It’s called the “belfie” – the butt selfie – and it’s becoming a big thing on social media. Here are 13 important things you need to know about this awful trend and why it needs to die a swift death.
- So what is it, exactly? Basically, you take a picture of your butt looking all cute and sexy and you post it on social media so your followers can finally see what you look like from behind. That’s easy enough to understand. The question is, WHY?!
- It might seem body positive but it’s really not. On the outside, it might seem like the belfie is about embracing bigger, curvier butts. This is a far cry from those super-thin model bodies that used to be considered the rage, sure, but there’s still an element of shaming to it since those without a bigger derriere can’t really take part (at least not without the risk of being trolled).
- It’s yet another desperate cry for attention. People aren’t just taking pictures of how their butts look in jeans or yoga pants while they’re walking around or doing exercise. Some are taking the trend much further by posting pictures of their butts in sexy lingerie or when they’re doing sexy poses to specifically draw attention to their butts. That’s the problem: it’s all about finding new ways to get people’s attention, but we’re doing it in the wrong ways.
- We have the usual suspects to blame for this. People like Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner were some celebrities at the forefront of this trend. Other celebs like Rihanna and Nicki Minaj have followed suit. It’s only natural that the non-famous people would also jump on the bandwagon.
- It’s degrading. As with showing pictures of any body part, showing your butt feels degrading. It’s like we’re turning ourselves into nothing but sex objects. Instead of saying, “Look at me and my amazing personality,” we’re saying, “Hey, check out my cute butt!” Seriously? Aren’t we better than that? There’s nothing wrong with owning your sexuality, but there’s nothing about the belfie that doesn’t seem really sad.
- It gives the wrong impression. Imagine you meet a great guy and he checks your Instagram account to figure out what you’re like before you guys meet for a date. He sees loads of raunchy pics of your butt on your profile. Although they might look sexy and be classy AF, you’re giving him the impression that you’re looking for attention by posting them. Same goes for those gym selfies and pouty pics.
- It’s time to raise our selfie standards. Whatever happened to selfies showing your amazing smile and sexy eyes? What happened to selfies that show your inner glow and personality coming through? We need more of those selfies and fewer images of our body parts.
- It’s sexy to leave a little mystery. Let’s choose to leave some parts of ourselves a secret for the people who care enough to meet us in RL. Instead of giving away everything about our bodies courtesy of saucy butt selfies, why not be a little more private and try to build connections that aren’t about superficial things or how we look every damn time?
- It makes us worry unnecessarily about our bodies. As women, we regularly worry about how our bodies look all the time, and sometimes a little too much for our own good. Do we really need yet another thing to obsess about, like if our butts are curvaceous enough? Ugh. Enough is enough!
- It turns us into “like” monsters. Taking a butt selfie is about more than just sharing a picture of yourself with the world. Once you post it on social media, chances are you’re going to start hoping you’ll get lots of “likes” for it. Otherwise, you might worry that your butt isn’t up to society’s standards. You might look at other belfie pics and compare yours to those people’s. Ugh. Can you see how belfies are becoming way too much about what other people think of you?
- What happened to just having fun? Social media is supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be a cool way to connect with people and share awesome things; a way to show the world all the amazing things you’ve been up to lately, like where you’ve traveled. Instead, we’re taking butt selfies. Damn it, what does that really tell the world other than that we’re desperate for attention or need other people to validate our sense of self-worth?
- Take a brain selfie instead. Instead of showing your followers pictures of your butt in sexy lingerie, take their attention elsewhere. Take them to your brain! OK, so you can’t take a brain selfie (although that would be cool), but you can focus on posting about smarter, more empowering things. The pressure to be perfect and have the perfect butt to go with our perfect lives is really pathetic. There are much more important things to share on social media. Come on!
