A new era.

Skip snapchat filters and editing apps, students choose to embrace their real selves as they begin to use social media as a platform for self-love and body positive expression.

“For a long time I have thought selfies are a great way to capture confidence,” senior Anna Mondschean says. “It’s gratifying and free, like a celebration of you.”

Anna, with the help of friends, kick started the ‘#normalizeselflove’ trend that spread throughout the school last year. The campaign was meant to encourage girls to accept their flaws and insecurities and not be afraid to love themselves.

In today’s society, the ideal standard of beauty for a woman reaches impossible heights. Standards are so high that not even celebrities fulfill them without injections, surgery, or crazy diets. But of course for those of us who don’t make millions of dollars, there’s an app for that.

Facetune, the second most popular app in the apple store, allows users to alter and enhance images and selfies to ensure that they always look their best in every picture. For just $3.99 one can whiten teeth, change facial features, slim waist, and even apply makeup.

“There are so many harmful aspects that come with editing your body in pictures,” body image blogger Allison Epstein says. “For starters, you start to not like what you actually look like in the mirror because you can’t edit yourself in real life.”

“We are constantly seeing celebrities, models, and even our favorite brands telling us that size zero is normal and being skinnier is the only thing that is beautiful,” junior Bailey Bossert says. “I started my instagram account confidence doodles when I felt at an all time low and was holding onto helping others as my only hope.”

Bailey’s Instagram page, @Confidencedoodles, shares selfies sent to her that evoke confidence. She uses the app youdoodle to surround the image in colorful etchings. The brightly colored drawings include positive quotes, inspiring words and other small doodles such as stars and flowers, and the trend spread rapidly

“I used to use social media as a way to brag about all the fun things I was doing with my life,” says Bailey. “But when confidence doodles became huge, I realized just how great of a resource it is and just how dumb I would be for using it to do anything other than help people. Now I make sure every single post I make is inspiring, and brings out people’s better self.”

As the media becomes a bigger and bigger part of our daily lives, so does a demand for change. Brands like Dove have jumped on the bandwagon early kick starting new campaigns that show real women with real women body types.

Additionally the brands have kickstarted their own foundations such as, The Dove Self-Esteem Project, which began in 2004 the project’s mission is to educate girls around the world on self-esteem and body positivity. These companies promotion of self-love have gone viral around the Internet and empower young women everyday. For more information on go to www.dove.com