Image is a crucial site not only to represent and establish sexuality, but also to deconstruct the heteropatriarchal constructs of sexuality, which is why sexualized image has been and continues to be one of the most common features of contemporary scopophilic social media culture. Indeed, the spectacle of women to satisfy male scopophilia has been in vogue for centuries, but the exhibition and celebration of sexuality in a narcissistic way has become an object of mainstream branding or celebrity culture in 2010s. The rise of the selfie is inextricably linked to the emergence of this certain type of celebrity culture epitomized by Kim Kardashian. Here I return to the idea of ‘heroisation’ of the Renaissance artist through self-portraiture. …show more content…
Her famous selfies showcasing the body are not just mere photographs, instead they are outcome of ingenious PR exercise that advertises Kim K as a brand which resulted in publishing a book entitled Selfish6. In this category of image-economy that feeds solely on scopophilic consumer culture, a ‘body’ that is not snapped and shared with the diverse audience has zero worth. In order to remain on news, therefore, the celebrity keeps sharing her ‘private’ body via the selfie and undoubtedly, in Kardashian’s case nothing is more public than her private moments. Following this line of thought, the selfie phenomenon is not only a form of self-representation, but it is, to be exact, a visual response to the epitome of ‘ideal’ beauty nurtured and promoted by the social media. Citing Tifentale, Frosh clarifies, “instantaneous distribution of an image via Instagram and similar social networks is what makes the phenomenon of the selfie significantly different from its earlier photographic precursors” (1611). With the growth of social media, it has become a common notion that posting selfies mean instant likes which adds plus points to the selfesteem, which is why the Millennials keep sharing selfies of every so-called