It’s Selfie Day today and a new survey released by ALDImobile reveals that Australia is a selfie-loving nation with smartphone users across the country taking over 50 million selfies every week. 50 million! That means every man, woman and child is taking more than two selfies each a week… or a handful of us are taking about 1 million selfies a week. A quick check of some Instagram accounts will tell us that that’s the most likely explanation.
The Selfie (an expression aptly coined by Aussie Nathan Hope — aka ‘Hopey’ –back in 2002) has been a blessing for mothers everywhere. How else are we supposed to get in the picture with our kids without long arms or a selfie stick? There have been pleas for dads to get out of the photo and let mum shine, but the fact is, a lot of us don’t actually enjoy having our picture taken. Matter of fact, I hate it.
However, I don’t mind a selfie. It’s the ‘take me as I am, I didn’t have time to change’ way to share pictures. By its very nature, a selfie is a candid snap and it’s cool if you look a bit unkempt / crazy. Of course, some people go to remarkable trouble to make their selfies look like a professional photo shoot, but it’s not expected and that’s why I love it.
I mean, can you blame a mum for hating her photo? Between the nappy changes, the school runs, the dinner preps and the “don’t hit your brother”s, we’re an exhausted bunch who are not exactly looking our best. Despite what the upcoming Channel 7 show Yummy Mummies would have us believe (don’t get me started on that show), mums don’t swan around looking photo-ready at every opportunity. Instead, we are poo-smeared, hair-mussed, eye-baggy hot messes who are just getting on with our job.
But a selfie forgives all of that.
A selfie allows us to snap a quick pic of us with the kids at the park with our hair blowing in the wind and our chapped lips smiling wide and people think we look ‘great’, ‘I love your hair’, ‘great to see you enjoying some park time’, ‘what brand is your top, it looks so good’. It’s because a selfie is supposed to capture us in the moment, just as we are, that everyone is so forgiving. You’re supposed to look a bit mad in your selfies.
Of course, the other great thing about the selfie is that you can take 100 photos until you hit just the right amount of ‘candid but not too candid’. You might look like a complete wanker while you’re posing for your 100 photos, but the people who matter on your social media account aren’t going to see all that. They’re just going to see you wild and free with the kids, but not too wild and free. A mum’s gotta have standards, after all.
So, here’s to the selfie and all the wonderful moments it allows us mums to capture with abandon. Snap away, mummas, because whatever our friends might think of our selfies, our kids are gonna love them. A selfie puts their favourite person in the world in the picture, after all. And that’s worth celebrating today and every day.
Me right now, sans kids (they are at school), make up, nice hair and filter. Thanks selfie!
Image: Getty
