Basic
I tell people my favorite coffee shop is a local cafe downtown.
I go to Starbucks every day
Ask me where my outfit is from, and I’ll respond; "it's thrifted".
A closer examination of the tag would tell you it is from Zara
The best concert I have ever been to was this indie band in a small venue.
I would sell my soul to see Harry Styles live again
We all strive for this sense of difference. In this quest for individuality we chase what we were originally running from: being basic.
Being called basic in today's society is always said with a little edge in the voice. Meaning, I cannot recall the last time someone described someone or something as basic with the intention of flattery. When searching for insults or jabs at someone, basic always seems to be in the top three options. I myself am guilty of this belief in the idea of basic equating to bad, which begs the question:
Why?
Since when was liking a universally accepted item, song, person, or clothing item, “embarrassing”?
Personally, I find it to be most evident in terms of music or clothing. Whenever I am in public listening to Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, or anything you can find on the Billboard Top 100, I’m constantly afraid someone with a microphone and camera will come up to me and ask me what I am listening to. Embarrassed, I would have to admit “Meet Me In the Hallway” or “Cardigan” and then suffer through the endless TikTok comments calling me basic or lame. This is a genuine fear of mine, a very unrealistic one, but a fear nonetheless. I worry that Harry Styles will be my most listened to artist at the end of the year in my Spotify Wrapped and not some random Indie band I found one day and convinced myself was good because the album art was cool.
It’s the same idea with clothing—I thrift my clothes mostly because I like the challenge of walking into a thrift store and finding a gem that sometimes feels like it was meant for me. I also thrift because I appreciate the individuality my clothes represent. I know no one else will have my exact clothing item,eliminating the possibility of being considered basic. Yet, whenever I walk into a thrift store, I am surrounded by about ten other college-aged girls. We are all participating in the same act, so does this make Goodwill basic? Are we all becoming exactly what we told ourselves we would never become?
This is the main issue I have with being “basic”. When does it begin? While everyone was running from the designated trend of the season, we arrived at the same point, convincing ourselves we are different. There is some sort of superiority complex that comes with convincing yourself you go against the curve, causing you to look down on those who stick to the trend. Yet, if you stop looking down and instead start looking around, you will see you are not the only one up there. We are all basic, and that is not a bad thing.
I am in no way saying we all need to be little cookie cutters of each other and that everyone needs to like the same thing. Having your own interests and opinions are important—it’s what makes us who we are. If you happen to find your interests and opinions lining up with the majority, that doesn’t make them less important, less valuable, or “basic”.
Whenever I am with someone and we admit that something is basic, I back it up with “That’s because it's good!” Because it’s true! Something gets coined “basic” because multiple people enjoy it, and participating in that enjoyment is supposed to be fun, not embarrassing.
I think so much about how others will perceive me and my preferences, that I lose sight of why I like those things in the first place, because they make me happy. I am aware of how incredibly cheesy that sounds, but I think it is important. Basic is not an insult, it’s a community, and one that I am teaching myself I am proud to be in.
Because being basic just means we all have good taste. So go us.