Long before Tinder us women took our selfies with our phones held high. It was all about those angles, and we knew exactly what light to use to get the best out of our kohl lined eyes and sweeping side fringes.
Well, according to a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada,posted in the Frontiers of Psychology journal, there’s a reason we take our selfies from above. The researchers examined selfies from 900 heterosexual participants, and then screen shotted over 500 Tinder profile images to see which category they fell into. The two categories were images taken from above, and images taken from below.
The hypothesis before the study was that men take their images from below, as that angel demonstrated wanted to appear ‘larger’ and more ‘dominant’ or ‘powerful. Whereas women, who took them from above wanted to appear ‘smaller,’ ‘submissive’ and ‘less powerful.’
The results showed that 25% of women took their images from above, whereas only 16% of men did this – and 40% of men took their pictures from below. So what does it mean? Women are ‘less powerful’ because we’re more likely to take our images from above?
We think not, and we’re going to have to call BS on this study. Let’s revert back to circa 2009 when MySpace was in it’s hey-day and above selfie shots were all the rage, we took them from above because that’s how you get your best angels, not because we want to appear small. Also, who takes their photo from below?** Exhibit A** is me taking an image from below. Look at my chin, or rather chins. Look at how unhappy I look. LOOK AT ME. I do not look good.
Exhibit B is me from above. Ok, granted I still don’t look great because it’s Monday morning and who looks put together on a Monday morning? But I actually have a neck and the lighting is better because my angled towards the light, not below it. Yes I am look smaller, but is that a bad thing? I also think I look more powerful because the light is creating a youthful glow around my face, like an angel. But not, because I'm not one. Sorry study, but we’ll forever take above selfies.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.