Not long ago, those Which [blank] Are You? quizzes were circulating all over the major social media outlets, and it seemed that everyone and their mothers were taking them – no, but really, half of the quiz posts on my news feed was from my friends’ moms. My college friends (especially my coworkers in Admissions) are obsessed with Mean Girls, as am I, so when I saw the “Which Mean Girls Character Are You” quiz I jumped at the opportunity. I was clicking through the Zimbio quiz, answering honestly but not paying much attention after the questions passed. I was thinking I would get Cady Heron, since I am a self-proclaimed math nerd and I actually carry my graphing calculator with me even when I’m not in a math class. But, no. I had clicked my answer to the last question and, lo and behold, I got Janis Ian.
Like anyone else who doesn’t like the result they got on an Internet quiz, I immediately took it again, and, once again, I got Janis. I then tried another site’s quiz, this time doing the Buzzfeed version. I clicked through them, scrolled down anxiously, and BAM. Janis freaking Ian. At that moment I could think of nothing worse, but that’s when I read the descriptions. I read through them on both sites and immediately my opinion changed. At the heart of each description are the ideas of nonconformity, individuality, and independence (among other things).
In a fad-based society where you are only as cool as your public profile (because everyone who is anyone has an unprotected account), your self-worth is often defined by how many followers you have or how many people Snapchat you back – or have they shorted it to just “Snap”? You can choose to follow that path of immediate gratification, which is ultimately unfulfilling. You can choose to always feel behind the trend or looked down upon because you can’t afford the right labels. If that is what you think is conducive to happiness, then who am I to question you. All I know is that I am more than content with my flip-phone (it has a QWERTY keyboard, thank you). I relish in the fact that I can’t take a decent picture on my phone, let alone post it on Instagram or Snapchat. I’m going to maintain my wardrobe from Target and thrift stores, and I’m going to be proud of being that girl: the girl who doesn’t really care what others think of her.
Suck on that! AY-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI!