VS(GO) Girl

I open my phone and hear a high-pitched “and I oop! Sksksks.” I scroll to escape but five new dance trends later it’s another screeching girl in the frame with scrunchie-covered wrists and a sticker covered Hydroflask in hand. Just one more VSCO girl skit among the hundreds already residing on TikTok.

VSCO, Visual Supply Company, is an app where you can shamelessly post dozens of post-shower, golden hour selfies without the stress of likes and comments. With the rise of TikTok, girls are being dragged for spending time on VSCO. More specifically, sporting the ‘VSCO girl’ look: oversized tees, scrunchies, puka shell necklaces and a rotating cycle of Brandy Melville tops. Why should they have to compromise their comfort and preferences to avoid being a target?

They shouldn’t. Seeing these skits of girls on TikTok started to make me want to put my comfiest T-shirt back in the drawer and use a simple black hair tie whenever I leave the house.

In an instagram poll of 274 East students, 36 percent think being called a VSCO girl is offensive or has negative connotations. In a poll of 284, 50 percent think that being called ‘basic’ is offensive or has negative connotations. While it may seem like a joke, it affects people more than we realize.

I wouldn’t consider myself a VSCO girl considering I rarely ever open the app, but my not-so-white Nike Airforce 1’s and eyesore messy buns may prove otherwise. This trend is making a whole population of teenage girls self-conscious for no reason. Criticizing girls for how they look is enough to make anyone look in the mirror and not like what they see.

All sorts of descriptions fall under “basic,” none of which I would consider flattering. But am I restricted only to the exclusive section of Urban Outfitters online to avoid that label? I don’t know about you, but it’s much easier to find a cute, simple top in Target than it is to spend hours searching for a “boujee” shirt no one else has.

I miss not caring about wearing oversized shirts I steal from my dad and rainbow flip-flops all the time. It’s exhausting trying to avoid the “basic” label. People are going to be grouped no matter what they wear — if you dress up for school you’re a ‘try-hard’ and if you like thrifting you’re ‘stuck in the wrong generation.’

It’s not just fashion choices that are being criticized. Everything from music taste to favorite restaurants are being shuffled into the same category — I find myself trying to escape it all. I shouldn’t feel embarrassed when I delve into my favorite açaí bowl or listen to old-school Taylor Swift at full volume when it rains.

It’s no surprise that the internet makes it easy to tease people. We find ourselves dragging people for the same things we do away from the screen. You can’t make someone feel badly for wearing a scrunchie and a star choker when you have the same items sitting on your bathroom counter at home. So if you aren’t about bracelets dangling from your Hydroflask lid or beachy seashell necklaces, it doesn’t mean everyone else has to agree.