It's finally here. My favorite season! (Outside of Christmas, which is really it's own season to me.) Autumn has arrived, and with it all the promise of cool, crisp mornings, changing leaves, the start of the holidays, and eight million memes on the internet insulting people who love pumpkins, coffee, and boots.
Wait, what?
I can look back on almost any point in my life and remember women, or girls, tearing other women down in the mistaken thought that it would somehow elevate them. If you look at magazines, TV, movies, books, etc. the message somehow seems to be that we somehow make ourselves shine brighter if we can dim another's light. Women are taught, by and large, that other women are competition. This goes back as far as I can remember, but I think the mass introduction to social media platforms over the last decade or so has made it so much easier. People get very comfortable within their own anonymity, and that makes it easier to be outright cruel.
And I have been 100% guilty. I think everyone, if they are being honest with themselves, has, but it's been refreshing to see the massive push that many women are now joining to stop with the tearing down of others of our sex. Seriously, ladies, we're just hurting ourselves.
However, every year, the memes start. Mocking people drinking pumpkin spice, wearing Ugg (or, in my case, Fugg) boots, embracing the season...We call those people "Basic" and "Shallow" and "Spoiled", get a good laugh, and go on about our day. And yes, there are probably some shallow, spoiled people who love pumpkin spice and tartan scarves during this time of year. There are probably some people who hopped on the bandwagon, or the hayride as it were, to try to be "cool" or "hip". The real question though is why anyone cares? I don't care if the teenagers next to me in line at Starbucks are ordering a Venti Pumpkin Spice and wearing ugly ass boots because it's "cool" or not, though I would hope they would pick something they actually like instead of suffering through $5 worth of coffee they can't stand. I do care about the people who will avoid their favorite things, things that might legitimately bring them joy, in the hope that they won't be labeled though.
I like pumpkin. And plaid. I really hate how my Fuggs look, but they keep my feet SO very warm. I like leggings under tunics, and long, draping sweaters. I like chunky hats, and patterned mittens, and I'm starting to find an appreciation for finding a fabulous lipstick. My daughter likes these things too, and anyone who has met her knows that she's anything but "basic". And I'm not either.
I'm standing here on the brink of 35, and I just don't care what you think of the fact that my girls and I have weekly "coffee" dates, that I'm "too old" or "too curvy" for leggings, that I go overboard with pumpkin decor, or even that I'll start putting up Christmas lights well before Thanksgiving. I don't care if you roll your eyes when I post yet another selfie with my children, or my Scentsy, or a Pink Drink, because I enjoy those things, and life is too damn short to give up on things that make you happy because other's might call you a petty name for doing them.
But there are people who do care. People who spend years not being them just because they don't want to be the punchline for some stupid meme. I care about them, because I was them not so very long ago.
Just let people enjoy the things they enjoy. Seriously. It's past time to stop going after one another for the stupidest reasons. Yes, "Basic Becky" might have only First World Problems going on in her life, but if her coffee and pumpkins bother you that much, so do you. Get some coffee, have a cake pop, and enjoy the little things. There are enough big things tearing us down without having to do it to each other too.
I can look back on almost any point in my life and remember women, or girls, tearing other women down in the mistaken thought that it would somehow elevate them. If you look at magazines, TV, movies, books, etc. the message somehow seems to be that we somehow make ourselves shine brighter if we can dim another's light. Women are taught, by and large, that other women are competition. This goes back as far as I can remember, but I think the mass introduction to social media platforms over the last decade or so has made it so much easier. People get very comfortable within their own anonymity, and that makes it easier to be outright cruel.
And I have been 100% guilty. I think everyone, if they are being honest with themselves, has, but it's been refreshing to see the massive push that many women are now joining to stop with the tearing down of others of our sex. Seriously, ladies, we're just hurting ourselves.
However, every year, the memes start. Mocking people drinking pumpkin spice, wearing Ugg (or, in my case, Fugg) boots, embracing the season...We call those people "Basic" and "Shallow" and "Spoiled", get a good laugh, and go on about our day. And yes, there are probably some shallow, spoiled people who love pumpkin spice and tartan scarves during this time of year. There are probably some people who hopped on the bandwagon, or the hayride as it were, to try to be "cool" or "hip". The real question though is why anyone cares? I don't care if the teenagers next to me in line at Starbucks are ordering a Venti Pumpkin Spice and wearing ugly ass boots because it's "cool" or not, though I would hope they would pick something they actually like instead of suffering through $5 worth of coffee they can't stand. I do care about the people who will avoid their favorite things, things that might legitimately bring them joy, in the hope that they won't be labeled though.
I like pumpkin. And plaid. I really hate how my Fuggs look, but they keep my feet SO very warm. I like leggings under tunics, and long, draping sweaters. I like chunky hats, and patterned mittens, and I'm starting to find an appreciation for finding a fabulous lipstick. My daughter likes these things too, and anyone who has met her knows that she's anything but "basic". And I'm not either.
I'm standing here on the brink of 35, and I just don't care what you think of the fact that my girls and I have weekly "coffee" dates, that I'm "too old" or "too curvy" for leggings, that I go overboard with pumpkin decor, or even that I'll start putting up Christmas lights well before Thanksgiving. I don't care if you roll your eyes when I post yet another selfie with my children, or my Scentsy, or a Pink Drink, because I enjoy those things, and life is too damn short to give up on things that make you happy because other's might call you a petty name for doing them.
But there are people who do care. People who spend years not being them just because they don't want to be the punchline for some stupid meme. I care about them, because I was them not so very long ago.
Just let people enjoy the things they enjoy. Seriously. It's past time to stop going after one another for the stupidest reasons. Yes, "Basic Becky" might have only First World Problems going on in her life, but if her coffee and pumpkins bother you that much, so do you. Get some coffee, have a cake pop, and enjoy the little things. There are enough big things tearing us down without having to do it to each other too.
