Duck Season

In the last few years, a photographic phenomenon enacted predominantly by young females has emerged: the duckface.

Before I get to anything too political here, let me explain to you the psychology behind the duckface. Girls like to look pretty in pictures - after all, presumably if a photo is being taken it is likely to be viewed by others, and with the number of social media sites to which a photo is likely to be posted, it could be seen by potentially hundreds of people. People whose opinions we care about. So understandably, we want to look attractive. Nothing wrong there. Generally candids are not the best way to go with this goal in mind, so a pose must be chosen (a smile being the go to). However, what if the subject or subjects of the photo are at a party or very casual setting, at which it would look odd or uncomfortable to pose a smile? For example, if I’m laying in bed with my glasses on just after a shower and want to send the message “Just chilling at home,” it might look a little odd for me to slap on a big cheesy grin. But if this snapchat is being sent someone with whom I’m not necessarily comfortable seeing me at my worst, I don’t want to pull a big face either. So I purse my lips for a casual silly face, that doesn’t contort any other part of my face, so I can still look cute and somewhat candid.

So was born the duckface.

Now if it seems odd to you that I just wrote a paragraph explaining why many girls put on a specific face in photos, it is. And herein lies the purpose of this piece.

So why is the duckface such a big deal? How on earth could the face that girls choose to make in a photo that is neither obscene nor offensive, disgusting nor demeaning, have any possible effect on other people? This can’t possibly cause any real controversy, right?

oh

oh dear

oh my. Well we wouldn’t want to look “retatrded” would we?

No, the duckface has risen to fame as an instant pass to ridicule and demean any girl who should dare participate in the degrading and idiotic act of…. Making a face in a photo????

Let’s examine the duckface backlash for a minute. What do these images in particular have in common? Well first of all, they’re all hideously cruel, and are using a face that a girl is making as an excuse to very personally attack them. Secondly, they all assume that the duckface is made exclusively for male consumption, and that how a woman appears in any given photo is for male pleasure.

On top of these clearly over-the-top images, duckface hate is everywhere. One of my favorite pastimes when I am winding down before bed is browsing Imgur, an image sharing website. A constant presence is the imposition that if a girl in an image is making a duckface, she is instantly ridiculed. A not uncommon comment is “The only acceptable duckface,” in reference to any image that actually has a duck in it, stating that duckfaces are not only unattractive, they are unacceptable. 

So are these people leading the crusade against duckfaces just Internet randoms - the same ones perhaps that frequent sadistic sub reddits and leave those incoherent and nasty youtube comments for no reason that we all hate? 

Unfortunately no. I recently saw this post from an ex boyfriend, a self proclaimed feminist:

And upon tweeting about my dismay over the war on duckface and how absurd I find the whole thing, I received this reply, from a progressive, liberal, intelligent, friend of mine:

The duckface is one of the few issues that no one talks about in the context of a feminist issue, it’s exempt from even self proclaimed feminists like these friends of mine to see as something worth concern. The truth is, the act of restricting duckfacing itself is not the issue, as duckfacing itself is not an essential part of female life, but it is a glaring example of a bigger problem. 

The duckfacing fiasco illuminates a huge part of female oppression perfectly:

Men have taken something that have nothing to do with them, and forbidden women to do it because they don’t like it.

I can speak from personal experience in saying that every time I make a duckface in a photo it is not to look hot for men, and even if it were, couldn’t they just ignore it? Why do they have to forbid me to do it all together, lest I be inviting people to call me a an idiot, a whore, or some misspelled version of an offensive term like “retarded?” 

The answer is simple: Because they can. Because they don’t enjoy looking at photos that they don’t personally find attractive, and so those photos shouldn’t exist. Because they as a group in society have the power to make women believe that they are actually doing something wrong by making a certain face in a photo. 

Think about how powerful the patriarchy is: They can take something as non-offensive and ordinary as making a face in a photo, and actually cause men and women alike to believe that his face is an indication of stupidity, promiscuity, low self esteem, or any number of negative qualities that have nothing to do with the face you make in a photo.

Let me repeat that. Men have decided that the face that women make in a picture is an indication of their intelligence.

And that if you make this face, you are opening yourself up to be a target of public ridicule.

Well I’m not buying it.

The face you make in a photograph doesn’t have to be for the benefit of anyone but you. If someone doesn’t like how you look in a photo, guess what? It’s their job to move on from it, because it’s really not a huge inconvenience for someone to not like the way someone looks in a facebook photo. 

It is not your job to look good for everyone in every photo on the internet. 

And just like how if someone doesn’t like your hair, your makeup, your boobs, your clothes, or anything else you choose to put on or do with your body, it’s their issue, and not yours. 

And let me let you in on a little secret: The face a girl makes in a photograph (hold on to your hats folks) has nothing to do with (and i know this is a difficult concept) her intelligence, (wow amazing) her decision making abilities (shocking), her self esteem (what how could that be), or literally anything about her besides what she looks like in that photo. Yep, it’s true. 

And the fact that I have to explain that to anyone is downright tragic. 

So I leave you with my very own strong, independent duckface.

Quack quack ladies, and happy duckfacing!