LET'S be honest – I don’t mind a selfie.
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I don’t take them that often and when I do it’s generally at a special event – oh okay, and occasionally at the Royal on a Saturday night.
The not-so-humble act of the selfie came under fire over social media this week.
The complaints centred on a specific type of picture, the #nomakeup or #barefaced selfie.
I woke to this burgeoning social media trend on Saturday morning and soon discovered it was part of a challenge to raise awareness and money for breast cancer.
Women were posting pictures of themselves without make-up and were nominating their friends to follow suit.
For some of my friends – who wear minimal make-up anyway – the decision to dare to bare was an easy one.
Others were clearly less comfortable with the concept of ‘naked’ selfies, but chose to post one anyway in light of the good cause.
Because who doesn’t want to support people with breast cancer?
But it did not take long for the criticism to start.
How is this raising awareness of breast cancer?
Are these people even donating or is it just an act of narcissism?
Ladies, it doesn’t count if you’re wearing tinted moisturiser. Or eyeliner.
And does it really count when someone as genetically blessed as Pia Miller does it when her skin is beyond perfect anyway?
Okay, the last one was probably just me, but you get the point.
I asked my Facebook friends what they thought of the initiative.
The overwhelming response was if it’s raising money for breast cancer research then it’s a kick-ass campaign.
If it’s not, then it’s a bit of a waste.
While there is no doubt the #nomakeupselfie paid dividends overseas – it raised £8 million in a week for Cancer Research UK – there was a lot of concern Australians were missing the point.
One of my friends’ biggest criticisms of the #nomakeupselfie campaign is that although it has people talking, they’re talking about the wrong things.
She argues we should be talking about the importance of self-breast examinations and providing money for research.
While I agree wholeheartedly, I’m not going to slam people for participating in the campaign either.
I know many of my friends participated for the ‘right’ reasons. Many donated to a cancer foundation.
And I thought they looked beautiful doing it.
I took my own #nomakeupselfie on Saturday morning – partially because I expected a ‘friend’ to tag me in the challenge, as it’s no secret I rarely leave the house without wearing at least some form of foundation and mascara.
I didn’t post the photo, because it made me feel uncomfortable – and not just because I don’t think I look all that amazing when I wake up.
I realised how lucky I was that whether or not to post a make-up-free photo was the toughest decision I had to make that morning, while thousands of women were facing things I couldn’t even contemplate, such as chemotherapy, losing their hair – or worse, their breasts.
Love it or loathe it, the #nomakeupselfie campaign has us thinking about and talking about breast cancer.
Regardless of how you feel about selfies, you can make a difference by donating to Breast Cancer Network Australia at bcna.org.au or by calling 1800 500 258.
Because if we’re sitting back complaining and not donating, I think we’re still missing the point.
Follow Sarah on Twitter - @SarahScully29