Lately I've been coming across the term "basic" quite a bit and not in it's usual form. Yes, you caught me, I read a lot of Buzzfeed articles. "How basic is your baby?" Well, babies in general pretty basic - they eat, poop and sleep. Oh wait, basic means something else now?
After some discussion with my trusted research assistants (my husband and a coworker who happens to be a librarian) and a bit of research on the interwebs I've reached a hypothesis.
Basic
adjective
1 (new) Excessively stereotypical behavior, usually closely involved with popular culture. One who is basic tends to like what is popular because it is popular without giving any real thought to the subject matter.
Some examples being thrown about are: "basic bitches" like Sex and the City (a lot), seasonal lattes (Pumpkin Spice, uh...I don't even know what other seasonal lattes exist...), Drake, Uggs, etc. In other words, things that are intensely popular among young women. They tend to follow fashion trends very closely and quote "inspirational" quotes without giving a second thought about whether or not it is accurately attributed. For example, they are fond of Marilyn Monroe quotes...even if those quotes didn't actually come from Marilyn Monroe. They are unaware of this fact because if it's on the internet, it has to be true, right? I think Abe Lincoln said that.
The closest approximation I can make is that it is similar to calling someone a "poser" when I was in school. A poser was basically someone who was faking it. An example my husband gave was, "a person who wears skater clothes, but doesn't skate." Or it could also be someone who dresses like a jock, but doesn't play sports. Now that we're adults, I ask you - how ridiculous does that sound?
As far as I can tell, this is the same basic principle (pun intended). It's a way to call somebody out for doing what society has told them to do. A lemming, if you will. (Sidenote - Lemmings are small rodents that will sometimes migrate en masse, thus being used as an analogy for following the popular crowd.)
The upswing to this is that we are finally recognizing originality and creativity. It's "cool" to march to the beat of your own drum. Being intelligent, creative and good with computers are seen as positive traits. "Nerdy" is no longer an insult, but a badge of honor worn proudly.
The downside is that this kind of labeling still promotes a pecking order. "I'm better than you because I don't blindly follow fads." "You're not cool because you just do what mass marketing tells you to do." It may seem superficial, but the underlying implication is that these people (labeled basic) are weak-minded and unable or unwilling to think for themselves.
Our society seems to love labels. How many quizzes have you seen that brand you? Label you as one thing versus another? Personally, I have never liked labels. I don't want to be tied down to one stereotype. I want to be free to try new things and not be ridiculed for doing so. We need to stop being concerned with what others are doing with their lives and focus our energy on what's going on in our own lives. Let's focus on the positives. Let's focus on making our own lives better. And if we must talk about others, let's build them up rather than tear them down.
"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good
for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those
who hear." Ephesians 4:29
So true! There is a tension there between being "with it" enough that you're not considered really weird (not the cool weird) and faking it by being a little too "with it."
ReplyDeleteAnd, that is my favorite verse to quote at home! I even get an eye roll every once in a while when I say it, but it has so much more authority than me just saying, "If you can't say something nice..."