Selfie culture has blown up over the last couple years, and of course with that comes the negativity. "You are so self-centered" and "You are an attention whore" are constant comments when someone (especially girls) post what is perceived as "too many" selfies. Why do people get so much hate for posting selfies? Selfies can be empowering and boost self-confidence. For some people, it is hard to see themselves as beautiful/handsome and in taking selfies they can see shows them that they are, in fact, beautiful/handsome. Especially if someone takes a selfie that they love, individuals can see how beautiful/handsome they are.

Taking selfies can be hard. The lighting, makeup, environment, outfit and the angle all have to be on point for a good selfie. One also has to take several pictures in order to get one that is, by our definition, perfect. If it doesn't reach the standards we made for ourselves we won't post it or we will feel discouraged about the way we look. We need to figure out a way to stop putting so much pressure on ourselves to "look good". Looking good isn't a real thing. No one looks good. Once you convince yourself of that then you will realize you and everyone else is beautiful in their own way.

Posting selfies isn't being an attention whore. It is showing the internet that you are beautiful/handsome and you are proud of the way you look.

However, have you ever taken a picture lying in bed, with your hair up and no makeup on? Have you ever taken a selfie right after your work out or when you just wake up? I challenge you to, even if you don't post it. Take pictures of yourself when you feel the least bit selfie ready.

Beauty is a social construct. You are beautiful just the way you are.

As a society, when we see someone post a good selfie (what ever that means) we tend to feel jealous, or angry that we don't look like that. Then we tear that person down for looking better than us, or for looking for attention. On the other side of the coin the person posting the selfie may not even want attention, they just feel good about themselves at that moment. Selfies shouldn't be used for likes, they should be used to encourage others to do the same.

Also, on a serious note, can we stop with the "basic white girl" captions? Some people's captions have nothing to do with anything (of course I'm guilty of this myself).

I think we should take selfies all the time. Selfies are an amazing way to show off your beauty. Life is messy, unorganized, and scary. Selfies need to represent real life, no one is photoshoot-ready all of the time. So I challenge you to post a selfie at least once a week (Demi Lovato does #nomakeupmonday for example) with no makeup, just after the shower, just after your work out or even while you are running around doing errands. We need to start building each other up instead of tearing each other down about the way we look. Also, we need to stop giving a crap what people think about the way we look.