If you're anything like me, at one point in your life you've been called basic. Sometimes even expressly labeled as basic. You are the "basic bitch" who just drinks Starbucks and likes Victoria's Secret. Up until my job this summer, it never bothered me. In fact, you may be a casualty of the era where basic was cool, where girls flaunted their UGG boots and Starbucks and looked for the boy who retweeted every "this is what every man should do for his woman" tweets about surprise gifts of PINK underwear and a Frappacino during finals.
But this label, this title of "basic" that we were totally okay with for all those years in high school, has changed. Our life goals are different, our education has gotten more intensive and yet we still have the same habits. We drink our Starbucks in the morning because it's a routine. We wear our UGGS around the dorms because they're like wearing little blankets on your feet, and we still wear our expensive underwear because 7 for $27 is a damn good deal. But ladies and gentlemen let me tell you--the label we wear of "basic" has evolved as we have.
As we enter into our college years of specialized education, we are becoming the people we've always seen ourselves as, and this basic label is holding us back. We are being written off as basic with no brains. Whoa. Where did no brains come into this? You see, when we are labeled as Starbucks-drinking, leggings and sweatshirt-wearing girls, we are stripped of our intelligence. People are no longer just labeling us as basic; we're being written-off as basic. We have one job to do, drink our sugary mochas and wear our lacy undies while retweeting relatable things and admiring the 10,000 pins on our marriage Pinterest boards. Thinking is not listed underneath the "basic" girl's job description, and therefore our thoughts and ideas are written off. As you find opportunities to share your knowledge, you are continually shut down so that all of the "complex" individuals can have the floor while the basic girls (always girls) can have time to adjust their hair or catch up on the latest VS sale. Well let me tell you, I am not basic.
My life is so much more than the clothes I wear or the coffee I drink.
Don't judge people. This concept doesn't seem so hard. As a society, we're doing pretty well with standing up for each other and making sure everyone has a place where they belong. Well, I am not the clothes I wear, and I'm not the coffee I drink, so why give me this label that says nothing about my intelligence, yet takes it away from me?
I am an educator. First and foremost, I care about children and their futures. I want to change the world, I want to educate people about homelessness, about the environment and the imperative things we must do to protect our tiny planet. You are someone else. You want to change the world, you want to be successful, but why should you be labeled basic and stripped of your individual identity, stripped of your ability to live your life and contribute to your job, and to your education?
You and I are so much more than basic.
