Stop Calling Me Basic

Okay, here’s the deal. I am a firm believer that leggings are pants because they are comfortable and I wear them with a shirt. I’m a fan of men’s flannel shirts because they look good with my leggings. I wear Alex and Ani bracelets because I have big wrists and other bangles are too small for me. Also, they’re super affordable and really cute. Win-win. My monogrammed ring is made with gold from my grandmother’s wedding band and one of my mom’s bracelets so I wear it every day. I wear pearls because I’m a WASP from the South and I have no other excuse. I drink Starbucks because I am addicted to coffee and you can find one on every corner. I watch Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder because Shonda Rhimes is God’s gift to television. I can quote every line from Mean Girls and Love, Actually and I identify as a Charlotte. I drink Barefoot wine because it’s cheap and I’m not picky. Sorry, New York Times.

I know what you’re thinking. This girl is basic. Painfully basic. As basic as they come.

Let me tell you why I have a serious problem with that.

First of all, let’s unpack that word, “basic.” What does it really mean? Where does it really come from? According to the all-knowing Urban Dictionary, the first definition of ‘basic’ is from the summer of 2009: “a bum-ass woman who think she the sh*t but really ain’t.” …Sure. Maybe some of you are more familiar with Kreayshawn’s classic lyric: “Gucci Gucci, Louie Louie, Fendi Fendi, Prada — basic bitches wear that sh*t so I don’t even bother.” Now we’re getting somewhere. (No really, we are, I promise.)

A really great article came out in New York Magazine a few weeks ago – “What Do You Really Mean When You Say ‘Basic Bitch’?” Let me first make something clear. I am guilty of using the phrase “basic bitch” more times than I can count, but can we all agree to stop calling each other bitches? Because when we as women call each other bitches, even when we use the word in jest, it gives men permission to call us bitches and then we have problems. So let’s stop. Secondly, what exactly is so wrong with being basic? Am I harming anyone by drinking my Starbucks and wearing my leggings and updating my wedding board on Pinterest? No. So what if I want to paint my nails while I watch Sex and the City reruns? It’s none of your damn business. Third, calling me basic implies that you’re not. That’s what an insult is – it’s used to distance yourself from that person. So I’m assuming that none of you have ever stressed over your winged eyeliner or taken a yoga class. You hate Starbucks and you wouldn’t even recognize Taylor Swift if she slapped you across the face. Got it.

Here’s my point: There is nothing inherently wrong with being basic. It is a made-up insult used to make fun of girls who enjoy nice things. We have put so many things into the “basic” category that soon nothing’s going to be left for the poor hipsters of the world. We have taken what used to be a kind of funny and relatively harmless insult and turned it into a put-down so ubiquitous that I literally cannot go a single day without seeing it or hearing it or reading it somewhere. And I am tired of it. I am tired of being called basic for liking what I like. So do me a favor. Let’s let basic die. Leave it behind like we left pumpkin spice lattes in October and kindly leave me alone to drink my red moscato and worship at the shrine of Olivia Pope in peace.

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