The Trials & Tribulations of a Basic Bitch
photo courtesy of freepik.com
It was freshman year. My “girl gang” and I were roaming down a random off-campus street waiting to get invited to a party- because that’s definitely how parties work and not at all the perfect way to get mugged. Suddenly, a minivan sped past us and rolled down the window as the driver shouted, “Nice uniform!!!” while his passenger added, “Basic bitches!!!”
As I watched the car drive away, I immediately had two thoughts:
1. Did I really just get roasted by someone driving a minivan?
And 2. As I looked at myself and my five friends in the same black tube tops, ripped boyfriend jeans and white sneakers I wondered… Wow, I really am basic, aren’t I?
This frightening realization prompted me to explore what exactly the popular “basic bitch” title actually entails.
According to Urban Dictionary, a basic individual is someone who “unflinchingly [upholds] the status quo,” by engaging in “typical, unoriginal behaviors, modes of dress, speech and likes.” The definition goes on to identify seemingly “basic” individuals as “tragically/laughably unaware of [their] utter lack of specialness and intrigue.”
Ummm… ouch?!? Lack of specialness? Me???
The question is, who even decides what’s basic and what isn’t? Who is Urban Dictionary to dictate the line between “laughably” basic and admirably trendy?
At one point, you were basic if you drank Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes and wore Ugg boots. Well, if no one else will say it, I will. I’m here to say that Starbucks is delicious and Uggs, while not my primary choice of footwear, are comfortable damnit!
It’s so important to embrace your own style and go out of your comfort zone, but it’s also okay to accept that sometimes your style might happen to be just like a lot of other people’s. Trends are trendy for a reason, so stop pretending you’ve never bought that one semi-ugly item from Forever 21 because you just knew it was in style. We’ve all been there.
It’s time for a call to action! We at Jerk are here to defend the basic bitches and let people decide for themselves what they want to wear, which latte they decide to drink, and if they choose to caption their insta photos iykyk 🤪.
The next time you see an avocado toast-eating, teddy bear coat-wearing, VSCO-filtered girl on your Instagram feed (a.k.a. me), think twice before you throw out the dreaded B-word.