A basic girl is a girl who is very mainstream. She is known for having a Lilly Pulitzer wallet and paying for her Starbs with the app on her iPhone with a glittery case. Her boyfriend bought her a giant teddy bear for Valentine’s Day and she owns too many yoga pants to count. She only shops at Urban, Pink, and Sephora and she really really really wants a Sherri Hill dress for Prom. But only if it makes her look tan.

We all have a basic friend. Or two. Or three. It’s becoming increasingly harder to avoid them, or to avoid becoming them. I used to roll my eyes when they would sing along to the top 100’s, or at the sound of their annoyingly loud squeak of their duck boots on the floor. But I have gone on a journey of self discovery and, my friends, I Am A Basic Suburban Girl.

Basic girls come in all different shapes a sizes and not one basic girl is alike. In fact, aren’t we all “basic?” Don’t we all love a good Steve Madden sale? Can anyone resist the red Starbucks cups during the holidays? Don’t we all wear athletic wear and a Patagonia backpack to school, even though school hardly requires anything that physically demanding? We all have a Nalgene water bottle collection. We all have major celeb crushes on Rihanna and Beyoncé. Some of us have multiple American Girl Dolls from our childhood, some of us love country music. Many of us own iPhones, many of us have unnecessary car accessories. But we are all basic in our hearts.

Basic girls are extremely important. Not only do we drive the economy with our shameless materialism, but we represent a big segment of the American population. Rihanna and Sia and Beyonce can thank us for contributing to their success and popularity and Drake can thank us for the legendary line “Sweatpants, hair tie, chilling with no makeup on, that’s when you’re the prettiest I hope that you don’t take it wrong.” I mean “Best I Ever Had” is without a doubt about a basic chick.

For a long time I tried really really really hard to be funny, quirky, cute and to stand out. LISTEN. Being average is okay. I really love being a Plain Jane. Mainstream things wouldn’t be mainstream if people didn’t enjoy them. How do you think pop music and pop culture got their names? I’m not saying that if you’re not basic you’re lying or anything, and honestly more power to you. Idk how you could resist going to Starbs in your Lazy Girl’s Uniform to order a grande iced chai tea latte with coconut milk and two shots of espresso. I just don’t. All I’m saying is that you don’t have to be different to be valued and loved and respected. You can be 100% basic and accomplish whatever you want, as soon as you start loving yourself (and Luke Bryan).