Being “basic” isn’t bad.

I have taken so many pictures of myself holding a Starbucks drink cup that I’ve perfected the pose (my hand knows which angles work best). You can find me under a pile of blankets on my sofa, catching up on TV shows like Pretty Little Liars, Awkward, and OK, even Say Yes to the Dress. And yes, I wear my leggings out in public. Yes, they are pants.

All of this is characteristically “basic”—what Urban Dictionary defines as “obscenely obvious” and “unsophisticated” behavior—but why does this even matter?

To assume that a girl lacks a personality or is completely incapable of doing anything other than following the crowd based on some dietary and sartorial choices isn’t just unfair—it’s sexist.

Girls are already called by lots of names—the “hot one”, the “fat chick”, the “class flirt”, the “complete nerd”—that just try to make us easy to identify, easy to understand, and paint us as two-dimensional. “Basic” is yet another example of this. “Basic” means ordinary, bland, and indistinguishable. The term is filled with disdain for girls who have the ability to be happy with simple things.

It’s not enough to criticize us for not having the perfect body, or flawless cheekbones and eyebrows; now we have to be put on trial for our originality, too.

“Basic” implies that something is traditionally feminine, or “girly”, and this is no coincidence. Why are we encouraged to be pretty pink princesses who play with Polly Pockets and Barbies during childhood and then vilified for embracing girly clothing and drinks later in adolescence? Why the sudden change in attitude?

As soon as we claim a feminine appearance for ourselves—as soon as we publicly declare our love of fuzzy shoes and yoga pants and fruity, fizzy drinks—we are reduced to being basic. Clearly, liking all of this means we’re robots who can’t form our own opinions. Who cares if yoga pants are comfortable? They’re basic. A caramel Frappuccino? Even more basic.

The accepted standards for how girls should act, dress, and look are always changing, yet the only constant is the criticism for not following them. What’s different is that now, we are expected to prove how “unique” and “cool” we are. Preferring what’s popular is now the recipe to be unpopular. And that’s ridiculous.

A girl who likes teen soap operas, pink clothing, and Pumpkin Spice lattes is basic. No personality, no style, no depth of character at all.

But guess what? That same girl likes hip-hop, Russian literature, jazz, history, movies from the 1960’s, and other things that aren’t “unsophisticated”. She can wear her leggings and be concerned with what’s happening in the world. Having fluffy boots on her feet doesn’t prevent her from having a strong opinion on the economy.

Being basic doesn’t make any of us boring or uncool; it makes us like the teenage boys who love ESPN, Call of Duty, and Will Ferrell movies. And they’re just boys—no names attached.

We’re all normal for being fond of popular clothing and music, but we can’t be simplified to brainless sheep just because of that.

I have many sides to myself, and I don’t hide my “obscenely obvious” side. I embrace everything that makes me basic, and everything that doesn’t.

So let me drink myself silly with caramel Frappuccinos. Let me prance around in public in my leggings and my fuzzy shoes. Let me discuss what happened last night on an MTV show with all of my friends.

Let me do all of this without assuming I am a mindless airhead. I like what I like, and I won’t let complete strangers label me one way or another because of it. The shows that I watch aren’t “guilty pleasures”, they’re what I enjoy.

We are so much more than the style of clothing we choose to wear and the entertainment we consume. Having a girly lifestyle doesn’t make us any less competent. The depth of my personality and my intelligence are betrayed by “basic”, and I refuse to let that term speak for who I am.

Go ahead, call us basic. But you’ll never boil us down to just a single word.