Snapchat adds famous women to its selfie lenses for International Women's Day
Snapchat is making its own contribution to International Women's Day with, what else, a set of new animated lenses.
The app updated its lenses with three new offerings for the occasion: animated lenses celebrating Marie Curie, Frida Kahlo and Rosa Parks.
A spokesperson for Snap said the lenses will be live in the app for 24 hours and are meant to celebrate women they represent.
The lens for Kahlo, for example, transforms your face into the artist's iconic look complete with flower crown, red lipstick and, of course, unibrow. In a statement, the Frida Kahlo Corporation said the lens is meant to "capture the faces of all her followers around the world."
"In the age of the selfie, Frida is considered to be the first selfie artist, she told a story of love, life, strength and passion thru her self-portraits," the organization said.
Likewise, Snap worked with the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, to create the lens for Parks, which puts her hat and glasses on your face, along with the quote: "You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right."
Those words, attributed to the civil rights leader, also appear when you flip the camera out of selfie mode.
That Parks' words and likeness are being used inside Snapchat may sound like a recipe for a PR disaster, but Snap worked with the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute, which was cofounded by Rosa Parks in 1987, to create the animation.
"We must help all young people to know one another as persons and to respect and care about one another," the nonprofit organization said in a statement.
Still, the lenses may raise a few eyebrows, as Snapchat has come under fire in the past for racially insensitive filters, including a Bob Marley lens that was compared to blackface, and an "anime-inspired" lens that was criticized as "digital yellowface."
But Snap appears to be taking a much more thoughtful approach to its selfie lenses, though it isn't shying away from depicting famous figures. In addition to working with the organizations representing the legacies of Parks and Kahlo for the Women's Day update, Snap now reviews all lenses internally with a group that includes members of its diversity resource groups.
Aside from the lenses, Snapchat will highlight Women's Day events in a special "Our Story" dedicated to International Women's Day. The Our Story will highlight snaps from events and users celebrating around the world.
Topics Snapchat
Karissa was Mashable's Senior Tech Reporter, and is based in San Francisco. She covers social media platforms, Silicon Valley, and the many ways technology is changing our lives. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Follow her on Twitter @karissabe.
