By Vivienne Forstner

**Before starting this article, I’d like to clarify that this is an opinion piece. All statements made are my own observations and are in no way 100% factual.

When you think of the word “misogyny” and what it entails, you generally think of sexism in its most blunt form. Harassment, unfair opportunities in the working world, being forced to conform to certain roles and stereotypes, etc. These are some of the most prominent setbacks that women face every day. But, if we dive deeper into how society really treats women, especially in the modern era, we see that there is much more misogyny rooted in our societies than we ever realized.

If you’ve ever been on any social media platform, I’m sure you’ve seen whatever new thing is being referred to as “basic.” In 2016, it was wearing Ugg boots and drinking Starbucks. In 2019, it was being a “VSCO girl” and using a hydro flask. In 2020, it was liking Harry Styles. Every so often this definition will change to fit whatever most teenage girls are currently interested in. This seems as if it is a modern phenomenon, when it’s actually been happening for decades. For instance, in the 60’s, the “basic” thing to do was to like the Beatles. Basically anything popular with a demographic consisting mostly of teenage girls is cursed with this title.

You may be thinking at this point, “why is this such a bad thing? And this isn’t only limited to teenage girls, I’ve heard of so many other things described this way as well!” This is not wrong! For instance, teenage boys who play violent video games could be labelled the exact same way. The difference is how these two groups of people are treated. While men are just put into a stereotype for their interests and then judged on a personal basis, women are stripped of their individuality in the eyes of strangers. What I mean by this is a man will be assumed to have the traits of the typical “basic man” in addition to their personality. Women are assumed to be nothing more than a follower of the crowd with no thoughts of their own. This is such a damaging thing to tell girls, especially teenagers who are trying to find their place in the world.