Almost every young person nowadays has an Instagram account. Often people will use catchy hashtage that catch on and is soon seen under every picture’s caption on Instagram’s popular page.
Underneath the picture you’ll find one of the hastags being, #squadgoals, a saying that has taken over almost every social media platform. Squad goals represents the want for physical perfection and celebrity status. Young generations today are striving to create the perfect squad with the perfect look and perfect friends.
Celebrities today are no strangers to squad goals and one of the most perfect examples is Taylor Swift. The country singer turned popstar has a seemingly endless friend group full of the hottest stars and is growing in numbers every day. From Victoria’s Secret models like Karlie Kloss, singers such as Lorde and even Law and Order: SVU’s own Mariska Hargitay are all a part of Swfit’s squad.
No one seems to be able to escape the spell Swift has created and everyone is wishing to be a part of the elite. Swift’s music video for her single “Bad Blood” seemed less about plot and more about how many of her famous friends she could fit into three minutes. The beauty they have leaves the public striving to achieve the same thing.
These squad goals and celebrity friend groups seem harmless and fun but idolizing only the beauty and nothing else is actually pretty damaging.
Graphic design professor Patricia Cresson said, “There is a lot of pressure to fit in and young people emulate what they see and then change themselves.” People seem to be less interested in posting things with meaning to them and more concerned about posting what they think a celebrity would. We are less concerned with our true selves and more concerned with what some superstar we may never meet would think of us.
Vanity is a huge part of the social media culture today and squad goals seems to only increase that view. It is less about a person’s stance on the world and more about which celebrity was on the best dressed list that week. “I do not think that anyone should have an idol. Kids today need to be inspired by creativity, intelligence and humanity; not just the physical attributes,” said adjunct art professor Gina Torello.
Society’s obsession with physical perfection has brainwashed us into forgetting that there is more to life than beauty that is only skin deep. Goals are dreams that take hard work and determination and should not be trivialized into just wanting to create a pretty picture.
Now there are many young people who disagree and believe that only older generations dislike squads because they do not understand how social media works, but that is untrue. After asking students I found that the majority of the population finds squad goals to be extremely damaging.
Tracey Masterson, a senior graphic design student said, “I feel as though young people want to act, dress and feel like famous people and they do not allow themselves to lead their own lives. Sometimes if kids follow their superstars they can go in the wrong direction by following inappropriate dress codes for their age or even drugs and alcohol.”
We are an impressionable generation and what starts off as an obsession with a celebrity’s appearance can turn into an obsession with their bad habits as well.
There is nothing wrong with taking pictures with friends and capturing a memory. The problem lies in calling only physical beauty goals. Our generation needs to reevaluate the new definition of goals and change it back into wanting to achieve greatness, not just looking pretty for a picture.
IMAGE TAKEN from kpopstars.com
