As fall approaches, it’s not just tests and homework heading our way, but with a new season comes new trends: sweaters, Ugg boots, hairstyles and more. In no time, these trends pop up around school and on people’s social media feeds during the fall season. Trends are constantly changing, and this rapidly shifting culture is something that teenage girls are no strangers to, especially in Marin County. Living in such an affluent and small area, Marin teens are bound to shop, eat, go to the same places, do the same things and follow the same trends. With all of these factors combined, it might create the appearance of being “basic.”
However, appearances can be deceiving, and what others perceive as “following the herd” can often get you the label “basic.” Labels such as these don’t help teens at all. Using words like “basic” is demeaning to teenage girls, because it decreases the value of their individuality and confines them to negative stereotypes.
A September Bark survey found that 61 percent of Redwood students feel that the word “basic” has a negative connotation. This reveals the negativity teens face just for embracing the things that feel comforting to them. If someone connects with a certain aesthetic that others call “basic,” it says more about the pressure to appear unique than the value of the aesthetic itself.
This can be proved through the Labeling Theory, which was devised by Howard Becker. Becker theorized that when people are categorized or labeled, they begin to internalize that category and act accordingly; not because it’s who they really are, but because that’s what they think society expects of them. What might have started as just a word you thought “fit” someone, is now a box they can’t climb out of.
While being your own individual is so important, it is still unfair to deem others as “basic.” If we want to let people be their own individuals, we have to refrain from judging them for their interests, even if they don’t align with yours. Liking pumpkin spice lattes, wearing Lululemon and listening to Taylor Swift doesn’t reflect anyone’s personality at all. These are harmless things that people find comfort in — they shouldn’t be considered negative.
Buzzfeed wrote their article What We’re Really Afraid Of When We Call Someone “Basic” in 2014, analyzing why people were so rude and dismissive of things they thought were “basic.” This trend continues, as for the last fifteen years, “basic” has been a movement to demean women for being themselves.
Why is it that we see a teen girl in Ugg boots and a White Fox hoodie and immediately think she’s “basic?” It’s time for us to stop judging people by making assumptions about their personality because of what they wear. We must move on from labeling and demeaning people about their preferences, and focus on ourselves to find what we like. In short, the term “basic” has become basic.