The more I write for Odyssey, the more I find myself trying to expand the blogs, news sites and magazines that I read. I love reading other people's perspectives and list articles are my guiltiest pleasure. As 2015 sped on by (but seriously, can we talk about how scary-fast this year was?) I noticed a lot of trends in articles continuing from years past or bleeding through on their own. Here are the ones I've seen way too much of that can definitely be laid to rest.
1. Things that guys or girls like most.
Who cares if he hates when you wear red lipstick or Uggs? Who says she can limit when you hang out with your bros or wear that kind of ugly flannel? These types of articles bleed confessions from the opposite sexes and perpetuate lack of straight-up communication and forced standards. Live and let live and all that jazz.
2. I only hang out with THIS specific gender.
I can’t roll my eyes any harder when I read these. Guys and girls alike, I am almost entirely unable to fathom the rationalizations that are presented in these articles. I question what they’re trying to prove by lessening the diversity of their friendships.
3. I lived like [insert Kardashian/Jenner] for a week.
I’m over hearing about this entire family on the regular, to put it very shortly. That includes the recent influx of groundbreaking journalism trying the latest juicing recipe, workout routine or contouring method that each sister swears by for a week exactly. And then writing about how grueling it is. That’s how they look so perfect! Of course it’s hard!
4. I put on a hijab/fat suit/pretended to be gay to see how people would respond.
Okay, seriously, can we stop with this? Other people’s identities are not disguises you can put on and then take off as soon as someone says something awful to you. They live through this their entire lives without the luxury of “taking off” who they are — and since you can, that’s kind of an abuse of privilege.
Also, you can’t just take shared experiences of discrimination at face value and develop sympathy and a sense of humanity? You have to go through it yourself for a day to understand? Come on now.
I'll write forever, keeping up with the Kardashians all the pop culture references that life gives us. One man's trash is another man's treasure, and one girl's article complaining about the articles she can't stand are probably someone else's favorite. To each their own.
