You know you’ve happened upon a rich text when what you thought was a pretty in-depth analysis actually just spins you in 17 new directions. That’s how I feel in the aftermath of Rushtok, and as I pursue some of those new directions (particularly related to admissions and TikTok merchandising) I thought it’d be a generative mid-week activity to think of
Aug 23, 2023·edited Aug 23, 2023Liked by Anne Helen Petersen
"Two Under Two." It's been blazing through my community in Chicago recently, and seems to be inspired by/part of a TradCore/Nostalgia Parenting trend. It's not medically advisable, it's overwhelmingly a "white lady thing on the internet" and it's something that's been historically weaponized against WOC (too many babies, baby machine, welfare mom, etc). It feels very marketing driven - quippier to say/easier to hashtag as 2 under 2 than 2 under 3? 2 under 4? Seemed to have stormed onto the scene around the time that Roe protections started getting aggressively slashed, and I couldn't help but feel like it was a subversive attempt to drive women back into the home with the promise of something special in that age grouping. Absolutely no shade for those who chose to do it and it makes them happy - truly, I have friends in this camp - but globally it feels more and more like a trend than a decision.
Restock videos. Especially the refrigerator ones. I need some words on their proliferation over on TikTok: the (specialized!) clear containers. The ASMR component. The cost/privilege of it all. The performative nature. The videos that JUST restock different kinds of ice. (!!!) And why I can't keep myself from watching anyway.
Aug 23, 2023·edited Aug 23, 2023Liked by Anne Helen Petersen
I'm cheating a bit because I too was trained as a cultural historian, BUT:
- Raw milk becoming a thing again (and it's strangely popular right now among TikTok influencers and Fundamentalist Christians - maybe a signifier of purity? Distrust in science? A return-to-nature sort of thing?)
- Mullets
- The narrowing of LinkedIn discourse - there's a particular style of communicating in a few categories ("Don't do this bad thing in an interview," "I was laid off but am grateful to my company nonetheless," "I'm delighted to share that...")
- Mums and garters - something I hadn't heard of until I moved to Texas
Oh, oh, I love this prompt. I just spent a week doomscrolling and writing about this so it's top of mind for me, but a rich text I think about a lot are the zillions of tiktoks under the #GutHealing, #GutTok, #GutHealth, etc. tags, especially the "before and after gut healing" videos that focus on bloating, like this one: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8F9vT8Q/.
I'd loooove to hear Virginia Sole-Smith's take on these, too. (If she's discussed this kind of content already and someone could direct me to that work, I'd be very thankful!)
I want to know why everyone in my elder millennial orbit is suddenly into astrology. And I’m curious why it’s the same people who are quick to tell you how unscientific Meyers Briggs is and scrupulously read Emily Oster for parenting advice, and then turn around to post nonironically about Saturn’s Return.
Oh, these are my favorite subjects. I actually find a really important continuity among all the bullet points on the list--and it's (Conservative) Women With Money. It is the easiest slice of culture to dismiss as trivial (Pumpkin Spice lattes, anyone?), but it informs our wider cultural norms and values in really deep ways. These are the "homey" values we raise our children in (Momfluencers), the styles we invite into our *homes* (shiplap & the Gaines), our experience of our own bodies (Peleton, Goop, diet culture...). It's what books are available and what our schools teach. It's how wealth concentrates (from the marriage markets of debutantes to sorority-frat relations). I 100000000% see this as all the SAME text.
“Little treat” culture against the backdrop of late-stage capitalism! Not a judgment against little treats, I am a big fan of getting myself little treats! Like this is one of those things where on first glance I think, yeah, a little iced coffee and a pastry can make a huge difference on a crummy day, it’s not that deep. But then, within the walls of the internet - aka TikTok - it can feel like an interesting whiplash between critiques of capitalism and our current landscape and “Starbies” runs. (Which also…has there been a recent Starbucks renaissance? Or is it just that I grew up in the PNW which went through a proud anti-Starbucks, support-your-local-coffee-shop push?) I don’t know, I have a feeling this intersects with a whole lot of other consumerism texts folks are mentioning.
**Pre-ordering versus in-person ordering! The incentives to pre-order; the entitlement you feel when your beverage is not ready at the right time; the generational divide; the burden it puts on workers; the lack of social interaction; what it means for staffing; what it means for businesses when their entire business becomes pre-order; what happens when it doesn't work; who pays when you accidentally order at the wrong location; the capitalism of it all.
As an aside, my sister was at a family member's lake house and placed a pre-order at a small local coffee shop. When she showed up, they were making her order, but asked her how she had placed it. Apparently they had a pre-order system they didn't even know existed until her order printed out. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?!
** The constant customer satisfaction survey: who fills them out? How much time do they take out of the average week/month/year? What causes people to actually fill them out? Do they really provide a full picture of customer experience? Or only customers of a specific class/gender/age/experience? How do companies use them? Do they keep people from going to Yelp to post scathing reviews--and is that part of the purpose?
This has probably been done before, but it’s front of mine as I’m in the thick of it - kids packed lunches for school! When/why did they become so performative with the bento boxes and the expectation to include so many different components.
Those yard signs for kids schools. The most common, that I've seen, is to celebrate graduation. But there's also signs for announcing kids' participation in sports or activities. And this weekend, I started seeing signs for students who are *going* to start at a school (like, an incoming freshman at St. Rita or whatever).
I kind of hate these signs. I was on board with the graduation ones, but as they expand to encompass more of the kids' lives, I find them obnoxious. It's like the social media mentality of broadcasting life choices for an audience is being reproduced IRL. In cities, they also seem like such a blatant projection of class status, as they're often advertising the most selective or expensive schools. I wish kids could just, like, go to school and do their thing and not have it be projected to strangers on the street.
Haley Neumann / Maybe Baby recently brought up one I've been thinking about lately...the casual, constant mentions of how we're all living in "hell", said cynically but meant emphatically, for supposedly obvious reasons.
There's both the truth of this hell—the terror of the climate crisis, the alarming way that modern society fails to truly care for its member, an ongoing ignored pandemic that's turning into the biggest mass disabling event, the fall of capitalism, the widening wealth gap, shootings at supermarkets and microplastics in our hearts.
And there's the absolute inanity and emptiness of hearing this sentiment expressed by those with roofs over their heads, food in the fridge, decent jobs, modern conveniences, freedom and rights, loving friends or families, living in low crime areas. People with access to books and antibiotics and shoes with arch supports.
Especially when we consider what our ancestors who regularly lived through (or died in) actual hells like winter starvation, serfdom, plague, colonization, religious persecution and more would have thought of our current "hellscape."
I'm so curious about why this is pervasive now, why we think we're entitled to more, what would it mean to NOT be in hell, in what ways is this attitude contributing to the ways this hell is real, do people in horrifically worse circumstances constantly comment on hell, is this suffering somehow sanctified (possibly with religious roots) and ennobled, etc.
Young, highly competitive athletes suffering cardiac episodes, potentially related to overconsumption of "pre-workout" powders, mixes, etc. and extrapolate that to how certain kinds of drug taking is not only ok, but preferred, and it is obviously super dangerous??? It's not not doping, right? And how the pursuit of exercise and athleticism is considered Morally Good even if its maybe Bodily Bad
Thank you for this prompt! My entire world view is shaped as, "what is at stake? and who gets to decide?" (Anthropology/English lit educated lol) I feel like I am always looking for Rich Texts! Some I am dying to see:
1. Celebrity podcasts
2. Skims
3. Paw Patrol
4. Meme crimes
5. Love Island
6. The terrifying concept my partner has clocked as "Everything getting worse all the time"--more expensive for less services/goods, reduced capacity of social and public services across the board, the meme crimes, the insane book banning in schools, etc. etc. etc.
I know I've read an article or two on this before, but want to read more. It drives me crazy!! My 8 month old consistently has more pockets than I do. And for what?! Baby keys?!
"Two Under Two." It's been blazing through my community in Chicago recently, and seems to be inspired by/part of a TradCore/Nostalgia Parenting trend. It's not medically advisable, it's overwhelmingly a "white lady thing on the internet" and it's something that's been historically weaponized against WOC (too many babies, baby machine, welfare mom, etc). It feels very marketing driven - quippier to say/easier to hashtag as 2 under 2 than 2 under 3? 2 under 4? Seemed to have stormed onto the scene around the time that Roe protections started getting aggressively slashed, and I couldn't help but feel like it was a subversive attempt to drive women back into the home with the promise of something special in that age grouping. Absolutely no shade for those who chose to do it and it makes them happy - truly, I have friends in this camp - but globally it feels more and more like a trend than a decision.
Restock videos. Especially the refrigerator ones. I need some words on their proliferation over on TikTok: the (specialized!) clear containers. The ASMR component. The cost/privilege of it all. The performative nature. The videos that JUST restock different kinds of ice. (!!!) And why I can't keep myself from watching anyway.
Rich text: work slack emoji culture!
Why does every team lead but one have a custom emoji?
Is the :eyes: emoji being used sarcastically or sincerely?
DEAR GOD WHY does this otherwise very formal consultancy have a :humping: emoji??
My work takes me into the slack channels of all kinds of businesses and I. Have. Seen. Some. Things.
I'm cheating a bit because I too was trained as a cultural historian, BUT:
- Raw milk becoming a thing again (and it's strangely popular right now among TikTok influencers and Fundamentalist Christians - maybe a signifier of purity? Distrust in science? A return-to-nature sort of thing?)
- Mullets
- The narrowing of LinkedIn discourse - there's a particular style of communicating in a few categories ("Don't do this bad thing in an interview," "I was laid off but am grateful to my company nonetheless," "I'm delighted to share that...")
- Mums and garters - something I hadn't heard of until I moved to Texas
Oh, oh, I love this prompt. I just spent a week doomscrolling and writing about this so it's top of mind for me, but a rich text I think about a lot are the zillions of tiktoks under the #GutHealing, #GutTok, #GutHealth, etc. tags, especially the "before and after gut healing" videos that focus on bloating, like this one: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8F9vT8Q/.
I'd loooove to hear Virginia Sole-Smith's take on these, too. (If she's discussed this kind of content already and someone could direct me to that work, I'd be very thankful!)
I want to know why everyone in my elder millennial orbit is suddenly into astrology. And I’m curious why it’s the same people who are quick to tell you how unscientific Meyers Briggs is and scrupulously read Emily Oster for parenting advice, and then turn around to post nonironically about Saturn’s Return.
Rich text: capsule closet/minimalism/de clutter movement (along the lines of the all neutral personality less spaces).
Definitely things have been said about this one before.
Oh, these are my favorite subjects. I actually find a really important continuity among all the bullet points on the list--and it's (Conservative) Women With Money. It is the easiest slice of culture to dismiss as trivial (Pumpkin Spice lattes, anyone?), but it informs our wider cultural norms and values in really deep ways. These are the "homey" values we raise our children in (Momfluencers), the styles we invite into our *homes* (shiplap & the Gaines), our experience of our own bodies (Peleton, Goop, diet culture...). It's what books are available and what our schools teach. It's how wealth concentrates (from the marriage markets of debutantes to sorority-frat relations). I 100000000% see this as all the SAME text.
“Little treat” culture against the backdrop of late-stage capitalism! Not a judgment against little treats, I am a big fan of getting myself little treats! Like this is one of those things where on first glance I think, yeah, a little iced coffee and a pastry can make a huge difference on a crummy day, it’s not that deep. But then, within the walls of the internet - aka TikTok - it can feel like an interesting whiplash between critiques of capitalism and our current landscape and “Starbies” runs. (Which also…has there been a recent Starbucks renaissance? Or is it just that I grew up in the PNW which went through a proud anti-Starbucks, support-your-local-coffee-shop push?) I don’t know, I have a feeling this intersects with a whole lot of other consumerism texts folks are mentioning.
**Pre-ordering versus in-person ordering! The incentives to pre-order; the entitlement you feel when your beverage is not ready at the right time; the generational divide; the burden it puts on workers; the lack of social interaction; what it means for staffing; what it means for businesses when their entire business becomes pre-order; what happens when it doesn't work; who pays when you accidentally order at the wrong location; the capitalism of it all.
As an aside, my sister was at a family member's lake house and placed a pre-order at a small local coffee shop. When she showed up, they were making her order, but asked her how she had placed it. Apparently they had a pre-order system they didn't even know existed until her order printed out. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?!
** The constant customer satisfaction survey: who fills them out? How much time do they take out of the average week/month/year? What causes people to actually fill them out? Do they really provide a full picture of customer experience? Or only customers of a specific class/gender/age/experience? How do companies use them? Do they keep people from going to Yelp to post scathing reviews--and is that part of the purpose?
This has probably been done before, but it’s front of mine as I’m in the thick of it - kids packed lunches for school! When/why did they become so performative with the bento boxes and the expectation to include so many different components.
Those yard signs for kids schools. The most common, that I've seen, is to celebrate graduation. But there's also signs for announcing kids' participation in sports or activities. And this weekend, I started seeing signs for students who are *going* to start at a school (like, an incoming freshman at St. Rita or whatever).
I kind of hate these signs. I was on board with the graduation ones, but as they expand to encompass more of the kids' lives, I find them obnoxious. It's like the social media mentality of broadcasting life choices for an audience is being reproduced IRL. In cities, they also seem like such a blatant projection of class status, as they're often advertising the most selective or expensive schools. I wish kids could just, like, go to school and do their thing and not have it be projected to strangers on the street.
Haley Neumann / Maybe Baby recently brought up one I've been thinking about lately...the casual, constant mentions of how we're all living in "hell", said cynically but meant emphatically, for supposedly obvious reasons.
There's both the truth of this hell—the terror of the climate crisis, the alarming way that modern society fails to truly care for its member, an ongoing ignored pandemic that's turning into the biggest mass disabling event, the fall of capitalism, the widening wealth gap, shootings at supermarkets and microplastics in our hearts.
And there's the absolute inanity and emptiness of hearing this sentiment expressed by those with roofs over their heads, food in the fridge, decent jobs, modern conveniences, freedom and rights, loving friends or families, living in low crime areas. People with access to books and antibiotics and shoes with arch supports.
Especially when we consider what our ancestors who regularly lived through (or died in) actual hells like winter starvation, serfdom, plague, colonization, religious persecution and more would have thought of our current "hellscape."
I'm so curious about why this is pervasive now, why we think we're entitled to more, what would it mean to NOT be in hell, in what ways is this attitude contributing to the ways this hell is real, do people in horrifically worse circumstances constantly comment on hell, is this suffering somehow sanctified (possibly with religious roots) and ennobled, etc.
Young, highly competitive athletes suffering cardiac episodes, potentially related to overconsumption of "pre-workout" powders, mixes, etc. and extrapolate that to how certain kinds of drug taking is not only ok, but preferred, and it is obviously super dangerous??? It's not not doping, right? And how the pursuit of exercise and athleticism is considered Morally Good even if its maybe Bodily Bad
Thank you for this prompt! My entire world view is shaped as, "what is at stake? and who gets to decide?" (Anthropology/English lit educated lol) I feel like I am always looking for Rich Texts! Some I am dying to see:
1. Celebrity podcasts
2. Skims
3. Paw Patrol
4. Meme crimes
5. Love Island
6. The terrifying concept my partner has clocked as "Everything getting worse all the time"--more expensive for less services/goods, reduced capacity of social and public services across the board, the meme crimes, the insane book banning in schools, etc. etc. etc.
The lack of pockets in women's clothing.
I know I've read an article or two on this before, but want to read more. It drives me crazy!! My 8 month old consistently has more pockets than I do. And for what?! Baby keys?!