It’s Time to Stop Treating Being ‘Basic’ As a Bad Thing
While the term "cheugy" joined our vocabularies just last year, criticizing things for being "basic" has been around for a while.
But what is being basic really about, and why can't we just let people—and in particular, women—enjoy the things they like without unnecessary judgment? It's time we stop treating being basic as a bad thing, and here's why:
Things Are Usually Popular for a Reason
In most cases, the term "basic" is used to describe anything—a style, trend, drink or even music taste—that's popular enough to become a bit of a common phenomenon. Think things like pumpkin spice lattes, skinny jeans or Top 40 music. What do these all have in common? First, they're popular. Second, they're mainly popular with young women. As a society, we focus so intensely on criticizing women and forcing an unrealistic expectation upon them that practically anything they do meets some form of scrutiny. But the reality is: Things that are popular usually are so for a reason. Sure, plenty of trends aren't for everyone or don't remain in style for long, but overall the things we deem as basic tend to be less trendy and more classic (and frankly, there's nothing wrong with that).
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People Should Be Allowed to Like Whatever They Like
Just because you might be all about current trends like baggy pants, choppy haircuts and Y2K jewelry doesn't mean that you should be able to judge someone else for liking things that are a little more basic. The reverse is true as well—you wouldn't want someone with a more subdued style judging you for dressing differently or doing things that are a little more out of the box. People can enjoy whatever things make them happy, be it basic or not.
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Because Sometimes, Being Basic is Pretty Fun
Come on now, who hasn't wanted to take cute photos in a pumpkin patch around Halloween, go ice skating with their partner around the holidays or simply sip on some Instagram-worthy Starbucks concoction? While things like this may commonly be deemed as "basic," that doesn't make them any less fun! So, it's time to put the judgment aside and like what you like whether it be basic or not.
(via Shutterstock)
With all that said, celebrate your basicness with these amazing, albeit "cheugy" Instagram captions by clicking HERE (and then let's retire the word cheugy for the rest of eternity, okay?).