Men in uniforms

We’ve dwelled on the selfie photo trend. Let’s just say we’re over it. It’s trendy. Full stop.

Men in uniforms, on another hand, are said to be sexy. They may even have power.

Like a bear in a cage I’ve been trying to rationalise a selfie of an old school friend while on an army exercise somewhere on the island.

We’ve all heard army ‘mate’ stories. Not only about how they spend more than two years flattering the whims of their supervisors for no apparent pride. But also about the aftermaths; the occasions when they return to ‘base’ for a day, or two and prove their dedication.

As if it wasn’t enough knowing that most, if not all Cypriot household treasures a gun of their own. Just in case.

But what happens when you come across a photo of your sexy friend in uniform holding a gun in his hand; Smiling. What happens when the single selfie photo becomes an entire album of a selected  photos of his ‘day out’? Photos of guns, of dozens of men sitting around seemingly doing nothing as they pose behind an array of guns set up in the foreground, on their tripod.

Maybe it’s because as a woman, I have never had the opportunity to go to an army camp or live first hand what happens within these institutions, and that’s why I can seem to place myself with regards to this. But perhaps what we’re talking about is social media’s capacity to cross the line from imaginary to reality and not men looking sexy in uniforms. Never dismissing that their power is in their guns.

Published in The Cyprus Weekly Newspaper May 2014. @MelissaHekkers