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1-Page Summary of Selfie

Overview

Shakespeare’s character Iago says that it is not a good idea to wear your heart on your sleeve. Soon, the birds will be pecking at it.

Our society is obsessed with posting selfies on social media. People are trying to portray their best selves in these photos, and they’re looking for ways to make themselves look good. Some of them will go out of their way to eat healthy meals or lose weight so that they can post an appealing picture.

Narcissism is at play here. That’s not surprising, given that we take 100 billion selfies a year! But there’s more to it than just that: Our ideal self has its own unique history, which includes the ancient Greeks’ image of the perfectly chiseled torso and nineteenth-century society’s obsession with self-improvement.

In this article, you’ll learn about the history of self-esteem and how it was introduced to America in the 1980s. You’ll also find out why some people think that flashy cars are impressive, even if they don’t want to admit it. Finally, you’ll discover how being overweight is actually a sign of success in some cultures.

Big Idea #1: The way we think about our bodies is heavily influenced by the cultures we live in.

According to the author, one of the quickest ways to feel bad about yourself is looking in the mirror. He judges his appearance and thinks that he should be slimmer than he is. However, this notion comes from society’s pressure on people to look a certain way.

Physical ideals, like body shape and weight, are influenced by the culture in which we live. In Western countries, people value a slender figure and muscular physique. However, that’s not true for all cultures; some nations appreciate plumpness as a sign of high status. The physical ideals Americans hold today have roots in ancient Greece where mythical figures were depicted with chiseled muscles and perfect pelvic v-lines on statues.

Because our ideas about what we should look like are still shaped by people who lived thousands of years ago, we may not be happy with how we look.

Culture has a profound impact on how we see ourselves. The way people think is also shaped by their surroundings, and that includes formal education. Therefore, the West thinks differently than other cultures, because they’re taught to analyze information in different ways.

Some people live in isolated areas and don’t have access to the same education we do. They might not be able to analyze information the way we can. For example, when Sophie Scott asked a group of Himba people how they felt about certain sounds, their answers were different than ours because they’re taught differently.

The way we think about the world is influenced by our culture and society.

Big Idea #2: We pay attention to and model ourselves on popular and successful individuals.

Jesus, Confucius and Kim Kardashian are all influential people. They have a lot of followers and admirers. So how do they get that way? Well, research shows that we pick out potential cultural leaders by looking for cues indicating success. For example, our brains subconsciously start imitating the pitch and intonation of the most dominant person’s voice in any social situation.

There’s also evidence that this starts at a young age. We start imitating people we see as being especially competent when we’re only 14 months old! That sets the tone for what we value and how to achieve it throughout our lives. As adults, we begin to pay attention to things like designer clothes and fast cars in order to show others how successful we are.

This means that status symbols matter. We might not realize it, but they have an effect on us.