Women doing selfies : reflexivity and norm negotiation in the production and circulation of digital self-portraits

Selfies are a specific, wide-spread form of self-expression on social networking sites. Media, specialists and general discourse have criticized this form of digital visual culture, usually characterized as narcissistic and superficial. Criticism is particularly harsh when selfie-takers are women. In order to question this dismissive conception of women's practices as self-centered and naïve, our paper provides insights into women's motivation, attitudes, experiences and strategies while "doing selfies". Our discussion is based on a 2-year qualitative study on a small sample Canadian women taking and sharing selfies. We argue that "doing selfies" is a carefully reflected practice, involving awareness of social norms of acceptability and visibility for women's bodies, as well as direct and indirect experience of implications of exposure and connection-building online. [Publisher's text].