Why Caitlyn Jenner's First Selfie Is Important

The moment has finally arrived: Caitlyn Jenner has taken her first selfie. Any fan of her famous family knows that this day was inevitable, because, if there's one thing that the Keeping Up With The Kardashians crew knows how to do, it's take a damn good selfie. It's no surprise that Jenner would want to share her selfie with the world via social media: she's finally revealed her authentic, honest self to the world, and has been vocal about using her platform to help other people in the transgender community. But, while she does want to help others, Jenner's very first selfie is all about her — and that's exactly how it should be.

You may roll your eyes at the fact that Kim Kardashian has published an entire book of selfies (titled Selfish, no less), or find it ludicrous that 17-year-old Kylie Jenner needs to only plump her pout for the camera in order to receive hundreds of thousands of likes on Instagram, but that doesn't mean that selfies are narcissistic. Selfies also allow the taker to dictate how they want the world to see them. When you take and post a selfie, you're telling the world that this is the image you want them to see — this is how you want yourself portrayed.

Maybe the message of empowerment gets lost when you're scrolling through your Instagram feed, but let's not forget about how that connects to Jenner's own journey. For most of Jenner's life, she felt like she was not able to present the image of herself that she wanted to. In interviews, Jenner spoke about putting on women's clothes in places where she would not be recognized, or hiding in her house so she could express herself the way she wanted to. It wasn't that long ago that Jenner was terrified of the paparazzi getting a hold of a photo of her dressed as a woman — she truly thought that it would be the thing that ruined her life.

Jenner's selfie is important because Jenner probably never thought that it would happen for her. Jenner finally gets to be in control of her own image. The world has met Caitlyn, and has embraced her. And, most importantly, Jenner is able to fully embrace herself. So, yeah: I'm going to like this selfie.