Furry little monsters, Labubus, lurk in every corner of the internet — hooked onto a pair of baggy jeans or attached to artsy canvas bags. A six-foot, 20-year-old man reads “The Feminist Mystique” while sipping on a ceremonial-grade matcha. These fuzzy keychains and wired earbud-using feminists are just another example of the many new social media trends materializing every few weeks. Whether it’s the Performative Male or the Pink Pilates Princess, these micro-trends and so-called “aesthetics” are influencing the average teen’s identity.
When the pandemic struck around 2020, the idea of “core-aesthetics” took off. As people were stuck in the claustrophobic walls of their homes, many longed for an escape to a dreamy Cottagecore forest or a prestigious, Dark Academia university in Edinburgh. And so began the trend of forming one’s personal taste and life around these characters that live in fictional worlds.
Many felt that, in order to form their identity, they have to start with external sources, including “Starter Packs” and aesthetic influencers, basing their personality around the items they buy and the clothing they wear.
But aesthetics and micro-trends weren’t all bad. During so much global turmoil and uncertainty, predictability and repetition in the media gave us a break. It allowed many of us to feel a level of control. The act of buying a Labubu is not just some random decision that anyone makes, but it makes us feel like we have the freedom to spend 40 dollars on a keychain “just because.” During today’s fast-paced world, being able to splurge a little on the newest Sonny Angel collection or another Stanley cup to add to your collection brings those small daily joys to many.
Even so, we shouldn’t be living our lives in accordance with what the model “Pink Pilates Princess” does at 5 AM everyday, or what any other mainstream, artificial identity is trending and buying. As individuals, we should be drawing from unexpected sources — not Pinterest or TikTok — but our favorite books, our childhood, our cultures — the things that truly define us and not a curated “aesthetic.” Though it is fun to have the financial freedom to buy into every new, funny or dumb trend, you don’t need to follow whatever is inauthentic to you — especially if it is a fluffy 40-dollar keychain (then you’d be just as performative as the 6-foot 5-inch, matcha-loving feminist).
GIFs by Chiara Shen. Shen is a high schooler producing content as a part of The Stanford Daily’s 2025 High School Multimedia Workshop.