The GWL are excited to be exhibiting Beyond the Selfie, an incredible collection of self-portraits compiled by a group of talented young Scottish women exploring the diverse concept of female selfhood in the modern world. Including characters both factual and fictual, future and past, the collection takes inspiration from Jo Spence’s pioneering works held at the Still’s Gallery in Edinburgh.
Beyond the Selfie is an immersive installation, innovative, reflective and, for me, almost invasive in its intimacy. It raised questions in my mind over the attitudes to young females, and millenials in general, in today’s ever progressing world. As a part of that generation myself, I have often heard it said in the media and by older demographics that mine is a narcissistic generation, selfish and ignorant. From my experience, however, it couldn’t be more different.
As figures I took from a TIME.com survey explicity display, millennial women such as myself and the ladies of Beyond the Selfie care deeply about wide varieties of social issues, often stepping outside of their comfort zones to identify and involve themselves with causes that do not personally affect them. In particular, they support social causes around education, gender and sexual discrimination and healthcare at higher rates than the generations before them; 82% of millennial women identified themselves as passionate about a range of social issues from “improving public education” to “ending racial discrimination” to “reforming the current American healthcare system”—compared to those aged 35-50 (75%) and 50 – 60 (78%). Furthermore, 68% of Millennial women identified themselves as passionate about LGBT rights compared to just 51% and 49% of women in both other respective categories.
The combination of principle toward cause and thetechnological ability/exposure my generation is exhibiting will ultimately push changes in various issues, including LGBT rights for which we have seen them already drive profound changes in the past ten years. Instead of viewing Beyond the Selfie as an exhibition in the narcissism and self-adoration of young women, I instead view it as the documentation of a passionate generation of women that will change the world and, through their photography, be remembered forever.
Beyond the Selfie is exhibiting from the 7th – 15th September. Truly an experience not to be missed!
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