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To be or not to be? That is the question. To conform, or to rebel? To be oneself or lose oneself. It seems like in the 21st Century that's all anyone could ever think about. To think that major social movements happened only in the past 200 years-ish means that everything is a lot more complex than it were before.
Everyone can see that a lot of fashion and sosio-political movements came about with the precedent and cementing of the existence of the working class vs the upper class. The old vs the new. Mod, Goth, Punk, Prep, etc... It's all a movement and subgenre that emerged as a reaction to whatever was mainstream before.
It used to be that these subcultures are seen as weird or unusual, or seen as outcasts. But nowadays something odd is going on. The rise of Tiktok and Microtrends means that there are so many subcultures that has its chance to shine in the mainstream, and then these subcultures are adopted by everyone, and it turns into a caricature of itself; It's a watered down, stripped, and barely recognizable version of itself. Call me woke or dramatic but what's with this neo-colonialist attitude to take someone's life and turn it into some "palatable" mockery of itself?
Then, there's also the case of socializing with someone in your subculture and realizing that everyone else is cooler than you and you're suddenly back in seventh grade and awfully self conscious?
Why with this sudden rant, you might ask. Well dear readers, I've been someone who very much appreciates the uniqueness present in anyone, and while some standards or rules are great, in general I don't think that any rule should suffocate creativity. And as I may or may not have wrote in previous posts, I have been interested in some subgenres or styles for a while. Like Mori Kei, Vintage Fashion (60's) and lately Tudor or Renaissance fashions. Imagine my horror the other day, after a long while of not catching up on trends, I watch a 2025 trend prediction video by Modern Gurlz on Youtube (She's AMAZING by the way) and realizing that some of my personal style preferences were included. Then I wondered, is this a case of individuality being absorbed into the mainstream? Or is it a case of someone not realizing that they're in a hivemind all along and their sense of "Uniqueness" were just superficial? Is the concept of "accepting yourself for who you are, but in the confines of what's socially regarded as "cool" still there?
Does this post make sense, I don't even know. But if anyone reads this, have you ever felt the same way? What do you think about this scenario?
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⊹ ࣪ ˖ elizabeth
Enjoyed the blog, very good read! but to answer your question at the end of the blog I guess in a way I sort of have felt the same way but its conflicting. On one hand to see such a niche subgenre being represented in mainstream media is definitely a welcome feeling, there's some small niche communities where there's only a handful of people and the opportunity of being greeted with a larger audience and be able to share more of your interests with other people is an amazing feeling! But to see this representation of your interests be shown in a sort of dummified or still sticking to what is socially appreciated or seen as popular while retaining just some features of what makes that interest *that interest* is definitely raging.
I may be drifting off point in that way, but I don't think it's definitely bad to have these interests be represented in the mainstream and it shouldn't have to make others feel like their interests are any less special because our being doesn't come from just one interest but instead its a special amalgamation of all the things come in one that represents who we are as a person and even if we share something in common with popular trends it doesn't negate the fact that YOU made this combination of interests and those choices are unique to you.
That's my take on it! hope it made sense LOL I know I understood your blog but constructing this comment made me wonder if im lacking the comprehension skills to understand your very good points :3 once again, amazing read of a blog!