I’m sure that everyone has met that person who is unbearably pretentious about music, and if you haven’t met that person, you might be them. They think that the music that they listen to is the best and that your music is probably meaningless and a disgrace to artists everywhere. This needs to stop. All music is unique and valuable to different people for different reasons. There is no excuse for shaming others for their taste in music because everyone has different interests and you never know what their reason might be for loving a certain artist so much. Let me share my own experience with you, as an example.

I like to think that I have a rather diverse taste in music, ranging from rap to pop to indie to alternative. I take pride in the music that I listen to because I know my reasons for listening to it, whether it has sentimental value or simply because I like the beat. There is one group that is my all-time favorite group, but I find myself not wanting to admit my love for them because they’re considered “teeny-bopper pop” music. But, why is there such shame in liking this kind of music? Maybe it’s because it is associated with teenage girls who are some of the most ridiculed people in our society. Anything that teen girls like is immediately dismissed as devoid of value by the rest of society and that holds true for music. Artists like Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, and One Direction are thought of as tasteless and not “real” artists. Why, though? Taylor Swift, One Direction, and Justin Bieber write or at least co-write most of their own music. In addition, One Direction made it to the finals of The X Factor, meaning that they obviously have talent. So, one can only conclude that these artists are dismissed because their fan base is largely made up of young women. Now, getting back to the one group that I hesitate to declare as my favorite artist: One Direction.

As I said earlier, people fall in love with artists for a multitude of reasons, so let me share why I fell in love with One Direction. It was my freshman year of high school and I was going through one of the hardest times of my life (so far, anyway). I don’t want to go into too much detail, but during this year, I was diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and an eating disorder. So, it was definitely a tough year. Then, I came across One Direction as I was scrolling through Instagram. I looked them up and I was immediately obsessed. (No, it wasn’t only because they were cute.) One Direction has catchy songs, yes, but it's more than that. They are funny, down-to-earth, and honestly just the most entertaining guys I have ever seen. Watching their videos, I can tell that they simply love their jobs and enjoy just being together, goofing around like five teenage boys. Anyways, they became my happiness; they made me smile again. I would come home from a draining day at school, go up to my room, and watch their interviews. Suddenly, I felt like I belonged somewhere and I had found a reason to smile again. Needless to say, they have a very special place in my heart and they will always be a major part of me (hence the One Direction lyrics that I have tattooed on my body).

My point isn’t that everyone should love One Direction. I know that some people simply aren’t interested in that kind of music and that they might not find One Direction as endearing as I do. What I’m trying to say is that music has a way of touching people and even saving some people, so there should be no judgment when it comes to music. I shouldn’t feel ashamed to say, “They’re One Direction lyrics”, when someone asks about my

tattoo. People shouldn’t need to know my life story in order to respect my music choice or my body art, for that matter. We never know how a certain artist affects someone, so we shouldn't judge them because we don’t enjoy that kind of music. Even if the only reason that a person listens to a certain artist is because they appreciate their style, we should still respect that. Everyone has different tastes in music and no one genre or artist is objectively better than another. All music is beautiful, unique, and important to certain people for specific reasons. So, you listen to your music and I’ll listen to mine, with nothing but respect for one another.