carole's corner

topic: being “basic”

today, i got a shell necklace at a stand in catalina. i had just come back from snorkeling and when i turned in my gear it was to the left of the counter for less than $10. usually, i don’t make random purchases like this, but today i decided “why not” and began to look through the necklaces hanging up.

now, this is a bit of a dramatic buildup to a very inconsequential statement made as i was looking at the necklaces. a group of kids my age were getting snorkels and one girl turns to the other and laughs about the necklaces because they’re “VSCO girl” necklaces. that immediately made me feel awkward, but that’s unimportant to my main point.

this whole scene got me thinking about the stigma about being “basic.” i hate that popularized things are made fun of, like being coined a “VSCO girl.” if something, whether it be a movie to the way someone dresses, is popular, there must be merits to them. the first time i think i experienced this was when i was reading the hunger games. the movie was about to come out or was already out and i was just starting to read the book. online, i was seeing all of the “original” fans shaming the new ones for hopping on the bandwagon.

this obviously didn’t make me stop reading the trilogy, but i always found the shaming of conformity to be especially frustrating. for most of our tween years we’re doing everything we can to fit in, but if we conform too much it’s bad or embarassing. even if a trend is silly, like the whole “VSCO girl” phenomenon, let people enjoy themselves.

i’m so tired of hearing people make fun of things because they’re popular or seem stupid to them. and this isn’t to say i haven’t been guilty of this. i’ve laughed at a lot of the things that younger kids are into nowadays, but it was never in the sense that it was shameful because it was popular, just that i obviously don’t understand why they enjoy said thing. but, i know that my judgement is unfair and at least i’m conciously trying to better myself.

so, for the time being, i’ll rock my shell necklace whenever i see fit, thank you very much.