Skinny Jeans, Middle Parts, & More, Oh My!

Why must I go on the internet and see people fighting about the dumbest of things? There's so many other hills to die on, and yet pants style and hair looks are what we landed on. Come on, people. Come on.

In case you have no clue what I'm talking about, just leave now and remain blissfully ignorant. This whole argument is the equivalent of the phrase "smh". We're all going to be shaking our heads when this is over.

The past couple weeks, Millennials online have been aggressively asserting their stance on a slew of subjects and claiming that Gen Z is to blame for all of it (And if you don't know the difference- a quick Google search would suffice). Some go as far as to say Gen Z is taking certain trends away from them and not letting them wear/do them anymore, but this is far from the case.

I have not seen a single soul online gatekeep what people can wear. I haven't heard a single word uttered about whether skinny jeans are better or worse than looser styles of jeans. There also hasn't been any mention of middle parts being the all-holy hairstyle that every single person must follow. This all seems majorly ridiculous.

There are songs being made. I repeat, SONGS. They are getting riled up for absolutely no reason, and it's creating a negative atmosphere between the two generations. There's also no point in devaluing the opinion of Gen Z- the literal future of this world.

Trends have come and gone since the dawn of time. Clothing, hobbies, hairdos- things that are constantly coming in and out of style. Middle parts and looser jeans just so happen to be currently in style, along with dozens of other things too. Why were these the two particular things that people zeroed in on?

I get that people like wearing skinny jeans and feel more comfortable having their hair in a side part. This isn't generational though. Members of Gen Z are still on board with both these things. I'm even one of them. I've had a side part for majority of my life and prefer it to how I look with my hair parted down the middle. I still wear skinny jeans just as often as mom jeans and other baggier pairs. It doesn't have to be this all or nothing philosophy that Millennials have adopted. I also don't feel anything being taken from me, when other people my age dress differently. Literally nothing at all.

From what I've heard, the reason middle parts are more popular again is because more girls are becoming comfortable in wearing them. That's fantastic! Why are we upset about that? Teen girls are notorious for having low self-esteem, so them liking their hair a certain way and feeling confident about it is progress. Baggier jeans are gaining attention too as different trends repeat themselves from decades ago. They've literally been popular before and now they're back again. Hence being called a trend.

I wouldn't have felt so passionate about these pointless squabbles if I didn't see it escalating so much. I'm now witnessing grown adults online, such as on Tik Tok, basically bullying teenagers for doing what they like. They get mad and claim that teens are taking credit for things that have been around before (like scrunchies) which is hypocritical, because in the same breath, they put all the blame on Gen Z for trends that have been around before.

I'm starting to think that the wrong generation is getting thrown under the bus for gatekeeping clothing and hairstyles. One seems a lot more agitated, and I just don't get why this is a thing. If you ever feel the sudden urge to lash out at someone for wearing/doing something slightly different from you, please think twice and do something else instead. Just be glad that mullets aren't all the rage right now, okay?