In a New York Times article, Dan Zak discussed our generation's new addiction and preoccupation with taking "selfies" and the constant posting of these images on the Internet . The use of Facebook and Instagram was replaced by selfies and indulgence to make people feel valued and created a new way of conforming to society. In the article, psychologist Sarah J. Gervais said, “Such social media portrayals are as good for empowerment as they are for self-objectification” (2013). The term 'selfie' has become so popular in recent years that it has become Oxford's word of the year with a 17,000% increase since last year, giving us a new way to label our fascination for oneself (Zak, 2013). The author talks about our societies' new self-obsession and how selfies allow us to share every detail of our lives and express the value we find in ourselves and others. There were two perspectives in this article, the first being that selfies are a new way of conforming to our narcissistic society and the second, that Instagram offers resistance to the pressures to be perfect from traditional media. Related to this article, our class discussed the topic of sexism and the impact of gender microaggressions on both sexes. Looking at this article and the course materials, there is a lot of overlap between restrictive gender roles, denial of sexism, sexual objectification, and benevolent sexism when looking at the use of selfies and what they mean for men and women. This article focuses on the discussion of objectification of both genders, but primarily on the self-expression of men and women and women's attempt to escape the pressures of gender microaggressions. With the new forms of social self... middle of paper ... these images are published up to the minute. There were two perspectives in this article by Dan Zak, one being that selfies are a new way to conform to our narcissistic society and secondly, that Instagram offers resistance to the pressures to be perfect from traditional media. I agree with the view that selfies are a new way of conforming to our society and openly objectifying and placing gender stereotypes on both sexes. Looking at this article and the course materials, there is an overlap between restrictive gender roles, denial of sexism, sexual objectification, and benevolent sexism when it comes to the use of selfies and social media. Our society is so accustomed to restrictive gender roles that new generations tell themselves what they consider perfect and pressure themselves to become these sex objects and give in to benevolent sexism..