The latest social media challenge to take the internet by storm is #ChallengeAccepted in which women from across the globe are posting black and white selfies photos of themselves. The aim of the 'challenge' is to celebrate womanhood and promote friendships among women. The 'challenge' requires a woman to post a black and white photo of themselves with the hashtag #Challenge Accepted. Many of the posts also include the hashtag #WomenSupportingWomen. With over 5 million entries on Instagram alone, the challenge is spreading quite rapidly and aims to spread positivity during the pandemic. A participant can nominate as many women they want, through private messages. The nomination usually contains a message that talks about the importance of friendship among women and sisterhood. There are women of different age groups and races posting photos, including some celebrities. Here are some of the posts: The challenge which was started on Instagram soon found its way to Twitter. #ChallengeAccepted #WomenSupportingWomen ,thanks darshanamenon @DashSridhi for nominating me ❤. pic.twitter.com/Fi1pPsiG4S — Amrita Bharati (@amritabOfficial) July 28, 2020 #ChallengeAccepted@raavigrewall Women around the world face tons of criticism. Instead let us celebrate all the colours and cultures across the world & stand together as strong women, unbiased and equal. we should take care of each other. WE ARE BEAUTIFUL THE WAY WE ARE❤️ pic.twitter.com/F0M0eaFgg9 — Sukhpreet Kaur (@GSukhpreet) July 28, 2020 #ChallengeAccepted Love it when women support women! Sending lots of love to everyone 😘 pic.twitter.com/IET5x2kaoC — Teuta Shabani (@mrsteutashabani) July 28, 2020 #ChallengeAccepted Thank you @krupavyas1 ❤#WomenSupportingWomen pic.twitter.com/6Yk6zNsSDZ — Kiर्ति Guniyal (@KirtiLaunganye) July 28, 2020 However, not everyone agreed that selfies were the best way to celebrate woman empowerment, accomplishments or address current challenges. Some felt that without any context it felt "shallow", and used the opportunity to share posts incorporate racial justice and other women who have inspired them. You're not alone here. I don't get this new "challenge" either. wouldn't it be more appropriate to instead post work we have recently enjoyed that was created by other women? (Books, docs, magazine articles, beauty products, apps, charities, etc.) — Natalia Buia (@itsbooyeah) July 27, 2020 I feel like promoting other women would have been a better use of time and square space. But that’s just me. — samantha ronson (@samantharonson) July 27, 2020 Ladies, instead of posting that hot black-and-white selfie, why don’t we ease into feminism with something low stakes, like cutting off your friend who’s an abuser? — 𝔄𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔞 ℌ𝔬𝔭𝔢 𝔏𝔢𝔳𝔦𝔫𝔰𝔬𝔫 (@alanalevinson) July 27, 2020 I literally cannot get over challenge accepted, here’s a hot photo of myself because I support women — Caroline Moss (@CarolineMoss) July 28, 2020 These are four women we should be lifting up: Breonna Taylor Sandra Bland Natasha McKenna Michelle Cusseaux #SayHerName #ChallengeAccepted pic.twitter.com/06Ze5kkbqr — Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) July 28, 2020 Many have pointed out that the trend may have originated in Turkey with a more important meaning. Some have noted that women in Turkey began sharing black-and-white photos recently to raise awareness about violence against women, and tags like #istanbulanlaşmasıyaşatır and #istanbulsözleşmesiyaşatır were left out of the larger trend. The original accompanying hashtags were #kadınaşiddetehayır#istanbulsözleşmesiyaşatır which I’m told translate to say no to violence against women & enforce the Istanbul Treaty/ Doctrine (where rights to protect women are signed.) — Tariro Mzezewa (@tariro) July 28, 2020 However, a representative from Instagram said the trend was first traced back to 2016. A spokesperson told The New York Times that the earliest post the company could surface for this current cycle of the challenge was posted a week-and-a-half ago by Brazilian journalist Ana Paula Padrão. However, a similar black-and-white selfie trend had been previously done with the hashtag #ChallengeAccepted to spread a message on “cancer awareness.” Over the years the photo trend has also been used to “spread positivity”, the report said.
