Basic (slang)

{{Italic title|string=Basic}}{{For|the term for a young urban white woman originating in Chicago|Trixie (slang)}}

"Basic" is a slang term in American popular culture, used pejoratively to describe culturally unoriginal people, particularly young women, who are perceived to prefer products, trends, and music that will make them look upper class even though they are not.{{Cite web |date=30 June 2014 |title=The United States of Basic Bitches: A Map and Field Guide |url=https://jezebel.com/the-united-states-of-basic-bitches-1575949216 |website=Jezebel}} "Basic bitch" originated in hip hop culture and rose in popularity through rap music, songs, blogs, and videos from 2011 to 2014.{{cite web |first=Abby |last=Schreiber |date=October 16, 2014 |title=Why are 'basic bitches' taking over the zeitgeist right now? |work=Paper |url=http://www.papermag.com/2014/10/basic_bitches_taking_over_the_zeitgeist.php |access-date=December 24, 2014}}{{cite magazine |first=Charlotte |last=Alter |date=April 30, 2014 |title=How Conformity Became a Crime |magazine=Time |url=https://time.com/77305/how-conformity-became-a-crime/ |access-date=December 24, 2014}} The male counterpart can often be put under the "bro" label.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/jackalope/2014/05/basic_bro_dating_signs.php|title=50 Signs You're Dating a Basic Bro|date=10 December 2014|work=Phoenix New Times}}{{cite web|url=http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2293516-most-basic-bros-in-sports|title=Most Basic Bros in Sports|date=10 December 2014|publisher=Bleacher Report}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1972041/basic-bro-lines/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102032703/http://www.mtv.com/news/1972041/basic-bro-lines/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 2, 2014|title=23 Phrases That Let You Know You're Talking To A Basic Bro|date=10 December 2014|publisher=MTV}}

Similar labels to "basic bitch" or "airhead" in other English-speaking countries include: contemporary British, "Essex girls" and "Sloane Rangers"; and Australian, "haul girls", known for their love of shopping for designer gear, and uploading videos of their purchases on YouTube.{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/a-spotters-guide-to-the-emerging-tribes-of-sydney-20140607-39qc2.html|title=A spotter's guide to the emerging tribes of Sydney|date=7 June 2014 }}{{cite web|url=https://lovindublin.com/feature/19-ways-to-instantly-spot-a-basic-bitch-in-dublin|title=19 Ways To Instantly Spot A Basic Bitch In Dublin|website=lovindublin.com|date=12 February 2017 }}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/mar/20/youth-subcultures-where-have-they-gone|title=Youth subcultures: what are they now?|first=Alexis|last=Petridis|newspaper=The Guardian |date=20 March 2014|via=www.theguardian.com}}

History

=Origins=

Before the 1980s, "airhead" was general American slang for a ditzy, clumsy or stupid person.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KT-cAQAAQBAJ&q=airhead%20preppy&pg=PA398|title=Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang|first1=John|last1=Ayto|first2=John|last2=Simpson|date=11 February 2010|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-923205-5 |via=Google Books}} With the rise of the valley girl{{cite web|url=https://prezi.com/06z9x0lmcfgo/valley-girl-and-identity-creation/|title="Valley Girl" and identity creation}} and preppy subculture however, the term was applied to cheerleaders{{cite web|url=https://www.themycenaean.org/2011/11/cheerleaders-is-the-media-to-blame-for-stereotypes/|title=Cheerleaders: is the media to blame for stereotypes?|editor-first1=Hailey|editor-last1=Stephenson|date=14 November 2011}} and nouveau riche or middle class hangers-on who imitated the uptalk speech{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/health/body-odd/we-all-speak-valley-girls-now-f2D11722245|title=We all speak like Valley girls now - NBC News|website=NBC News |date=10 December 2013 }} and clothing of the upper class popular girls. These airheads, material girls or gold diggers were stereotypically viewed by their classmates as unintelligent, gossipy{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086525/|title=Valley Girl|date=29 April 1983|via=IMDb}} bimbettes who were interested solely in spreading rumors about their rivals and entering relationships with the wealthy jocks.{{cite web|url=http://www.inthe80s.com/glossary.shtml|title=In The 80s - Glossary of Eighties Terms}}

=1990s and 2000s=

"Basic" was used as a person descriptor in 1992 on the show The Wonder Years, Season 5, Episode 6 (Episode "Triangle"), at time index 11:57.

"Basic" was also used as a person descriptor in 1994 on the show Reboot, Season 1, Episode 10 (v1.10, "The Great Brain Robbery"), at time index 12:10.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, airheads began to be regarded as a distinct, middle class subculture in many suburban American high schools, although appearance-wise they initially differed little from the traditionalist upper class preps.{{cite news|url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2009/07/16/let_me_school_you_about_preppies/|title=Let me school you about preppies|first=Sam|last=Allis|newspaper=Boston.com |date=16 July 2009|via=The Boston Globe}} At the time, many wealthy white jocks and younger preppies had begun imitating urban fashion trends, eschewing the semi-formal conservative look of the 1980s and 1990s in favor of gold bling, expensive designer clothes, sneakers, dark jeans, and sweatpants.[https://web.archive.org/web/20100110062908/http://www.undertheboards.com/excerpts.html Last White Superstar]. Web.archive.org (10 January 2010). Rich girls who dressed this way were known as Queen Bees and their followers were known as plastics, or airheads.{{cite web|url=http://screencrush.com/meanest-high-school-girls-movies/|title=The Meanest High School Girls in Movies|date=18 October 2013 }} Members of this clique believed their designer clothing, as a manifestation of conspicuous consumption, was key to being popular.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bookoflistsforte0000chor|url-access=registration|title=the Book of Lists for Teens|first1=Sandra|last1=Choron|first2=Harry|last2=Choron|date=24 October 2002|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|via=Internet Archive}}

The term basic bitch was coined in 2009{{cite web |last=Petersen |first=Anne Helen |date=October 20, 2014 |title=What We're Really Afraid Of When We Call Someone "Basic" |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/basic-class-anxiety |website=BuzzFeed News}} by comedian Lil' Duval.{{cite web |author=Lange |first=Maggie |date=April 10, 2014 |title=The 'Basic Bitch': Who Is She? |url=http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/04/basic-bitch-who-is-she.html |access-date=September 15, 2014 |work=NYMag.com}} Over the next two years, it appeared in several American rap songs. In the songs "Hard in the Paint" by Tyga and "I'm not a Human Being" by Lil Wayne, the singers insist that they are not basic bitches, while in the song "Basic Bitch" by the Game, the singer warns others to avoid basic bitches because they are fake.

=2010s=

In 2011, rapper Kreayshawn debuted her song "Gucci Gucci", which included the chorus: "Gucci Gucci, Louis Louis, Fendi Fendi, Prada ... basic bitches wear that shit so I don't even bother." In 2014 CollegeHumor released a parody video of a wife being diagnosed by a doctor as a "basic bitch", to the horror of her husband.{{cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2014/4/22/5636156/basic-a-beginners-guide-to-everyones-favorite-new-insult|title= "Basic": a beginner's guide to everyone's favorite new insult|author= Alex Abad-Santos |work=Vox.com|date=April 22, 2014|access-date= September 15, 2014}}

Fashion and stereotypes

File:Uggs2.jpg, often referenced in songs and articles about cultural trends as a brand of footwear loved by so-called "basic" women]]

From the 1990s{{cite web|url=https://www.courant.com/1998/09/01/its-baggy-its-preppy-its-hip-hop-its-whats-in/|title=It's Baggy, It's Preppy, It's Hip-hop, It's What's In|date=September 1998 }} until the early 2010s, both boys and girls from the popular clique often combined budget preppy{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/how-a-brand-loses-its-cool-and-what-it-should-do-to-get-it-back-2014-11?IR=T|title=Why Abercrombie & Fitch Isn't 'Cool' Anymore|website=Business Insider }} clothes with supposedly edgy elements of mainstream hip hop fashion, in imitation of the outfits worn by early adopter black rappers such as Kanye West.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MMc1CwAAQBAJ|title=The Hip-Hop Education Guidebook Volume 1|first1=Marcella|last1=Runell|first2=Martha|last2=Diaz|date=1 January 2007|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=9780615142623 |via=Google Books}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/19/style/son-of-muffy-preppy-style-returns-extra-dry-and-with-a-twist.html|title=Son of Muffy: Preppy Style Returns, Extra Dry and With a Twist|date=19 December 2000|work=The New York Times}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mtqrQIzIM4wC|title=White Kids: Language, Race, and Styles of Youth Identity|first=Mary|last=Bucholtz|date=23 December 2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781139495097 |via=Google Books}} Miniskirts, Nike brand sneakers,{{cite web|url=http://hannahgale.co.uk/2015/01/22/26-signs-youre-the-absolute-queen-of-basic-bitches/|title=26 signs you're the absolute queen of basic bitches|access-date=2016-04-02|archive-date=2016-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417043357/http://hannahgale.co.uk/2015/01/22/26-signs-youre-the-absolute-queen-of-basic-bitches/|url-status=dead}} pastel colors like pale blue or baby pink, expensive Aeropostale, Hollister Co{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/feb/25/clothing-retailers-teens-abercrombie-fitch-wet-seal-aeropostale-hollister|title=Why teens stopped shopping at Abercrombie & Fitch and Wet Seal|first=Lydia|last=Dishman|newspaper=The Guardian |date=25 February 2015}} or Abercrombie and Fitch clothes,{{cite web|url=http://wonkette.com/516586/the-only-thing-worse-than-abercrombie-fitch-is-this-anti-abercrombie-fitch-movement|title=The Only Thing Worse Than Abercrombie & Fitch Is This Anti-Abercrombie & Fitch Movement|first=Jeff|last=Wattrick}} designer clothes or accessories purchased by one's parents, grey marl sweatpants, crop tops, white Converse sneakers,{{Cite web|url=https://www.alternet.org/2016/04/when-will-phrase-basic-bitch-die/|title=Watch: SNL Writer Reclaims the Term 'Basic Bitch' From the Mouths of Women-Hating Women|date=April 5, 2016|website=Alternet.org}} leggings,{{cite web|url=http://www.vogue.com/1502185/back-to-basics-fall-fashion-guide/|title=7 Basic Fall Looks to Embrace Your Inner #Basic|first=Liana Satenstein, Jorden|last=Bickham|date=19 September 2014|access-date=2 April 2016|archive-date=4 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504055559/http://www.vogue.com/1502185/back-to-basics-fall-fashion-guide|url-status=dead}} and Ugg boots remained common among American airheads, Aussie haul girls and Essex girls during the 2010s. Other items of clothing formerly fashionable in the 1990s, such as polo shirts with popped collars, have gone out of style. Common amongst this subculture is a love of brunch (often with Prosecco) and sweet, modern cocktails such as porn star martinis.

Popular girls in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada are often accused of meanness,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/may/16/abercrombie-fitch-marketing-mike-jeffries|title=Has Abercrombie & Fitch's CEO really made a 'Big, fat, marketing mistake'?|first=Nicola|last=Carter|newspaper=The Guardian |date=16 May 2013}} gossip, snobbery, narrowmindedness, homophobia, intolerance,{{cite web|url=https://ecocult.com/the-truth-about-basic-bitches-they-will-ruin-your-life/|title=The Truth About Basic Bitches: They Could Ruin Your Life|date=12 April 2014}} flaunting their apparent wealth, backstabbing, shallowness, body shaming,{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/gossip-one-upmanship-and-cruel-jokes-i-was-the-school-mean-girl/|title=Gossip, one-upmanship and cruel jokes: I was the school Mean Girl|newspaper=The Telegraph |date=30 March 2016 }} slut shaming, contempt for the poor,{{cite web|url=http://thetab.com/uk/exeter/2015/10/21/basic-exetah-bitch-28095|title=A comprehensive manual on becoming an EX4 basic betch|date=21 October 2015}} and openly bullying other girls to maintain their own privileged position.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AS8VCgAAQBAJ|title=Girlfighting: Betrayal and Rejection Among Girls|first=Lyn Mikel|last=Brown|date=1 March 2005|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=9780814799512 |via=Google Books}}

Interpretations and criticism

Referring to an object or a person as "basic" has a variety of connotations. When used to refer to people, it can mean a criticism of shallow materialism;{{cite web|url=https://www.thecut.com/2014/10/what-do-you-really-mean-by-basic-bitch.html |title=What do you really mean by 'basic bitch'? |author=Noreen Malone |publisher=New York Magazine |date=October 2014 |access-date=September 22, 2022}} in songs that use the term, popular luxury brands like Gucci and Prada are referenced to suggest that the people who wear them are buying, rather than earning, their fashionability and social status.{{cite web|url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/39504-how-to-spot-the-basic-bitch-a-field-guide|title=How to Spot the Basic Bitch|first=Lucia|last=Peters|website=Bustle|date=11 September 2014 }} Decrying the basic bitch's love of bland, boring products like Ugg boots and Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes is a rhetorical technique that allows the singer to appear cooler by comparison.{{cite web|url=http://theamericanreader.com/the-life-and-death-of-american-slang-part-ii-bae-and-basic-bitch/|author=Michael Reid Roberts|work=The American Reader|title=The Life and Death of American Slang, Part II: Bae and Basic Bitch|access-date=September 15, 2014}}

In an article in The Guardian titled "Why I'm proud to be a 'basic bitch'", British journalist Daisy Buchanan criticizes the cultural trend of using "basic bitch" as an insult, pointing out that those who label other women as basic bitches are "dismissing all cultural feminine signifiers" and "mak[ing] assumptions about a woman's interests and habits based on her sex". The implication of this claim is that material possessions and consumption are, in fact, markers of femininity.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/14/proud-to-be-basic-bitch|author=Daisy Buchanan|work=The Guardian|title=Why I'm proud to be a 'basic bitch'|date=April 14, 2014|access-date=September 15, 2014}} Widespread usage of the term to mock the behavior and interests of girlfriends or wives "conforms to the most bland and uncreative stereotypes of late capitalist femininity" and suggests a misogynistic attitude toward all women, according to Michael Reid Roberts in an article in The American Reader.

In the media

Since the 1980s, the airhead or popular clique have often been cast as the antagonists in high school and teen movies.{{cite web|url=https://collegecandy.com/2014/07/14/the-15-most-basic-bitch-movies-in-history-ranked/|title=The 15 Most Basic Bitch Movies In History Ranked|first=Emerald|last=Pellot|date=14 July 2014}} Examples include Valley Girl, The Clique, Heathers, Girl Fight, A Cinderella Story, Odd Girl Out, Frenemies, Pretty in Pink, Mean Girls, and Clueless.{{cite web|url=https://www.theedgesusu.co.uk/news/2015/07/19/nostalgic-news-clueless-released-20-years-ago-today/|title=Nostalgic News: Clueless released 20 years ago today|date=18 July 2015}}

The sitcom The Good Place (2016–2020), which takes place in a fictional afterlife, famously popularized the phrase when the main character Eleanor Shellstrop (played by Kristen Bell) comically told her boyfriend "Face it Chidi: ya basic!" In a later season, the character Michael (played by Ted Danson) uses the same epithet against two other characters. The show then satirized the then-common confusion about the term as Michael then finds himself having to explain what "basic" means ("It's devastating. You're devastated right now.") when the other two are completely unaware of the term.{{cn|date=August 2024}}