Characteristic of my generation, I am constantly curious about how others perceive me. Social media has offered us an unprecedented means through which to accumulate this information; in the digital realm you can both contextualize your identity against the backdrop of infinite other lives and curate your real-life and virtual image to better align with certain ideas. 

The result has been fascinating: Not only are new aesthetics or categories to define yourself popping up overnight, there seems to be an increasing emphasis on such identification. I can no longer look in the mirror and simply think I am wearing a cute outfit. I now read my appearance through the lens of aesthetic language that I imagine would sound foreign to generations of the past: “My outfit is so coquette today,” or “so cottage-core,” “so vintage cowboy,” or “so dark academia.”

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In our attempt to better understand and express ourselves on such a large scale, we have cultivated an ultra-awareness of how we appear and how this can be classified into various distinct categories. We’ve created an affinity for labels that stands in amusing contradiction to Generation Z’s central values. 

Casting aside labels seems to have become characteristic of Gen Z in certain realms like dating and politics, but on social media, we are quick to brand ourselves. The aesthetics we wear may be fleeting, but we nonetheless carry such labels happily and adamantly. 

This presence of countless different aesthetics isn’t necessarily negative; in fact, being able to explore one’s identity by using resources online can be positive, especially for those who feel marginalized. However, having such an abundance of categories to choose from can become paradoxically restrictive. 

The pressure you may feel in finding an aesthetic with which to self-identify also has the effect of framing appearance as the most important attribute one has to offer — though I suppose this isn’t entirely a new concept when it comes to social media. 

Videos on TikTok and Instagram reels alike have responded to this excess of options of who to be — or at least, who to appear as. A popular fashion video trend shows people dressing in various different styles, often under the caption “pov you can’t choose an aesthetic.” 

A popular audio that these videos are filmed under goes, “When you wanna be this … but you also want to be this,” as it cuts between different perceived aesthetics. One such video also reads, “I still don’t know what my style is … Which one suits me?” 

The trend isn’t just linked to fashion: Some TikTok videos also link it to interior design. One video relates a user’s indecision over whether to have a “fairy core,” “grandma core,” “90’s whimsigothic” or “hippie/70’s aesthetic” bedroom. 

The aesthetics are endless. There’s “rockstar girlfriend,” for example: It’s dark lipstick and smudged eyeliner from the night before, grunge and punk rock, and an “I don’t care” attitude. There’s the “coquette” aesthetic, too: deeply feminine, emphasis on bows and pink, and sometimes mentioned in conjunction with “Lana-core,” based on singer Lana Del Rey, though the latter is a bit darker.  

Though all in good fun, such an emphasis on the “core” with which one aligns themselves — or often, models themselves after — conflates these aesthetics with one’s complete identity. While such an idea is hardly unique to Gen Z, it’s something that has been overwhelmingly exacerbated by the prevalence of social media. 

These trends highlight something deeper in our generation’s collective subconscious. Beyond just an incessant need to be perceived, our obsession with aesthetics reveals desperation. All of this content asks the same question: Is my aesthetic the right one? Is how I appear to the world okay? 

While social media can be a useful tool in the process of self-discovery and a way to try on different hats to see what fits, we must be wary of our obsession with aesthetics and desire to define every little attribute that belongs to us. I think there are more valuable forms of expression than deciding which adjective precedes your #core.