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Snapchat Strikes Against Good Taste With 3 International Women’s Day Lenses

Snapchat … thank you. Photo: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

Snapchat is celebrating International Women’s Day the only way it knows how: special selfie filters. Users will be able to use filters portraying artist Frida Kahlo, civil-rights activist Rosa Parks, and groundbreaking scientist Marie Curie.

Eager to prove that I am a male ally, I quickly tried them out. Here I am as Frida Kahlo, who’s ability to synthesize classical and indigenous art styles into stunning self-portraits made her an international celebrity. I gotta say, her look really suits me.

And here I am as Marie Curie, who established our modern understanding of radioactivity, discovered two elements, was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize (she ended up winning two), and apparently favored very smokey eye makeup and heavy eye shadow — instead of, say, laboratory googles. This filter is fun because it has two modes. In the first, I am simply Marie Curie in her lab full of beakers.

But if I open my mouth while using the filter, all those chemicals go boom! I guess even one of the most decorated and important scientists in history can still have a lab accident!

Finally, there is a filter that allows me to become civil-rights icon Rosa Parks. If I raise my eyebrows, a text bubble pops up with the famous Rosa Parks quote, “You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” But, uh, I did not feel supercomfy about taking a picture of myself in digital blackface, so you’ll just have to try it out for yourself.

The filters will available for the next 24 hours. Enjoy!

Snapchat Releases 3 Filters for International Women’s Day