When Taylor Swift’s name is brought up in casual conversation, it usually elicits either obsessive admiration (“Oh! I love her music!”) or a screeching, incessant hatred. It’s interesting how Swift, who is popular and well-liked by many, receives so much resentment from others, often solely because of her popularity.
“Basic” has been popular as a term for a while now in order to describe people, usually girls, whose interests and expression align with the norm. However, the word is also frequently thrown around as an insult. This may seem valid given the sometimes overly conformist nature of our society; however, there are several problems with this use of the word.
Firstly, many of the things that are called “basic” have been popularized by teen girls or young women, and people have begun automatically labeling such interests as frivolous or superficial. This contributes to modern-day misogyny, as it shames anything that doesn’t appeal to solely the male population. Oftentimes, these condemned interests are actually relatively equal regarding the demographics of men and women in their audience. For example, according to Statistica, Taylor Swift’s audience is 52% women and 48% men, but her music is still seen as something only enjoyed by women. Frequently, when women are represented equally in a conversation, field, or audience, their presence is disproportionately blown up in media, and women are portrayed as “taking over” that space.
In addition to this, while someone’s interests may tell people what they are like, one cannot deduce their entire personality based off of them. People are so wonderfully complex that even knowing someone for years can only scratch the surface; one’s identity is a perplexity that cannot be simplified. While it’s understandable (and a part of human nature) to group those with similar interests and traits, it feels like many will immediately sort those who like popular things into an oversimplified box, a stereotypically shallow personality.
While it is annoying when people act overly shallow, shallowness is a facet of one’s personality, not a gender-specific trait. Recurringly, especially in older TV shows and movies, male characters will make jokes like “women, amirite?” while their female counterparts are often depicted as flaky and scatterbrained even when it is not in their character to do so, just to make a “point” about “women,” which is apparently the “joke.”
Additionally, “basic” is a nonsensical insult. Basic, as a word, truly just means regular, or in this case, mainstream. Popular things are well-liked for a reason. Well-known artists usually hold a certain level of skill in their work. While many may disagree with the way they utilize that skill or even argue whether it is there at all, the general population can overall agree on that statement. Therefore, criticizing someone for their enjoyment of popular culture is essentially making fun of someone for liking something that the majority of people have agreed is good.
Ultimately, what’s problematic about the “basic aesthetic” is the conformity it can encourage, its sometimes inadvertently elitist nature, and its connection to consumerism. Throwing “basic” around as an insult does not help solve any of these societal problems or dismantle overconsumption, intense capitalism, pressure to conform, a thoughtless cultural zeitgeist, or anything else we know and hate. Additionally, teenage girls as a demographic are very susceptible to pressure and needing to conform, especially in this day and age.
When it comes to clothing, a “basic” style is used to shame women, often younger girls, into feeling bad for the way they dress. As a result, “alternative” styles are seen as more desirable and, ironically, normal.
When people insult girls for being basic or superficial, they are acting very similarly to the behavior they are hating on. They are not accomplishing anything or addressing any of the issues which are the cause of that behavior. Using basic as an insult is really an equally superficial thing to do. Although it is definitely worth criticizing popular culture and what becomes normalized, this cannot be accomplished by insulting people who either enjoy aspects of this in a genuine way, or themselves are a product of this culture. It’s important to attack ideas, not the people who hold them. Criticize what’s popular and why it is popular instead of automatically belittling anyone who likes it.