Selfless Selfies

I’m currently feeling a lovely warm glow and for once, it’s nothing to do with the wine.  I’ve just seen on Facebook that the trend of ‘no make-up selfies’ has raised over £2 million for Cancer Awareness.  Amazing.

Most of the comments I’ve read about this craze have been positive but unfortunately I’ve also heard some negative stuff too.  Comments like, ‘What’s the point of just taking a photo of yourself?’ ‘What’s the big deal about not wearing makeup?’ ‘How is taking a no make-up selfie going to benefit people with cancer?’

I only hope people who have said these things are now metaphorically eating their words.  £2 million in forty-eight hours.  Still disputing the point of it, are you?

If you are, I’m going to point out a few more reasons why this is such a positive campaign.

Women usually wear make-up to give them confidence, because it can enhance the good bits and help to cover any flaws.  Good for people who don’t feel the need for make-up, I salute you, but for others it can be a form of camouflage, war-paint, a uniform or it just psychologically makes a woman feel she is making the best out of what she’s got.

However, there are many men (and some women) that just don’t get it.  They wonder why anyone would mess with what nature has given them or argue that it’s what’s on the inside that counts.  And I don’t think many make-up wearers would disagree with that.

The thing is, I personally wear make-up most of the time because it makes me feel better.  I’m not going to shrivel up and die if I don’t wear it and I don’t think people will run off screaming into the sunset if they saw me without, but I just prefer how I look with it on.  And it’s become such a habit that I now feel literally exposed without it.  I feel like I’m laying bare my imperfections for all the world to see and quite frankly, I find it scary.

Maybe it says more about me and my own insecurities but it’s how I feel.  I know from experience that people can be cruel.  I was ‘chubby’ as a child and I got bullied for it so I’ve had a ‘thing’ about weight and food ever since.  I’m not overweight anymore but I am thirty-seven and a mother of three and there are bits about myself I don’t like when I look in the mirror.  So why would I choose to give people a reason to criticise those things that I can improve by spending ten minutes with my make-up bag?  I’m sure if someone wants to find stuff to bitch about they will but I’m certainly not going to provide them with ammunition if I don’t need to.

And that’s why I’m loving the no-make-up selfies.  I don’t care what anyone says, it’s brave to put yourself out there, flaws and all, when you’re not used to it.  It’s nerve-wracking and if anyone else is like me, you’ve scrutinised your picture closely before deeming it passable for public consumption.

It’s not being shallow, it’s insecurity stemming from examples of apparent physical perfection in the media and even though we know they’ve been airbrushed in pictures and primped and preened before they’re seen in public, they still make us feel inadequate.  So you nervously post a selfie on Facebook and then wait with bated breath, hoping that comments will be kind and no-one will be too scathing when you’re at your most vulnerable.

And that’s when the real reason for the campaign comes into play; because after you’ve laid yourself bare, you start thinking about the people you know who are suffering from cancer, or have beaten cancer, or have lost their fight to cancer.  You think of people who have lost all their hair, or had breasts removed, or who have scars and disfigurements from this awful disease.

And it puts your little no make-up selfie in perspective because you start to think, OK, I look a bit rough, but at least I’ve still got my health, at least I haven’t been through what those people have been through.  You realise, in the grand scheme of things, that posting a little make-up free selfie on a social media network really isn’t a big deal.  But cancer is.  So you think, I’ll donate as well because now all I’m feeling is grateful that I’ve only got a few wrinkles or dark circles or bags.  At least I haven’t got cancer.

So here’s my no make-up selfie for anyone who didn’t see it on Facebook.  There are a number of ways to donate including a text saying ‘BEAT’ to 70099 but as far as I’m concerned, donations aside, it’s a show of solidarity and togetherness in a time when there’s too much negativity and whatever anyone says about it, that can’t possibly be a bad thing.