Skip to main content

Artist Petra Collins Demonstrates the Power of Selfies

"We’re all constantly bombarded by images, but a lot of them don’t reflect the normal person or girl."

pimple party 💕🌸✌️

A photo posted by Petra Collins (@petrafcollins) on

Recommended Videos

To some, selfies (like many things that are predominantly enjoyed by women) are frivolous, superficial, and self-absorbed. However, there’s another side to selfies. Artist Petra Collins sees them as a way for women to take ownership of how they’re perceived by others, and how they see themselves.

As part of Instagram blog’s #MyStory campaign. “a new series that spotlights inspiring women in the Instagram community,” artist Petra Collins talks about the power of selfies. In her post, she writes:

We live in an image-based world. We’re all constantly bombarded by images, but a lot of them don’t reflect the normal person or girl. And I think the selfie is a really important tool for girls because they can create images of themselves that aren’t the manipulated ones that they see.

I don’t want to create some sort of greater version of me. I’ll post photos of my body or me with my acne. When there are images of your natural self out there for other people to see, you just feel more like a human — and other girls can see them and relate.

What are you saying when you take a selfie?

—Please make note of The Mary Sue’s general comment policy.—

Do you follow The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]

Author
Teresa Jusino
Teresa Jusino (she/her) is a native New Yorker and a proud Puerto Rican, Jewish, bisexual woman with ADHD. She's been writing professionally since 2010 and was a former TMS assistant editor from 2015-18. Now, she's back as a contributing writer. When not writing about pop culture, she's writing screenplays and is the creator of your future favorite genre show. Teresa lives in L.A. with her brilliant wife. Her other great loves include: Star Trek, The Last of Us, anything by Brian K. Vaughan, and her Level 5 android Paladin named Lal.

Filed Under:

Follow The Mary Sue: