The “Eras” Phenomenon
By Ananya Bathla (ASP 24), Illustrated by Shirin Shakir (UG 24)
I’m in my era’s era, you’re in your ‘I wanna dress up like it’s the 2000s but also like it’s 2014’ era, and well, the world is in its every micro-trend of the decade altogether era. It’s like we’re all living in a kaleidoscope of fashion, where trends come and go quicker than you can say “oops just placed that order.” But have you ever wondered where all these eras come from? Is it just some kid sitting on the corner of their bed frantically subtweeting pictures of Mariah in a butterfly top and another twenty something girlie at the other side of the world saving pictures of Devon Aoki’s iconic ensembles from the Fast and Furious on Pinterest and before it snowballs? Next thing you know, it’s picked up by popular youtubers, reigned in by gen-z’s tastemakers and soon Vogue editors scream y2k is back? Or maybe we should pour one out for the conspiracy theorists and picture Adam Mosseri sitting in a room with his Algorithm team and picking out that ‘coastal grandmother’ goes viral next.
Back in the day, it was all about Madonna, Gaga, and Miley — pop stars who made stark reinventions time and time again. The idea was simple: if you want to stay relevant, you gotta keep ’em guessing. Madonna pioneered this concept, shifting from the ‘Like a Virgin’ innocence to the ‘Erotica’ provocateur. And then she did it again and again, throughout her 14 albums. Fast forward to the more recent materializations of this phenomenon — from her signature big, baggy and loud to soft, feminine and sensual; we saw a corset-donning Eilish discuss her reclamation of her body as a safe space with the visual identity supporting her latest album. Or Lorde’s transformation from a melodramatic teenager to nature-loving ‘prettier Jesus’. Perhaps, the best example of a pop-culture chameleon is one so synonymous with ‘eras’ that she’s on a tour christened after this, Taylor Swift. While she is known to be a meticulous mastermind who has squeezed the reinvention train to the zenith, she too finds it tiresome sometimes and remarked “The female artists have reinvented themselves 20 times more than the male artists. They have to or else you’re out of a job. Constantly having to reinvent, constantly finding new facets of yourself that people find to be shiny.” We don’t see Drake or Bieber transforming sonically or aesthetically, committing to a one-note identity to get their point across or keep their new vinyl selling. This gender-parity is one that is now well noted with the internet’s ethnologists.
Curled up in my dorm bed, as I doomscroll through my reels tabs I come across this video where the creator is going up to different girls and complimenting their outfit that goes something like “Oh my god girl i love your French Kiss countryside cowgirl outfit — oh my god girl i’m loving your business causal nepo baby model off duty look girl — your Cinnamon Dolce double shot cappuccino hair color is everything — my gosh i love your Hailey Beiber glazed doughnut “have you had a Krispy Kreme?” “was it crispy” nails” — oh my gosh i love your West Village Depop scammer bloke core fit yes girl” — and I know exactly what he’s talking about. This need to romanticize goes beyond just maintaining an aesthetic visual identity and often goes into categorizing our mental state and personal feelings into some quirky string of words with references to characters or media which encapsulate those emotions sprinkled right in chicly. A friend pointed me in the direction of ‘standing on the shoulders of complex female characters’ a
blog that went viral a year back which captures this allure perfectly. Fisher-Quann writes “i’m not unwell or self-destructive or entirely unbearable — i’m in my fleabag era! we rationalize our own suffering through the romanticization of those who have suffered before us and, in turn, we provide a blueprint for the hot-girl suffering of those after…one girl on your tiktok feed might be a self-described joan didion/eve babitz/marlboro reds/straight-cut levis/fleabag girl (this means she has depression). another will call herself a babydoll dress/sylvia plath/red scare/miu miu/lana del rey girl (eating disorder)…the aesthetics of consumption have, in turn, become a conduit to make the self more easily consumable: your existence as a Type of Girl has almost nothing to do with whether you actually read joan didion or wear miu miu, and everything to do with whether you want to be seen as the type of person who would.” And, she’s right — the need to find a combination of things we consume which perfectly allude to the person we want to be or perceive ourselves as — makes us feel so seen and it’s perfectly packaged for further consumption. In a way, the zeitgeist gives us a buffet of identities to pick up from when we’re feeling lost and an image so non-commital in nature, it is easy to shed and exchange for another outfit conveniently mitigating the feeling of being trapped with an identity.
In the age of social networking, where everyone is a communal trendsetter and a global trend-follower, the term ‘era’ has become as common as a morning cup of coffee. Remember those sub-cultures from Tumblr? Well, they’re revamped and on a grander scale, with TikTok being the new frontier. In a way, this explosion of eras comes with its own set of perks. It provides a safe space for self-expression, allowing us to disassociate from our everyday selves and step into the shoes of any character or alter-ego we create. Elements of this also lend themselves to the process of identity formation. But is this form of dissociation a healthy outlet? The jury is still out, as psychologists debate whether we are embracing our true selves or hiding behind the masks of digital personas? But there are few unindented effects we must consider to critically evaluate.
Have you ever found yourself stuck in a loop of back-to-back Shein hauls, wondering where your paycheck disappeared to? Overconsumption is the flip side of the coin. The dopamine hit from those unboxing videos fuels a cycle of constant desire and acquisition. With each new era that takes over our ‘for you page’ we get stuck in a perpetual shopping spree and often get overwhelmed with a large array of choices. This can also lead to cognitive dissonance, when the internet is telling you to go buy cherry red accessories and become a tomato girl but you are finally coming around to mermaid-core from a few months back. Holding conflicting beliefs between expressing your individuality and conforming to what’s popular can cause discomfort and heavily shape your behavior and choices. In the end, people are heavily fueled by the Fear of Missing Out and often end up purchasing the super trendy items. This is where Temporal Discounting comes into play: the constant need for the latest trend provides an immediate reward, often overshadowing the potential long-term consequences like financial strain or overconsumption and any delayed rewards that might accompany.
An overarching theme that peaks through consistently is that being able to belong to a particular aesthetic or being defined by what we love does bring people happiness. Humans also have a tendency to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes. When there is such a choice overload, we are constantly adapting to still belong and maintain this happiness. Being stuck on this Hedonic Treadmill can explain why individuals may constantly seek new eras in an attempt to maintain a sense of novelty and excitement in their lives. But, this still begs the question — are we consciously consuming these identities or are we so scared to be perceived that these identities are consuming us? Playmaster or puppet, you pick.
