is often discussed in popular media in polarizing terms, as either an empowering practice or as boring and mundane. However, the political and the mundane are inevitably interwoven. This article grounds the discussions on how “the political” can be expressed through mundane Instagram practices on the analysis of individual self-representations of “ordinary” Instagram users (i.e., not celebrities or Insta-famous users). This research is based on a qualitative textual analysis of a sample of 77 randomly selected female Instagram users, ages 18–35, analyzing their photographic self-representations and its surrounding textual context—captions, comments, and likes. It explores how Instagram can broaden the scope of who and what is considered photographable, allowing for the representation of a wider variety of women and femininities underrepresented in popular media, and how this has the potential to upend hegemonic hierarchies of visibility. Following an Instagrammable aesthetic, these self-representations often take place in mundane contexts, as the photographable becomes extended to overlooked, yet essential, aspects of everyday life. It is in the context of these everyday self-representation practices that tangentially political themes become embedded, appearing in brief and often passing mentions that express self-worth, celebrate marginalized identities, or proclaim personal agency.

Based on a review of literature and on a content analysis of nearly 12,000 photographs from 104 Instagram's users, this paper analyses the uses of photography as a self-representational device, comparing traditional vernacular usages with the new practices that emerged on Instagram. It seeks to understand the motivations underlying Instagram's uses, particularly focusing on its identitary functions, that helps to create visual self-representations in online environments. Identitary construction is understood as an active performance, in which each user is their own author, inventing and re-inventing themselves at each moment, in a continuous flux of imagetic creation that expresses a sense of identity open to constant reinvention. This paper explores not only the creation of selfies, a practice analogous to the self-portrait, but also the parallel strategies used to avoid the discomfort often caused by direct self-representation.

This article focuses on a critical analysis of alternative representations of femininities on Instagram through a case study of the @effyourbeautystandards account. This body-positive account aims to promote self-love and questions beauty ideals by sharing self-representations of ‘ordinary’ women (i.e. non-models or celebrities) who feel that they do not live up to the current beauty standards. We focus on the political potential of these diverse self-representations in terms of ‘everyday activism’. @effyourbeautystandards is recognized as having an overtly political stance, adopting an intersectional approach and employing strategies of ‘empowering exhibitionism’. Yet, the article questions this more optimistic view by critically addressing the postfeminist sensibilities underlying the account, namely, its emphasis on fashion and beauty. Moreover, Instagram’s role in reproducing traditional gender norms is explored. The article analyses Instagram’s technological and sociocultural affordances, such as its Terms of Use, and the ‘editorial power’ of the users’ likes, comments and reports.

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