If you clicked on the link to read this article because you want to know easy ways to spot a basic white girl, then you are part of the problem. What problem, you ask? The problem of making fun of people for being who they are.
Now you are probably backpedaling. "I just wanted to read the article because I thought it would be comical." "I wanted to read something fun." "I don't actually make fun of basic white girls, I just laugh at other people's jokes about them." Stop. Take a minute. And listen up.
I am a female. I am white. I own a pair of uggs. I have an iPhone. I wear leggings sometimes. I like my hair when it is straightened. I drink lattes, especially pumpkin spice lattes in the fall. I listen to the current music that is always on the radio. I have a Pinterest board dedicated to my future wedding. I struggle when picking a filter on Instagram.
But I did not choose to be a white female. Uggs keep my feet warm in the winter, and the one pair I own was a Christmas gift from my parents. Nowadays, almost everyone owns an iPhone; why does it matter that I have one, too? Leggings are way more comfortable then jeans. If straightening my hair helps me feel confident and beautiful, then so be it. Have you ever had a latte? They are delicious, and they keep me warm as the weather changes from summer to autumn to winter. I listen to the Top 40 playlists, but I also listen to country music, oldies, and classical music. Pinterest has so many amazing wedding ideas, and I will never remember them all if I don't create my own board of everything I want to incorporate into my own wedding. Lastly, I want the pictures I post on social media to look nice, so of course I am going to do my best to pick the nicest-looking filter for each individual picture. And all of this does not even begin to define who I am as a human being.
Does this make me a basic white girl? Does wearing leggings and drinking lattes make me a basic white girl? Does doing things that I enjoy and love make me a basic white girl?
Why are we mocking girls for leading lives in which they do what they enjoy? If you enjoy a particular sport, then it follows that you play that sport. If you enjoy wearing a particular shirt, then it follows that you wear that particular shirt often. If I, or any other person in this world, enjoy listening to the awful music that currently plays on the radio, then shouldn't it follow that I listen to that music?
We, myself included, have created this idea that we have the right to ridicule people for being themselves. Let me say it again for those of you in the back: we accept this notion that we, as people, can rightly criticize other people for living their lives. We need to put an end to this problem, but that can only be done one person at a time. So I am calling you out. Take a stand. Stop clicking on articles with titles similar to this one. Stop re-tweeting and sharing posts about basic white girls (or about any stereotype). And most importantly, stop judging human beings who are just like you for being themselves. People are not jokes for us to laugh at.
Everyone has the right to be who they are. We do not have the right to judge them for it.
