What Men Really Think About Your Overly Edited Photos
Do men notice your edited selfies? Do they even care?
illustrissima/ Shutterstock I can't remember the last time I posted a selfie to social media without editing it just a little bit.
This goes double with dudes.
I'm not saying that I go nuts with the FaceTune, turning my selfies into photographs that look more like portraits of sexy aliens than they do of my normal sexy self, but let's be real, sometimes a girl's gotta slap a filter on a pic, you know what I'm saying?
But just like there are men who don't like it when women wear too much makeup, there are men who don't like it when women do too much filtering. That doesn't mean we have to care what they think, sexy is as sexy feels.
But it IS a phenomenon and one I've always been just a little bit curious about.
Are there men out there who get weak in the knees when they see a sexy selfie that's been edited to oblivion? Are there men who swipe left on Tinder when a girl goes too far with the editing?
Do men even notice when we edit our selfies a smidge? I asked a group of anonymous men what they thought, and they were more than happy to share.
Here is what men really think about your overly-edited photos:
1. It depends
"Depends on how severely edited. I am not a big fan of artifice, but I get applying a filter to fix bad lighting."
2. They don't care
"If done to be artistic and creative, it's awesomeness. I do not care one way or the other. It's their self to display."
3. Depends on what kind of edit
"While the content of a selfie might make me think a certain way, whether or not it has been edited depends on what the edits were. If she edited it to put cat ears on her head that might make me feel one way. If she edited it to smooth her skin I probably wouldn't notice."
4. It doesn't bother them
"Doesn't bother me — her pic her choice! I just try to accept the person in front of me wholly."
5. Natural is better
"I don't like them! I like women to be natural. Men should love you for your natural and true beauty. Don't change yourself just because some men are mean."
6. Whatever makes you happy
"Doesn't matter. It's whatever makes her happy and confident."
7. Don't even notice it
"I've never noticed editing in a selfie, and I'm not sure I would even if I were looking for it."
8. It's nothing new
"I mean... am I supposed to give the least little care what people do with their photos? We act like 'selfies' are some kind of new cultural phenomenon, but people have been doing it since mass-market cameras first existed. And people have been editing photos since digital editing existed. None of this is new."
9. Ignore the haters
"I have to assume this question is being asked because some insecure dudes somewhere opened their stupid mouths to complain about someone's selfies, and I'm pretty sure the best response is to just ignore that kind of behavior until they get bored and find some other pointless thing to focus on."
10. It can be confusing
"I'm not sure I would notice that it was edited. It's more likely that I would notice someone using ideal angles and lighting to promote only their best features. Sometimes that's confusing when I meet them in real life."
11. Women can do whatever they want
"Women should post whatever selfies of themselves they like, and that makes them feel good."
12. A little egotistical
"Selfies, even the jokey ones, seem fairly egotistical. And I suppose if I'm fine with that, I can't really get my boxer briefs in a wad about edited selfies. It's not that much different than wearing makeup or, you know, taking a shower."
13. Do people edit photos?
"I didn't even know you could edit selfies. How often does this happen? Are we just talking about lame Snapchat filters?"
14. It's admirable
"I have no issue with it. If anything, if it's a well-done shot, I'll admire their skill and creativity."
15. It's pretentious
"If they are conventionally attractive and I don't know them I kinda roll my eyes. That sorta feels like showing off how much one can bench-press, or how fast they can solve a Rubik's Cube. It's a celebration of winning the gene-pool lottery, and kinda pretentious. If they are not considered attractive by conventional standards (cover of a magazine) I smile and think, "This person knows what authenticity is all about." Celebrating yourself in a world that would otherwise erase you is a courageous thing."
16. Never noticed it
"I don't think I've ever noticed that a selfie was edited."
Rebecca Jane Stokes is an editor, freelance writer, former Senior Staff Writer for YourTango, and the former Senior Editor of Pop Culture at Newsweek. Her bylines have appeared in Fatherly, Gizmodo, Yahoo Life, Jezebel, Apartment Therapy, Bustle, Cosmopolitan, SheKnows, and many others.