Women "doing selfies": reflexivity and norm negotiation in the production and circulation of digital self-portraits

Titolo Rivista SOCIOLOGIA E POLITICHE SOCIALI
Autori/Curatori Chiara Piazzesi , Catherine Lavoie Mongrain
Anno di pubblicazione 2020 Fascicolo 2019/3
Lingua Inglese Numero pagine 17 P. 95-111 Dimensione file 235 KB
DOI 10.3280/SP2019-003005
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Selfies are a specific, wide-spread form of self-expression on social networking sites. Media, specialists and general discourse have criticized this form of digital visual culture, usually characterized as narcissistic and superficial. Criticism is particularly harsh when selfie-takers are women. In order to question this dismissive conception of women’s practices as self-centered and naïve, our paper provides insights into women’s motivation, attitudes, experiences and strategies while "doing selfies". Our discussion is based on a 2-year qualitative study on a small sample Canadian women taking and sharing selfies. We argue that "doing selfies" is a carefully reflected practice, involving awareness of social norms of acceptability and visibility for women’s bodies, as well as direct and indirect experience of implications of exposure and connection-building online.

Keywords:Selfies; Social Networking Sites; Reflexivity; Norm Negotiation; Women.

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    DOI: 10.7202/1085241ar

Chiara Piazzesi , Catherine Lavoie Mongrain, Women "doing selfies": reflexivity and norm negotiation in the production and circulation of digital self-portraits in "SOCIOLOGIA E POLITICHE SOCIALI" 3/2019, pp 95-111, DOI: 10.3280/SP2019-003005