The dramatic rise in popularity of the so-called selfie—the
self-taken photograph—strikes me as a symbolic way of understanding a dominant
aspect of social behavior in the world. The selfie has, I suggest, further
encouraged the inflation of the ego and spawned narcissistic attitudes. In
making it chic to aim the lens of a camera at oneself, the selfie has helped to
empower the cult of the self, even a form of self-worship.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not a sourpuss out to scold people
for cleaving to a fad. I’m interested in the craze at all only because I have
recognized in it a metaphoric handle for explaining a particular malaise in
Nigeria.
I have often argued that Nigeria is a form of peacock society,
a society where the show-off is venerated. Anybody who attends a Nigerian party
and sees the way people dress—men and women—would understand this aspect of
social display. From the agbada that sweeps the floor to the gele (head wrap)
that scrapes the sky, the scene at a Nigerian party often looks like a human
attempt to recreate a gathering of peacocks. There’s the lushness of the
Nigerian party scene, its unapologetic celebration of color, its unabashed air
of gaudy exhibitionism, and the infectious gaiety of its atmosphere.
