The Harmful Implications of Many Mainstream Trends

When rummaging history, we see endless trends rooted in Black and Brown communities utilized as a method to express themselves. We have seen these trends become a part of their culture and larger community. But we have also seen them shamed, bullied and victimized for trends that are seemingly back in and being relabeled as “cool” or “different”.

Through the rise of TikTok we have seen the return of many fads from the 90s to the 2000s. But with that, I notice people neglect the fact that a lot of these trends originated in Black and Brown communities. For example, over the past few years we have seen street fashion find its way into communities that once isolated the pioneers of this style. Street wear originated from the Bronx in the 1970s . This style was a mix of inventiveness and accessibility. Baggy clothes quickly came into trend because of the ill-fitting hand-me-downs they often had to style. They would dress it up and explore new ways to wear it. For a long time streetwear was looked down upon and labeled as a trend for kids who wanted to be “rebels”. This approach to fashion and its correlation to hip hop quickly gained negative attraction. However, with the rise of social media we have seen communities that once condemned this fashion, tailor it to be “cool” and hit mainstream media.

We see this with other trends as well. We saw the rise of the “clean girl aesthetic,” displayed often as a tall, skinny, evidently rich white woman with slick ponytails, hoops and little to no makeup. From this one trend emerged many others. There was a surge of women talking about the epiphany of ‘’spa water,” which in short terms is agua fresca. Not only did the original trend just push their agenda of the Eurocentric beauty standard of tall, slim white women. But the other content that came from it continues to ignore their hypocrisy of demeaning trends just to recycle and claim them years later.

Many Latina women came forward, not opposing the start of these fads, but castigating the white creators inability to acknowledge the true roots of these “new trends.” This Latina inspired, “clean girl aesthetic,” came shortly after the content of creators mocking Latina women. These videos often portray them as “loud,” “obnoxious,” and “ghetto” through “hot cheeto girl” videos. This further emphasizes not only white women’s inability, but refusal, to give women of color credit for their positive attributions to mainstream media.

Throughout history, normalities in different cultures like hoops, slick hair, different slang and clothing were shamed, labeled as “ghetto” and even used to victimize these communities. White people diving head first into these trends feels like a paradox.

There are many ways cultural appropriation presents itself in the media, often we see people wearing an Indian headdress for Halloween or Black face. But there are more layers to it. I have seen endless creators indulge themselves in Black aesthetics, AAVE (African American Vernacular Language), or the imitation and mockery of Latinas. It is easy to ignore something you may see as harmless but indulging in this content and making it “viral” encourages stereotypes and fetishization often without realizing it.

No one is trying to say people may not emerge themselves in these smaller aspects of these cultures, nor does anyone control what you can or can not do. When done respectfully, it can be viewed as appreciation. But ignoring the fact that people of color established your “new trend” years ago is important. I think many people of color could agree they do not want a scripture protecting and acknowledging every trend you choose to partake in, but not stealing and refurbishing trends and pushing harmful stereotypes is the bare minimum. In simple terms, be more socially aware, and do not underplay the role you play in an ongoing problem.

WRITTEN BY NICOLETTE CRUZ

ILLUSTRATED BY KAITLYN CAFARELLI

DESIGNER SOPHIE SARGEANT