the “basic girl” put down

In a writing class I teach about style, a bright student shared this article about stereotyping from this source on The Cut.

It presents the apparently lightweight put down of calling girls who don’t stand out–who accept trends and norms uncritically, dare we say happily– “basic.”

Ok– that means these girls are not transgressive–not politically active or aware. They are happy inheritors of consumerism, and carry it on without interrogation or pause. They like fashion and following norms. They colour inside the lines.

For this they are the butt of pop culture humour–they are NOT hip.

What I like about the article is that it points out that calling someone “basic” is a form of name-calling. Maybe in nice and clean-fun form, but still, name calling. It also points out that to do this the caller implies that he/she is above such basic baseness–cool enough to note when others are not.

The basic are a privileged group being attacked, I’ll grant you.

BUT it’s still attack and goes against advocacy rights and human justice values. I don’t think we get to equality by devising new ways to name call. By cutting off or dismissing potential allies.