all the awkwardly posed, grainy
photos of your kids and dogs, or
car selfies taken on the way to
work. I trusted these images due to
their obvious lack of professional
quality and editing.
But as we’ve all come to find out,
they’re no more authentic than the
celebrity Instagram feeds. Scoff
away, but it’s true. Anyone posting
selfies of red puffy eyes after an
emotional meltdown? Or that
first picture of their kid/dog/cat/
husband? More likely they’re taking
20 shots, applying 6 different
filters, cropping out the pile of dirty
laundry on the floor, and THEN
finally posting it with the caption,
“Look at my adorable kid/dog/cat/
husband, I’m so lucky to be doing
life with them.” It’s ok, we all do it,
this is a judgment-free zone. I’m
only pointing out that it’s not much
different than hiring a stylist and
photographer to take photos of
you sipping coffee outside a cute
some level, maybe we can stop
all the finger-pointing, trolling, and
glam-shaming that has become so
“THE LAST THING WE NEED TO DO IS TO BATTLE
EACH OTHER OVER WHO’S CREATING WHAT KIND
OF ONLINE IMAGE AND WHY.”
little bistro. If anything, the latter
may be MORE authentic because
at least all the professional help
is being credited in the caption.
We see “#sponsored” and “#ad”
and are like, DUH. There’s a certain
comfort in knowing that an image
is professionally crafted, rather
than having to guess what is really
going down behind the scenes.
If we can accept “image-crafting”
as an art that we all practice on
divisive, especially among women.
And even more so among those
who choose to maintain an active
public profile, either for personal
or business reasons. One groups
says that if you’re too pretty, no one
will take you seriously. Another will
say that if you have tattoos, no one
will believe you’re professional. Yet
another will say that if you aren’t
concerned with hair and makeup,
you’re not feminine. The newest
one trending says that if you’re
JULY 2018 • 19