There has been a recent online trend of mocking the so-called “VSCO Girl”, particularly on Twitter and Instagram—but what are we really making fun of them for? What is so bad about liking scrunchies and drinking from a Hydroflask? There are legitimate reasons to criticize white women who appropriate vernacular from a black Drag Queen, Jasmine Masters, without giving due credit, but that’s not what people are criticizing online.
Anytime young women have a cultural trend there is a backlash, usually led by men, to mock them for enjoying (blank). We can’t like certain bands, wear any style of clothing, or care about the environment without being criticized. Any trend that young women are the primary followers of—One Direction, Justice, Lana Del Ray, etc.—is mocked and not taken seriously. The Beatles’ listening demographic in the sixties was young women, and now they are considered one of the greatest bands of all time; why? Because men began to take them seriously. And it’s not only men, but women are also quick to jump on the joke-train and perpetuate the “not-like-other-girls” mindset. Distancing ourselves from each other makes equality advancements more difficult and determines women’s value-based solely on their outward presentation; as a society, we have to move on.
Allow young women to enjoy things, as long as they’re healthy and happy, and if you don’t understand it, that’s okay, it’s not for you. There are many more important issues to fixate and worry about than some fifteen-year-olds wearing mom jeans and using metal straws. Anti-women rhetoric like this only serves to hurt young women’s mental health and image presentation. We all go through phases, and maybe that’s all this is, but maybe not, and thats okay.