Let Your Mainstream Show

In a world of haters, it’s okay to like popular things

By Jemma Keleher

These days, people who openly express their love for mainstream things like baggy t-shirts, UGG boots, and the 1975 possess as much bravery as a soldier heading into combat. Every time these individuals open their mouths, they’re inevitably faced with the classic, “Oh, you’re one of those people?” You happen to like things that other people also like? How shocking.

News flash: it’s completely okay to be “mainstream.”  Enjoying something, regardless of what it is, does not make a person’s interest any less valid or their experience any less singular. You like that cool new indie band that everyone and their dog also listens to? Amazing! Your opinion isn’t suddenly less valuable simply because a bunch of other people share it. 

Hating on popular things has become as normal as talking about the weather. People abstain from watching certain TV shows because countless others do too. Similarly, any girl who wears scrunchies and carries a Hydroflask is now considered a walking joke. As hilarious as saying “Sksksksk and I oop–” is (and believe me, I say it too), shaming people because of something as trivial as their interests is honestly boring and hardly nuanced. Let the VSCO girls live in peace—Birkenstocks, running shorts, Sugar Bear hair, and all. 

Oftentimes, the people who hate on the mainstream also consider themselves somehow cooler or more unique than others because they enjoy that which no one knows about. To that, I disagree. Each person’s interests are valid, whether they’re mainstream or the most obscure things known to man. Your enjoyment should not be demeaned simply due to the number of individuals who also share your interest. Individuals should be allowed to enjoy what they enjoy, even if that means they’re fitting in with everyone else.