She’s so vain? A Q study of selfies and the curation of an online self

Abstract

Selfie posting is now a well-established practice, particularly for young women. However, it is nevertheless much maligned in popular discourses. As a counterpoint to digital narcissism, selfie posting is also constituted as relational. This Q methodological study explored how young women make sense of selfie practices. Twenty-seven young women aged 18–23 sorted a set of statements about selfies into a quasi-normal grid. These sorts were factor analysed to identify shared patterns. Four factors were identified which were subsequently analysed qualitatively, producing a narrative for each. These included (1) ‘Presenting . . . Me!’, (2) ‘I am what I am’, (3) ‘Sharing is caring’ and (4) ‘The In-crowd – beautiful and popular’. The complexity of identity curation evidenced in this study highlights the importance of moving beyond both polarised characterisations and the pathologisation of young women selfie takers in order to explicate the interplay between normative femininities and the digital self.

Photo Activity on Social Networking Sites and Body Dissatisfaction: The Roles of Thin-Ideal Internalization and Body Appreciation

“…The sociocultural theory [ 12 , 13 ] may shed light on this phenomenon, which points out that people’s appearance dissatisfaction stems from sociocultural body ideals [ 32 ]; namely, the unattainability of these appearance ideals may make people feel dissatisfied with their appearance. Photos on SNS are usually appearance-focused images displaying an ideal body image [ 33 , 34 ], such as selfies [ 35 ] and fitspiration [ 36 ]. These ideal photos are associated with appearance comparison [ 17 , 37 , 38 , 39 ], which in turn influence self-evaluation (i.e., BD) [ 40 , 41 , 42 ].…”

Digital mothering: Sharenting, family selfies and online affective-discursive practices

“…Notable in this extract is how selfie-taking is instigated by the daughter rather than the mother. This is important because it negates the trouble with predominant characterisations of selfie-taking as a form of digital narcissism (Lazard & Capdevila, 2021). Potential accusation of narcissism is also headed off in the interview through the construction of the family selfie as a means of doing closeness and togetherness.…”

“…Tensions between the requirement for displays of parental pride and sharenting discourses become particularly complex for feminine and maternal subjectivities. More specifically, sharenting as a form of digital narcissism, with its associations with grandiosity and self-absorption, is dominantly positioned as distinct from relationality which defines normative “good” femininities and “good” mothering (Lazard & Capdevila, 2021). In the context of neoliberalism, the relational feminine subject is also expected to be individually responsible for their own personal achievement and growth.…”

#mothersday: Constructions of motherhood and femininity in social media posts

“…The visibility of mothers, particularly in family photos posted on social media, is grounded in wider social expectations and requirements about the presentation of femininity. Of relevance is how the recent display of the feminine self in posted photos is embedded within long-standing social imperatives around feminine beauty (e.g., slim, young, and blemish free) (see Lazard & Capdevila, 2021). Feminine beauty has become increasingly implicated in discourses around “good” maternal subjectivities.…”