My favorite time of year is here! I absolutely love it when the weather starts getting colder. I can start drinking hot teas and drinks, layer my outfits and incorporate sweaters and jackets into my fits, walk in the rain, and watch the fall foliage. On a deeper level, I also look forward to the feeling of new beginnings and the anticipation of the holiday season. While I know many may not be looking forward to the transition from a hot summer to a cold winter, I really love fall. I’m also aware that many others share my sentiment, having seen my “For You” page showcasing Tiktok after Tiktok of the girlies redecorating their houses, wearing cozy sweaters, and drinking pumpkin spice lattes and honestly, I’m here for it! However, something that needs to be addressed is how there is this notion that if girls or women are into something collectively, they are “basic.” And it appears that loving autumn is no exception to this. If loving this season is basic, so be it; I’ll be basic.
The word “basic” in slang refers to being unoriginal and mainstream. When you think of a basic girl, you typically imagine a girl who loves her pumpkin spice lattes, wears UGGs, and is carrying around her Stanley cup while listening to Taylor Swift. My question is, why is doing/enjoying all of these things wrong? All of these characteristics come from trends or what is popular at the moment. Every fall, people are so excited to get pumpkin spice drinks. UGGs, while expensive, are comfortable and cozy shoes. Before Stanleys, everyone used to have a hydro flask. Lastly, Taylor Swift is one of the most popular artists worldwide. If you enjoy something that is trendy and popular or you engage with something that is mainstream, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
From a psychological point of view, humans are conditioned to follow the societal norm. This stems from the fact that humans are social creatures and crave belonging. And with the new era of technology and entertainment via social media, a lot of people turn to their social media feeds to rely on how to best interact with and fit in with society. This is important to an extent because it keeps people informed and, in a way, provides a mental shortcut to what others are doing and how we can replicate it too to fulfill our need of societal acceptance. Again, this isn’t bad, so we are programmed to do it. My issue is that when girls and women engage with what is trendy and it becomes something that collectively a lot of girls like, it gets labeled as being “basic,” which is an insult.
I also wonder why it is that when girls share a common interest, it is so quickly labeled basic by society, but when boys share a common interest, it quite literally just remains a “guy thing.” A lot of this unfortunately goes back to the gender norms instilled by society and how society typically pays no heed to the significance of female interests. Women historically have always been scrutinized for the way they present themselves and what they take interest in. For example, women weren’t allowed to discuss matters pertaining to politics or read educational literature. At the same time, when women did engage in conversations with each other about common interests, it quickly got labeled as “gossip,” and that stance alone made it seem that women only discussed trivial matters while men were the ones that held more intellectual conversations. The irony is that even if a woman wanted to state her opinion or share an intellectual fact in the past, she would get ridiculed, and her ideas would be dismissed.
Luckily, times have changed and people are free to take interest in whatever they want but those following the mainstream norms shouldn’t be scrutinized for their choices especially if on a gender basis. So to any girlie or really anyone reading this buy the pumpkin spice latte if you want to, listen to Taylor Swift if you enjoy her music, wear your UGGs and do whatever you enjoy because I certainly will.
