Recently, I received an email from a professor. The sign-off read as follows:Â
“Happy avoidance of pumpkin spice latte season, Professor XYZ,”
I deleted the email.
The email itself had nothing to do with coffee, nor did it have to do with any important class work, as I am no longer a part of his class or his department. In fact, he was asking me for a favor. My subsequent choice of action was admittedly petty, but because of this sign-off, I chose not to respond. I promise I had my reasons. My pettiness may be impolite, but it certainly has its own brand of logic.
To be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with disliking pumpkin spice. While I love it now, I have gone through periods where I did not enjoy it. A difference of opinion over something as minuscule as the way one takes their coffee is not the issue here. I took issue with this email sign-off because, throughout the semester, when I was in his class, this professor had continually said things mildly insulting to the young female demographic and their popular interests. Passive, casual insults were constantly hurled at pop music, romance novels, makeup, shopping and yes, pumpkin spice. This is not the only context in which I have heard this sort of casual, under-the-table insulting of teenage girls and their comforts, and I am sure it will not be the last.
Frankly, I am sick of it.
Too often, teenage girls are the butt of the joke, despite our intelligence, our wallets, our power. I am in the waning years of my teenage existence, and I will soon be transitioning into my twenties. But, for the past seven years of teenage girlhood, I dealt with a tornado of men and greater society making fun of me, objectifying me and reducing me to stereotypes, just because of my gender and my hobbies. I am sick of people trivializing the things that teenage girls love as “vapid,” “shallow” or “fluffy.” Most of the stuff girls love is something they connect with on a deeper level.Â
While pop star Taylor Swift’s latest album has been controversial at the very least (not to yuck anyone’s yum — you are welcome to love it as far as I am concerned), many of her albums deal with heartbreak, friendship, betrayal, grief, joy, storytelling and more. She and countless other pop icons, including the likes of Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Olivia Rodrigo and others, have proven that they are more than just fluff.Â
The truth of the matter is this: I am a whole person, and so is every girl in their teens and twenties, though this should not even have to be a conversation. People should know I am more than Sabrina Carpenter pop music and autumn chill, even if I do enjoy them. Just because I like hobbies that some men might call vapid does not mean I also do not love more traditionally “intelligent” things as well. I will pick up a romance book or a Dostoevsky novel. Girls can love fluffy romance, girls can love sad pop music and girls can love Modernist German novelists like Franz Kafka. We contain multitudes. The thought of anything else is terribly offensive at worst, and terribly boring at best. Teenage girls are one of the largest consumer bases in the world, with the ability to majorly influence views and cash flow, from the spike in NFL viewership during Taylor Swift’s appearances at games to the rebrand of Stanley mugs and thermoses from macho to pastel. Before criticizing the interests of the teenage girl, maybe dip a toe in. If you still dislike it, that is completely fine, but there is absolutely no need to villainize it.Â
I love my girlhood and that I have the privilege to consume anything I please. I can wear a tiara while listening to Beatles songs and watch romcoms while learning carpentry, and this information should not be new or shocking. It feels redundant to have to say it, but even now, men feel the need to air out their grievances against something so harmless as a pumpkin spice latte, because they think it is cheesy, because it is for little girls. There is value in pumpkin spice, even if one male college professor disdains it unprompted. There is value in art, even if it is lighthearted. There is value in nail polish and satin dresses, in flowers and scraped knees, in princesses and in dad bands from the 80s. There is value in our girlhood, and I will never play witness to someone minimizing that.
Happy pumpkin spice latte season to those who celebrate.