#ChallengeAccepted Social Media Movement Inspires Women To Post Black & White Photos Of Themselves
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Black and white photos have taken over your social media feeds lately with hashtags celebrating female empowerment.
CBS2's Jessica Moore uncovered the real meaning behind these glamour shots meant to support and inspire.
What started with a handful of celebrities has expanded to women of every demographic, from all over the world.
The premise of #ChallengeAccepted is that the photos promote female empowerment and that nominating friends to take part in the campaign is a way for women to support each other.
"I think it's really exciting because historically, because women were somewhat kept out of the workforce, it used to be that women had to really compete with each other because there was a limited number of spots available for women at the top and now, I think that's really changing and women are easing up on the sense of need to be competitive with one another," said psychologist Dr. Chloe Carmichael.
And while many of the photos look like model-caliber headshots, some women have been brave enough to post raw, unfiltered selfies showing them at their most vulnerable.
"During pregnancy and postpartum, there are so many times where we feel alone and I thought that by sharing this and sharing my story, it would remind people that they're not alone and that we're all in this together," said Instagram influencer Jennifer Perrault.
The campaign is not without controversy.
Author Bess Kalb tweeted, "Sorry I missed your call. Women on Instagram started posting their most flattering selfies in black and white and calling it an 'empowerment challenge' and I threw my phone into the sea."
Kalb touches on a relevant point, did we miss the point of this challenge?
"It turns out that the current incarnation of this trend actually started in Turkey as kind of a pushback against the high rates of femicide in the country. So in Turkey, women are using it to kind of say, 'This is unacceptable. Women are being killed and we're going to do something about it,'" said Sarah Stiefvater from PureWow, a women's lifestyle website.
While most people agree women supporting women is never a bad thing, just posting a selfie doesn't cut it.
"It's incredible that something so seemingly insignificant as an Instagram trend can kind of lead you down this path of your opening eyes to injustices and saying what can I do about this," said Stiefvater.
A small step toward empowering the women in our own backyards and around the world.
So far, more than 5 million photos with #ChallengeAccepted have been uploaded to Instagram and Twitter.
