Consumerism: Scam or Sincerity?

People are always so judgmental to Gen-Zs about the fact that they not only buy things for function and need, for also being a victim to social media trends and buying things because of their alignment with the aesthetics that they like. For example, the Clean Beauty and Clean Fashion trend on social media—a lot of Gen-Zs and Gen-Alphas, are purchasing products related to this trend. Brands like Stanley, Rhode, and Alo were the biggest winners of this trend and they made tons of money from all the people who loved this aesthetic and this philosophy of beauty. Usually, girls are the “victims” for those types of trends, especially when it is related to beauty or fashion. However, not only are so many girls across the globe are falling for this trend, so many males and people of all ages are being affected as well. Including me.

I probably go on social media too much, and because of the Internet, everything can be shared and seen by everyone around the world in such a small period of time. For example, the news of Taylor Swift getting engaged was spread within less than perhaps 10 minutes? However, with the rise of the rapid spread of information, we are taking in so much information in such a short period of time and we are losing time to think and process the information before we take it in. If we get 25 posts about the benefits and the beauty of the Clean Girl Aesthetic, there is a big chance of us thinking that that is the best choice for us, which leads us to purchasing the products related to that aesthetic without thinking too much about it because we are being brainwashed by the fact that that is the trend, therefore, we should buy it because it looks pretty. However, I do believe that this situation is nuanced. If someone believes that they will look good in that aesthetic, it is intuitive for them to purchase items related to that aesthetic. If a person is simply buying it because they see everyone else buying it, I guess that is where the problem lies. I do not think consumerism if a direct threat to us. The importance lies in if we can always remind ourselves our actual needs and wants and not be affected by something we don’t need or want.