40+ year old women posting selfies on social media - is this a new trend?

[bogeywoman]

Quite a few of my friends/acquaintances have recently started posting very posed selfies (without much in the way of a description) on FB and instagram. Women who are well into their 40s, married with children. Is this some sort of lockdown related insecurity? I find it so strange.

I dont mind selfies, it’s when it’s quite clear they have used a filter that boggles me. Some one on my friends list looks completely different in real life to the filtered pics.

And then there is the dreaded filter with little animal ears ect.. it’s weird ..

I only post them to occasionally update my profile picture. Nice to have a photo of me that I actually like.

Wow, I'm glad you're not my friend! How judgmental.

I went to Rome for my 40th with my mum (and no kids). I took LOADS of selfies stood in front of the Pope's giant house and stuff. There are so few pictures of me and it's nice to have a few to look back on. I dont really care if people think I'm too old, when I was younger I used to worry about that stuff which is why there are so few photos of me.

Has anyone seen "baddiewinkle" on Insta? She's in her 90s, posts tons of selfies and is one of the coolest people I've ever seen.

Into their FORTIES?
How disgusting, they should be sat at home in their flannelette nighties not trolloping themselves on social media!!

Wow, what is it with women tearing each other down all the time. I’d be embarrassed if I was you OP. Does a post like this make you feel a bit better about yourself? Is that it? Just let them be. And no, I’m not one of those 40+women who pose for selfies 🙄

Wasn't there a site once called something like Readers Wives? lots of women wearing Ann Somers 'lingerie', suspender belts,pushed up bras, etc, 'provocatively' posed? That was our fave at school - not for the wives, more for the hideous headboards and wallpaper. A chandelier was Dix points. Great fun

I'm in my 40s lol and just doing my WTF face now
Is there a cut off age we have to act like so called proper grown ups and do proper grown up things? As I feel I missed a memo somewhere

Ha! There are photos of me on my fb, because it's all about me. Me, me, me! I'm not just a mum, I'm a grandma! I'll post what the hell I like.

I’ve never posted or taken a selfie.

Clearly given that I’m over 40 it’s amazing that I know how to operate my phone.

Has anyone seen "baddiewinkle" on Insta?
She’s so confident and happy with herself, it’s lovely. I follow Linda Rodin who’s in her 70s - she is literally my style icon and posts lots of selfies. I don’t think selfies are (or should be) limited to under 40s!

Anyone of any age posting selfies boggles my brain, it all seems very attention seeking but I am camera shy and avoid being in photographs full stop.

It's odd to assume they're insecure. Lots of creative industries from artists to writers encourage their 'talent' to post selfies, to build a social media presence. Unless you think women who are 40+ should stay hidden at home?
Are you a woman who is 40+? I'm trying to grasp what genuine reason you could have for being so bemused that 'women' use social media. Fwiw men of 40+ also post selfies. I don't know if you'll need smelling salts to cope with that revelation

Has anyone seen "baddiewinkle" on Insta? She's in her 90s, posts tons of selfies and is one of the coolest people I've ever seen

No, but she sounds ace

@RUOKHon

You’re going to get a ton of replies saying that it’s none of your business, if you don’t like it then don’t follow, and if they’re happy then let them crack on.

But while all of that may be true, I still agree with you. It’s weird.

I also think it is weird and I was quite pleased with how I looked at that age; I just dislike exhibitionism.

There was a thread on here a couple of days ago about a woman dissing fashion and various things on facebook, who posts horrible pictures of herself and talks nonsense! I looked a few times and it was gross. However she has many supporters.

Each to their own I suppose. I wouldn't say age has much to do with it, it's a mindset. Imagine your kids' friends and their parents seeing the photographs! Not appropriate in my view because these things don't just disappear but - as long as you don't do it, don't worry.

It's othing new.
I have friends in their late 50s, early 60d that have been doing this for years.
As far as I can see it's a bit of fun.
🤷‍♀️

Maybe their husband and kids take rubbish photos of them and they want to add a nice updated profile pic? Maybe they want to show off their new hairdo? I don’t know. What does it matter. 40+ women have been taking selfies for years. We just started out doing it with disposable cameras we got developed at boots instead of our phones!

There's some bullshit on MN.
Women over 40 do something they like not causing any harm to anyone else yet they are called narcissistic, tragic and god know what else.
How about 'poster bitches nastily about her friends?'
I bet she wouldnt say anything to their face.

You sound very judgemental, I personally think it’s wonderful. Why can’t a woman over 40 be confident and take pride in herself and take a selfie? Since when did being married, and a mother ever mean that women could no longer take a selfie either? I’m in my 20’s and post selfies all the time, and I’m not insecure (quite the opposite- yes I’ve broken the ultimate British rule I dare to be confident and actually like myself 🤣) and most people my age who take selfies feel the same. I hope that when I get to be - as beautifully described above ‘the wrong side of 40’’ this disgusting attitude that is designed to make women invisible post-40 dies out. It really upsets me that my mum and all her friends feel like they can’t do or wear something just because they are over 40. Literally who cares? Life is way too short.

My parents have hardly any photos of themselves in their 30's, 40's. I'd love it if I could look back on their photos now.

OP YANBU - women over 40 should clearly be neither heard nor seen.

If you didn't mind people in their 30s doing this a few years ago, why are you bothered by them doing it now they are in their 40s?

At any rate, it's not like people in their 40s have only recently discovered the possibilities of selfies. phone selfies have been around for what? a decade now? a decade and a bit? almost 2 decades? I really can't recall when phones got cameras. I know I've had one for 8 years and we weren't early adopters. I was well over 40 at the time though, and have posted selfies since then. I have seen people all ages doing it all along. Fewer and fewer in older decades, but all of that will change as we go along and those devoted to the habit when young will carry on with it.

I find it odd too.

I appreciate that youngsters are far too obsessed with themselves and love posting selfies for the number of ‘likes’ but surely by your mid thirties, you’ve grown out of that phase of being desperate for attention from people you don’t really know.

I also think it is weird and I was quite pleased with how I looked at that age; I just dislike exhibitionism.

So if you are out with friends/family or on holiday and take a photo of the people you are with at the event/place, is that ok? Or is it unlikeable exhibitionism? If a passerby offers to take the photo of your group so you can be in the photo too, is that ok? Or is it unlikeable exhibitionism? Or is it only if you use newly emerged technology to include yourself in the photo with your friends/family or at the event/place of interest that it's exhibitionism? What if you set the camera on a ledge and use a 90s style camera timer, so you can run around and get in the photo?