The title explains the post. Keep reading for a rant in favor of the #nomakeupselfie.
The nomakeupselfie phenomenon has thus far led to over £8 million being donated to Cancer Research UK.That money is allowing the program to fund ten new clinical trials that it couldn't have supported a week ago.
So, money is being donated to a well-known charitable organization that has helped to discover new cancer drugs and treatments since 2002 (and earlier - check Wikipedia for a brief history if you're interested). Who would complain?
Well, you've got animal rights activists, who don't like Cancer Research UK because of the program's use of animal testing results to further their research.
You've got groups of feminists who see #nomakeupselfie as "normalizing" the wearing of makeup, making women feel like going bare-skinned is abnormal.
You've got people who take the opportunity to tease women for how they look without makeup (I'm not even going to designate this one with a link).
And the most interesting group of nay-sayers... you've got people who say that the trend is a vain attempt for women to find validation in having their friends and family 'like' their bare-faced selfie on social media sites, as well as claiming that the trend does not 'properly' increase awareness of breast cancer.
Other than the assholes in Group #3, it's this last group that I'm most unsettled by.
First of all, cancer does not need more 'awareness'. It needs to be fought. People who are posting these selfies (I say 'people' because a similar trend, #manupandmakeup, was started for men to donate to prostate cancer research) know what cancer is, and they know what it does. It's not likely that someone who sees a #nomakeupselfie will be simultaneously learning about cancer.
The intent of the trend was to post a nomakeupselfie and advertise the 'Text BEAT to 70099' that will send £3 to Cancer Research UK. This? This is awesome.
First, you are donating money to a program that fights cancer. This is good news.
Second, you are taking a picture of yourself in a situation that is generally, by today's standards, considered vulnerable. (Whether you actually are vulnerable or not is not the point.) I believe that posting a nomakeupselfie at the very least makes people think about society's expectations of female beauty and the pressure to wear makeup. I think the damage done by posting a selfie like this is minimal compared to the benefits.
THERE. That's why nomakeupselfies are good.
Of course, there are women who aren't donating money but they are posting selfies. And yes, it's very likely that these are attempts at social media validation of self-worth in physical attractiveness. That's not great... but the thing is, these women are choosing to do this. They're not being 'tricked' by a patriarchal society into looking for validation (I don't even know what that could mean) - they're seeing an opportunity to donate to cancer research, ignoring it, and opting for the self-serving potential in taking a nomakeupselfie. Do I think this is sad? Yes. But, it points to a much larger (and very different) issue than the nomakeupselfie trend was meant to relate to.
People are even snickering at those who are trying to donate (by texting BEAT to 70099) and failing, either because they are texting DONATE (which goes to UNICEF, not Cancer Research UK) or accidentally, BEAR (which apparently is how you adopt a polar bear through the WWF??). Where are we as a society when we make fun of people for making a harmless mistake while trying to donate to a charity? It's like we're all the cool kids in the dance class who wouldn't try the steps because they didn't want to look stupid. Almost accidentally adopting a polar bear is funny, yes, but that doesn't mean the whole trend is a failure.
There are a billion problems in society, and there always have been, and there always will be. These problems change over time and some come back in slightly different ways and let me tell you, we will never have a perfect society in which problems like cancer - or vanity, or low self-esteem - don't exist. I just don't think that's how the human mind works. Of course I want us all to be less self-centered, but I don't think we should attack the nomakeupselfie trend as something that has failed to raise cancer awareness, caused women to prove how vain they really are, and distracted people from the original problem (being cancer).
Look at the HUGELY positive results...
£8 million to Cancer Research UK (and other countries are imitating the trend).
Ten new clinical trials.
'Awareness', if you want to call it that, is being raised (and to those who claim that it's minimally charitable and ultimately does nothing, shut up and have an ounce of positivity and respect; sitting on your ass and telling other people that they're donating money the wrong way is incredibly pretentious and self-righteous).
Women are posting pictures of themselves without makeup, which takes at least a tiny bit of self-confidence for many of us.
Social media is still a scary new thing, and lots of shitty things happen on/in/through it. But when something happens that actually does some good, I think it'd be great to acknowledge it.
What do you say to people who think that there is no possible cure for cancer? There is an awful lot of money tied up in searching for a cure for cancer and some say that is why the search will never cease, because, frankly, it's good business for many to continue. - Jeff Clem
ReplyDeleteWe have a pretty good history of finding cures for things, and replacing those charities with charities for other diseases... I think it's a cycle, and cancer will fall out of the cycle eventually.
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