babe • Jul 13 2016

The rise and rise of the FYIAH photo

It stands for ‘fuck you, I’m hot’

How many times have you created a convoluted excuse for sharing an absolute fire photo of yourself? It’s summer and opportunities for the perfect profile picture, the ultimate advertisement of how all-round-great you are, are endless, but you’re afraid to post it outright, because people might think you’re conceited (god forbid). What follows is a frustrating charade of convincing a friend to upload it as part of a “oh my god so fun” album and wait until you’re tagged, or creating a painfully obvious, painstakingly curated back story for the photo so nobody can judge you.

Why bother?

There’s no real reason for this pic to be here I just like it

Why not just embrace it and post it and let the likes roll in and indulge in some well-deserved self love? Recently, blog Man Repeller coined the best term for the struggle and pleasure of posting pics like these: the fuck you I’m hot photo (or FYIAH). Man Repeller’s Amelia Diamond identifies the practice as a perfect form of payback for showing off to an ex: “According to Beyoncé, the best revenge is your paper. And since social media impressions are this generation’s truest form of currency, that middle finger of yours is now worth at least a million bucks”. But it can be more than that. Basically, it’s the perfect excuse to ditch the excuses, to say fuck off, fuck you, I look great.

Eleni Mitzali, Journalist

I spent the day lounging on this T-Swiftesque swan and dammit my ass looks great in this photo. I made my mom take at least 10 of them so it’s only fair to her they get shared. I don’t give a fuck about much and the last thing is going to be about posting a sexy photo.

Erica Spaeth, University of Pittsburgh

I took this photo because I’ve worked hard to be as fit as I am and getting fitter. Yes, my butt is very visible. Yes, I have a “thick” physique. But you know what? I love myself, and I love this photo.

Ru Chulkova, University of Sussex

I had been up for nearly 48 hours writing my dissertation last minute obv. I was about to hand it in and went to pee on the way, and (since everyone was posting pics with theirs) I decided to pose with my babe topless, in the toilet, naturally.

Layla Faruque, Manchester Metropolitan University

This is an absolute shameless selfie but my friend did my makeup for me and it looked amazing and she is a makeup artist so I wanted to promote her work. Look at that pout – oh my god, great.

Zoe Weaver, Ohio State University

I had just done a yoga workout and was feeling myself. I was also pumped because my Calvin Klein sports bra gave me extra confidence, so naturally I snapped picture of it, not giving a single fuck about all the people who texted me because it was on my story saying things about it.

Hayley Gola, UConn

This was last summer, and I had been doing a new workout routine and was actually seeing results. I’ve spent my entire life hating my body, and was finally starting to feel good about myself. My friend snapped this photo of me, and I couldn’t just let it sit in my camera roll. It needed to be seen.

Jennie Gale, Journalist

We’d ended up on a weekend away in DC and it was hot, I have the burns to prove it. After moving to the US and eating everything for six months then getting a seriously bad hair cut and color, I wasn’t feeling good about my appearance at all.

This was taken after an actual afternoon without working – which never happens – on a weekend away we’d earned. Straight from the pool, no make-up but I look good, and in that moment didn’t give a shit about my hair or body – we just celebrated the success we’d had which meant we could have a day of nothing by the pool.

Lydia Baxter, Cardiff University

I literally struggle so hard to get up in the morning. It is a well known fact that I’m a late riser but yesterday I was up and ready by 8am. The sun was out, it was hot af and I was feeling great. Of course I took a selfie.

Want us to feature your FYIAH photo? Send it to [email protected], and we’ll add you in.

@rosielanners

Aziz Ansari talks about the sexual misconduct allegations against him for the first time

‘I hope I’ve become a better person’

by babe

In a gig on Monday night, Aziz Ansari talked for the first time about the allegations of sexual misconduct made against him last year. During a massively oversubscribed gig at Village Underground in New York, Ansari said he hopes he has "become a better person." Vulture first reported the comments. The site said Ansari led…

Instagram now tells people when you screenshot, so just throw away your whole damn phone

Who thought this was a good idea!?

by Caroline Phinney

Lately, Instagram has sucked for a lot of reasons: posts are no longer in chronological order, influencers are reportedly being screwed out of money, and now, on top of everything else, Instagram alerts someone when you take a screenshot. Is nothing sacred?! Long gone are the days of snapping pics of your ‘friends’ and then…

People are slamming Bumble for an ‘abusive’ ad campaign involving painting endangered elephants

“No one should even consider climbing on an elephant’s back”

by Nian Hu

Bumble recently launched in India and celebrated with a launch party at City Palace in Jaipur. Instagram posts and stories reveal that the CEO Whiteny Wolfe Herd and various celebrities were in attendance. Several photos of the event show elephants being ridden with the Bumble logo painted on their faces. According to PETA Executive Vice…