Internet aesthetics like dark academia, cottagecore, VSCO girl and many more have been on the rise since the early 2010s. Over time, virtual communities have formed around these aesthetics, which are now known as ‘subcultures’. Each aesthetic has a distinct colour palette, visual style and list of overall characteristics associated with it. The concept of aesthetic subcultures initially encouraged people to express their individuality and connect with like-minded people. Instead, they seem to evolve into meticulously crafted moulds that pressurise people to change their true selves just to fit into them. Human beings by nature are multifaceted; our personalities are not linear. We change, we contradict ourselves, we evolve. Internet aesthetic subcultures come with a checklist. Everything is predetermined for you, like a blueprint- a certain way you are expected to dress, a certain genre of music you are expected to listen to and even values to uphold.
The appeal
Let’s try to understand why people get drawn to aesthetic subcultures in the first place. A primary factor is that they’re literally designed to be visually appealing and to draw you in. You might also find yourself drawn to a certain aesthetic because it can come across as a perfect way to express a certain aspect of your personality. At first it often feels empowering. You think, ‘This is who I am’. But is that all that you are? This is where it starts to get complicated.
the dark side
By conforming to a certain aesthetic, you might be expressing a certain aspect of your personality. However, you might end up suppressing other aspects of yourselves, thereby limiting your growth. Over time, what might have initially felt like an empowering and creative outlet turns into a checklist you must complete.
It all starts with a certain dressing style or type of music, but eventually you begin to feel that you have to behave a certain way or only dress in specific colours. It encourages us to obsess over how our lives look, rather than how our lives feel. This sets a very unrealistic and, more importantly unhealthy standard to live by. There’s pressure to maintain the look, the vibe, the lifestyle and embody it in every aspect of your life at all times. This often leaves people feeling alienated when they can’t live up to the aesthetic. Truth is, no one can. Real people can’t just be one thing all the time. Our identities are far too complex for that. Internet aesthetic subcultures reduce human individuality to a one-dimensional idea, where a person’s entire identity can be summed up by a single aesthetic and, and everything about you, right from your music taste and the way you dress to your social habits, the food you eat, and what you do in your free time, all align perfectly with that aesthetic. This is an impossible standard that goes against the very essence of what it means to be human.
WHY WE DON’T HAVE TO CHOOSE
Here’s the good news, though: no one fully fits into these boxes, and you don’t have to either. Don’t let online aesthetic culture flatten your personality and force you into a one-dimensional understanding of yourself. You are not a fictional character. You don’t have to fit into a box. You can mix and match as much as you want to. Labels and aesthetics are fun to explore, but they shouldn’t define us. Remember, you can collect inspiration from multiple places, even if they aren’t aesthetically cohesive. You can change your mind as often as you like and even be contradictory. Luckily, that’s exactly what makes each of us so interesting.
Unboxing your individuality
A meaningful life is not necessarily an aesthetically pleasing one. We were never meant to live inside perfectly curated boxes. We’re inherently complex, contradictory and often messy, and that’s okay because that’s what it means to be human. Embrace the freedom to explore all aspects of your individuality, even the parts of you that clash or don’t fit a rigid aesthetic label.
Let’s stop reducing our identities to an overly simplified version just because it’s trending online
Be all of you at once. Be human.
