The curious case of the Selfies – Part 1.

Every now and then I log on to youtube and watch as many videos as I can. I check out the recent updates of my favourite youtubers, I watch some football videos, I check out some old episodes of the shows bygone, music videos, celebrity interviews, etc. This time though, I had some food for thought while I watched this video by The Fine Bros. where youtubers react to selfies.

This video describes the reactions of famous youtubers to a viral video of a girl making adorable, funny faces while taking selfies. It further features the views of these youtubers to selfies!

They go on to discuss how selfies seem like the most “vain, self absorbed thing to do” and yet most of us indulge in it anyway. Tyler Oakley, a prominent youtuber asserts how he approves of people being self-obsessed and how people must be self-obsessed.

This got me thinking. The thing is, while I am not a big fan of cocky, overconfident people who are so full of themselves that whatever they do or say spells arrogance, I am also highly repulsed by the idea of people drowning themselves in a big abyss of self-loath. As much as you would want to sympathize with the latter, it must get really, really hard for one to constantly deal with a highly insecure person on a daily basis. I am in no way denigrating people with low self esteem but what I am basically trying to express is my disgust at how media has very coyly dignified insecurities. You know, damsel in distress? Or how a woman gets magnificently flattered if a guy says “you’re not like the other women”?
Yeah, all of that nonsense.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting that people who go through self-hatred issues or the ones with insecurity problems don’t need help to better their lives. In fact, I believe they DO need help and they do not get much of it. Such people ought to learn to love themselves. They should not be made to rely on someone, anyone, to love and protect them. They should be taught to love and protect themselves first. Their insecurities need to be eradicated first. They need to be shown that they are beautiful creatures, worthy of respect, not just the respect of others but that of their own too; that they are valuable individuals. Sure they need to be loved, jut like each one of us; we all crave for love. However, they should not and do not need someone else’s love to pull them out of their abyss. They should only need their own love and faith on themselves to elevate themselves out of that pit of depression.

We all have insecurities, we are only human. Even the most conceited human out there has some insecurity troubling them. It is hard to swipe off these insecurities. Submitting to these could even falter the most confident person. We should never let these insecurities get the better of us. We are so much beyond these layers of insecurities and flaws, let them not cave us in. We all have insecurities, I refrain. Not having any is abnormal. However, our life should never be all about these insecurities. If they are, shed them and learn to love yourself.

Thus when you think of it in this way, being self obsessed or being full of yourself isn’t all that bad. Of course it shouldn’t be to the extent that makes the person sitting next to you bulge their eyes out at your brazen overconfidence but perhaps it should make them admire you for your brazen confidence. It goes to show that while such self-obsessed people could be overbearing, at least they acknowledge the worth of self, overdoing it often, but still. Excess of anything is a vice, I strongly believe in that. Even so, would I rather be excessively insecure, loathing myself or would I rather be excessively cocky? If I had a choice, I’d pick the latter.

This is something that I strongly believe in : Love yourself, respect yourself, admire yourself and just accept yourself. DO this and see how the world’s perspective of you changes overnight.

While appreciating Tyler Oakley’s assertion was one major part of my thoughts, here is another.

Over a glass of cold coffee…

I went out to grab some cold coffee with my Mum last evening. We went to this café in the vicinity; extremely hip (with bands playing occasionally) and seemingly popular. The café, as is usual, was pervaded by college-going students and/or young employees, etc.
So as my Mum and I seated ourselves to a table, I happened to overhear a couple (who I’m presuming were a couple. Either that or they were wooing one another. Thus, soon-to-be-couple) seated at the adjacent table. There was some discussion on brands and attaining “original” branded goods at cheaper rates. This piqued my interest. Now, now. Don’t judge me. It wasn’t like I was eavesdropping. They really were loud; it would have been hard to ignore their buzzing anyway. So the conversation, more or less, on these lines :

Man: You get branded stuffs, originals, at very low rates. This is what one’s agenda should be. To acquire such stuffs.
Woman: Umm, I don’t know. I’m anyway not brand conscious. I am not picky about anything, really.
Man: Yeah, but if you get branded goods and they are cheap too, why not take them?
Woman: I don’t know.
Man: Say for example, how much do a pair of Rayban glasses cost?
Woman: I don’t know. I have no idea about rates.

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The rest is a blur to me. Now, you may think that I possess an excellent mind for I recall their exact words. I actually do not. Words are mine, the implied meaning intact. Besides they were conversing in Hindi, anyway.

Why am I writing about this seemingly futile occurrence?
I am, because I thought and mused upon it.
My observations:
a. The woman seemed highly oblivious.
b. The man seemed highly pretentious.
c. I seem highly jobless.
d. There is an obvious stereotype about being brand-conscious!

What is meant by being brand conscious?
According to The Cambridge dictionary – being brand conscious means being  aware of popular brands and wanting to buy particular brands rather than others.

That is it. So essentially, you could talk about apparels, shoes, biscuits, jellies, chocolates, common salt, fragrances or notebooks. Any product these days boasts of a variety of options in a number of aspects, one of which is its brand. How is being brand conscious a bad thing? It’s not just the woman at the café. Oftentimes, I come across people claiming how brand ‘unconscious’ they are, as if it were a matter of pride. No, seriously. Am I missing something? Last I checked, having a preference in terms of the brands that we use: that we wear, that we eat, that we drink, was a good thing. Why is it that this adjective has undergone an evident transition, the meaning changing, from being cognizant to being utterly condescending?
Honestly, most people get affronted if you tell them that you are brand conscious. When I state that, neither am I insinuating anything about your or my financial situations, nor am I condescending and implying anything. Those who actually intend on doing that should stop. It’s not nice to be a snob. Did you miss your grade 2 moral values lesson?
Another thing that got me thinking was that most people today, especially the youth, fall prey to counterfeit products. Products which claim to be original but quite obviously are not. Most people purchase such products because of the peer pressure, to make a statement, to appear cool. As the man at the café mentioned, these are cheap too, affordable. People naturally would prefer buying fake products to the originals because of the cost. Some also believe that while the product is screaming out the (fake) brand name,  the differences between the original and the fake are hardly discernible to the common folklore.

My problem?
a. Aren’t counterfeit products actually illegal?
b. Seriously hon, anyone could tell that this ‘Guci’ bag is not real, especially when it is spelled that way.

So what do I have to say about all of this?
Honestly, I acknowledge how all the high-end luxury brands are extremely alluring and at the very same time, extremely exorbitant. Not everyone can afford them. Hence, be realistic. Choose a brand to satiate your urges that appropriately fits in your financial bracket. However, always indulge in genuine products. They may cost you more than an ersatz would, but they’d  definitely be worth the cash. Not only are genuine products endurable and high-quality, they provide complete consumer satisfaction. Some brands out there are so subtle with their products, they barely give an external indication of the brand. Now in all honestly, wouldn’t you want to choose a branded product to feel good about it, yourself?! I think that definitely trumps showing it off, doesn’t it?

One should refrain from counterfeit products. Purchasing a counterfeit product is like glitter, and mind you, all that glitters is definitely not gold. It could be aluminium foil too. Okay, bad metaphor. Agreed.

So there you go. My rather wordy take on this small, seemingly futile occurence. Be brand conscious. Or don’t be brand conscious (and really mean it, sans any feeling of contempt). Just be yourself. 😀