ABSTRACT

In 2013, the Oxford English Dictionary selected ‘selfie’ as the word of the year. Since that time, selfies have been much discussed in the media and increasingly in academia. Selfie culture is gendered not only because women take more selfies than men but also because women’s selfie-taking is both criticized (as narcissistic) and defended (as empowering) on feminist grounds. In this paper, we draw upon the existing literature on selfies as well as 260, short ‘person-on-the-street’ interviews with young people (mostly Latinas, mostly in California) about their selfie-taking practices to demonstrate that selfies are indeed a gendered genre and an important if the overlooked form of gendered media production in a postfeminist context. The data reveal the disciplinary function of the narcissism narrative for young women, their navigation of gendered and sexual double-standards as well their understandings of ‘publicness’ when posting selfies, their ambivalence about feedback, and their commitment to individualized notions of empowerment realized through ‘control’ of the gaze. We argue that self-production is never simply about the self because cultural filters are at work that shape in systematic ways how women envision and enact female subjectivity and visibility. Our goal is not to determine whether selfies are good or bad; rather, we explore what they suggest about the gendered politics of self-production for young women of color in the new ‘gaze economy’ of social media.

摘要

2013年，《牛津英语词典》选择“ selfie”作为年度词汇。自那时以来，自拍在媒体上越来越受到关注，在学术界也越来越多。自拍照文化具有性别特征，这不仅是因为女性自拍照比男性更多，而且因为女性的自拍照行为既受到女权主义的批评（自恋）又受到捍卫（被赋予权力）。在本文中，我们借鉴了有关自拍照的现有文献，以及对年轻人（主要是拉丁裔，主要在加利福尼亚州）进行的260次简短的“街上人”访谈，以了解他们采取的自拍照做法。的确是一种性别流派，并且在后女权主义背景下，如果忽略了性别媒体制作的形式，则很重要。数据揭示了自恋叙事对年轻女性的纪律作用，他们对性别和性双重标准的了解，以及在发布自拍照时对“公共性”的理解，对反馈的模棱两可以及通过“控制”凝视来实现对个性化授权概念的承诺。我们认为，自我生产绝不仅仅与自我有关，因为文化过滤器正在起作用，这些过滤器以系统的方式塑造着妇女如何构想和确立女性的主体性和知名度。我们的目标不是确定自拍照的好坏。相反，我们探讨了他们对社交媒体新的“凝视经济”中有色年轻女性自我生产的性别政治的建议。他们对注视能力的个性化承诺通过“控制”注视得以实现。我们认为，自我生产绝不仅仅与自我有关，因为文化过滤器正在起作用，这些过滤器以系统的方式塑造着妇女如何构想和确立女性的主体性和知名度。我们的目标不是确定自拍照的好坏。相反，我们探讨了他们对社交媒体新的“凝视经济”中有色年轻女性自我生产的性别政治的建议。他们对注视能力的个性化承诺通过“控制”注视得以实现。我们认为，自我生产绝不仅仅与自我有关，因为文化过滤器正在起作用，这些过滤器以系统的方式塑造着妇女如何构想和确立女性的主体性和知名度。我们的目标不是确定自拍照的好坏。相反，我们探讨了他们对社交媒体新的“凝视经济”中有色年轻女性自我生产的性别政治的建议。