Why We Need To Drop The Phrase 'Basic Bitch'

So here's the craic.

I recently saw a makeup artist I follow on Instagram post on her story today 'you know you can do other things with makeup other than a cut crease' closely followed by 'watch me do a basic bitch cut crease tomorrow' and it got me thinking about the phrase 'basic bitch' and what it means and why we should just cut the phrase and stop using it. 

When someone says the phrase 'basic bitch' or 'basic', what are the first things that spring to mind? Usually Starbucks, avocado, Instagram, high street brands, glitter and Pinterest. Ring any bells? Thought so, because most women have some of these things in common.

The term 'basic' was used at first to describe women who liked all these things, and then gradually the word 'bitch' was added onto it by those who felt that these women were somehow inferior for liking bottomless avocado brunch. If the phrase wasn't already unnecessarily derogatory, it certainly is now. Being labelled a 'basic bitch' somehow holds connotations that you're therefore less interesting or less worthy because of the things you like. It's a phrase that suggests you have no further depth of cultural knowledge and therefore aren't worth getting to know beyond your appearance and your tastes. Men slap a 'basic bitch' label on you and won't bother getting to know you for who you are because they 'hate basic bitches' and don't stop to think for on second that a group of 'basic bitches' are still a group of individual women who all have their own personalities and identities that set them apart from each other - and this is only done because they all like pumpkin spice lattes. 

What I'm interested to know is where we got this idea from that people who like mainstream things are somehow less special or less interesting? I have a Spotify playlist filled with typically 'indie' music (Stone Roses, Oasis, Courteeners, The Smiths, etc) and still have to excuse the fact I have two Ed Sheeran songs on it. I get told that I'm 'basic' because I like Ed Sheeran's music. But, I hate to say it, the subcultures of 'basic' go deeper than just a 'basic bitch'. I also get slapped with the label 'basic' by the indie subculture because I like 'mainstream indie' and therefore I'm not 'properly indie'. I'm a 'listens to the Smiths once' girl. Yeah, I know, the quote marks are getting ridiculous now.

There must have been a point where we decided that we can roll our eyes at some people because they were a certain style of clothing or listen to a certain type of music, or for just doing things the same as a large majority of other people. And moreover, when did we decide that these people just living their lives in the way they want to affect ours in any way? 

But it also has a deeper, more twisted side to it. 'Basic bitch' is a term exclusively used for females. There is no male equivalent, unless you count 'bro' or 'lad'. But more often than not, 'lads' are still seen to be deeper than their interests. We say 'oh, he wears tanks and goes to Crossfit but there's so much more to him' and a 'basic bitch' doesn't get the privilege of someone bothering to find out what's underneath the G&T in a mason jar. Moreover, the word 'lad' has never been a derogatory term for a male, by any stretch of the imagination - so why do we think it's okay to walk around proclaiming people as 'basic bitches'? Of course, there are the people who accept the label and wear it proudly and by all means, reclaiming the term is something we definitely need to start doing as we have done with the word 'slut' - but at this point, men and other women need to cut using it as a derogatory phrase filled with snobbery and hatred for the mainstream. 

I think society is so eager to put us all into categories and subcultures, and the mistake we're making is letting it. We're forced to try and fit in with some label based on what we wear or what music we listen to, and okay, to some extent, people will naturally gravitate towards others like them, that's just a  thing that happens. But next time you're going to call someone a 'basic bitch' just think about the fact that that term reduces that person to their appearance and their interests, and someone who's not worth getting to know because they like mainstream things. We're all individuals, with individual tastes, styles, thoughts, dreams and creativity - so let's stop jumping for separatist terms the minute a girl with perfectly shaped eyebrows posts a picture on Instagram of a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte.

What are your thoughts on the phrase 'basic bitch'?

Em xx