The idea of posting a selfie a day for an entire year was created by the awesome Veronica Arreola in response to criticism of selfies. (Jezebel.com in particular called them out as being a "cry for help" instead of empowering.) I can't think of a lot that is more empowering than saying this is me, this is what I look like, here I am! The feminist selfie has become a symbol of self-love and celebrating who you are - finding the beauty in your imperfections, in your flaws.
I didn't realize how hard it would be to keep it up all month. I had days where I almost forgot (like the night that I sat up in bed at 11:30pm) and days where I just felt sad and ugly and didn't want to put myself out there. I also found myself getting bored by my own face and discovered that I wear a lot of hoodies. One of my drinking buddies found her way into four of my pics and I even posted an underwear selfie from the No Pants Subway Ride which was extremely hard to do, but felt great afterwards.
I've enjoyed explaining the challenge to people who didn't quite understand why I had to take a selfie every day or who asked me what that hashtag was about. Spreading the message of self acceptance is pretty great.
I've been using a calendar photo app to keep track of all my daily selfies; you can view it at my365.in/Lilithabs. Follow the hashtag #365feministselfie on any social media network you can find to view selfie after selfie after selfie of so many amazing women (and some men too).
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