Remember when young girls wanted to look like former scene queens Audrey Kitching (pictured above) and Hanna Beth? Many of us have acknowledged over the years that scene queens have been replaced by hipsters. Interestingly, most of the young women who dominated as scene queens are now doing so as hipsters:
Not all scene girls traded in their coontails for flower crowns, their septums for nose rings or their preference in screamo music for indie rock. However, the hipster phase has indeed made a strong impact on men and women of all ages (as every fad should).
The scene and hipster phases are merely two out of numerous stages one might embrace. The more styles a person has experimented with can say a lot about how open they are with fashion, music and who they are willing to spend their time with.
Nonetheless, the purpose of this article is to inform readers that not only is it normal to have embraced what you now consider some outlandish identity, but that this past self contributed to your current self.
So why do people continue to shame a part of themselves they were once so proud of?
This reminds me of when people regret or express embarrasment of a past relationship. Acknowledge the fact that you do have happy memories from that relationship. Although things may have ended terribly, you can't regret knowing that person because they helped mold who you've become.
I don't miss my scene days much, but I do look back on those moments I genuinely enjoyed: discovering new and eccentric music via Myspace, dubbing myself "Mel Massacre" and playing around with silly hairstyles.
I may not look like a scene kid anymore or listen to the same music, but I don't regret dabbling in that phase nor the other random phases I experimented with.
Even if your interests today completely differ or conflict with your past self who cares? Always feel free to like what you want to like and if you suddenly change your mind and replace your enthusiasm of something with a totally different aesthetic, so be it.
Don’t diss on your former self just because you’ve changed so drastically. That "humiliating" phase helped mold you into the person you are today. And remember, as humans we're consistently unsatisfied so you may think today's interests will be the ones that stick, but a few years from now you'll most likely look back and laugh at some part of your previous self.