October is upon us, and anyone who’s ever heard the word “coffee” knows what that means: the pumpkin spice rush is in full swing. Although I’ve seen advertisements for quite a few weeks now, it seems like the first day of October is the official kick-off of the craze. I love a good fall-themed latte just as much as the next person, but to be honest, I always feel kinda judged whenever I order something of that signature flavor. There’s a stigma around the drink that implies whoever partakes in it is “basic” and just follows along with what everyone else is doing. The concept has become a part of culture, and it’s been pretty much accepted without a second glance at this point. But it’s not just with pumpkin spice lattes and “basic girls.” If a guy wears athletic clothes, he’s a jock. If a girl goes on Tumblr, she’s a geek. If someone sets school as a priority they’re “preppy” and a nerd.
Why has this become a part of our lives? Why can’t people just enjoy what they want without being judged for it? Much as we try to ignore it, I think the answer is staring us in the face: social media.
Now, I’d like to start off by admitting that I love scrolling Instagram and bingeing YouTube just as much as the next person, and I think it’s safe to say that social media gets a pretty bad rap these days. People blame it for all sorts of things — depression, anxiety, procrastination — and while I do think it plays a role in those things, I think it plays an arguably larger role in the comparison game we all don’t even realize we’re playing which contributes to those other aspects. On Facebook and Twitter, it’s easy to use numbers to directly compare your stats to others, and those numbers naturally become equivalent to our own self-worth. There’s constantly a movement to be “original” and “unique” both on- and offline, which has created this negative idea around people who enjoy things that are popular. This has begun to move off the screens and into day-to-day lives, culminating in what I call the “Pumpkin Spice Stigma.”
Many of us are aware of this, though. It’s not hard to put two and two together to realize how our presence on social media is affecting how we view ourselves and others. But then we come to the really scary discovery: we can’t stop.
A little while ago, Instagram launched a campaign to take away likes on Instagram so only the owner of the photo could see how many likes it had accumulated. There was a huge pushback against the concept. Some larger influencers predicted that it would affect their ad revenue, but that doesn’t explain the complaints from the people who have personal, smaller accounts. Though we don’t want to admit it, even though it can make us feel awful, we like being able to compare ourselves to others. It can make us miserable and sad and self-conscious, but that’s a chance we’re willing to take to even get a hit of dopamine when our numbers surpass someone else’s. Comparison is such a normalized part of our culture that it feels like it would be weird not to. However, there is hope for change.
Although I don’t think social media is going to have any major reworks anytime soon, we can begin to change this comparison game starting with the Pumpkin Spice Stigma. Whenever you see someone enjoying something, don’t make judgements based on whether it’s popular, normal or otherwise. Just let the person enjoy it! As long as it’s safe and not hurting anyone, what does it matter to you what they do? They’re enjoying their lives, and you should be doing the same.
Well, all this talk of pumpkin spice has made me crave my own latte, so I’m off to Starbucks. How are you going to live your best judgement-free life?
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