An Open Letter to Anyone Who Still Loves Pumpkin Spice

The Mocking of Feminine Interests

While enjoying pumpkin flavors is hardly limited to women, the phenomenon of the PSL was widely embraced by women and female-identifying people. You rarely (if ever) see men's t-shirts, socks, notebooks, and home goods displaying phrases like "I Heart Pumpkin Spice." Women in today's culture have been raised to value topics like design, cooking, and decorating, all of which are topics that easily span the divide between a coffee drink and a lifestyle symbol. Therefore, the deliciousness of the PSL was able to manifest in all kinds of ways in female-focused literature and products.

But of course, it wasn't long before people started mocking pumpkin and its devotees. It was soon considered silly, uncultured, and unintelligent to enjoy pumpkin spice. This is because, like many other female-skewing topics (fashion, pop music, interior design), the pumpkin spice latte became synonymous with women's lifestyle culture. And women's lifestyle culture is, as a rule, mocked and devalued by society. But the jokes on the haters, really: Women make 83 percent of purchasing decisions in the United States, which means women's lifestyle culture is a HUGE driver of of our national economy. Additionally, women's lifestyle topics are incredibly valuable for personal growth and empowerment. They channel our creativity, help us grow and fine-tune our skills, and make life fun.

The Misogyny of "Basic"

A term that came out of the woodwork around the same time as the PSL was the term "basic bitch." Around 2015, women were assigned to one of two camps: They were either hipsters or they were basic. As anyone who lived through 2015's internet culture knows, these were coded terms for smart and dumb. It was an insult to call someone basic: Women who liked Taylor Swift, PSLs, and mainstream fashion trends were, apparently, the worst thing to be.

The idea that women who enjoy female lifestyle culture are unintelligent, boring, and just like everyone else is clearly rooted in misogyny. There was no widely used term in 2015 for mainstream-leaning men, and certainly none that carried the weight of the "basic bitch" insult.

Many women decided to take the insult lightheartedly, intentionally christening themselves "basic bitches" and fully embracing the fact that they loved PSLs and anything autumnal. But the lingering cultural distaste for anyone who likes pumpkin is a proof that the "female culture = stupidity" beliefis alive and well in society.

Why You Shouldn't Worry About What People Think

Listen, whether or not you genuinely enjoy the taste of pumpkin isn't what we take issue with. It's perfectly fine to dislike pumpkin spice. But when you dislike the CULTURAL aspect of it simply because it seems "basic" or "silly," the aversion is actually rooted in misogyny.

No one should be shamed for their tastes and preferences, whether that's in music, internet content, or coffee flavors. If you're a PSL lover, know this: It's STILL one of Starbuck's most popular drinks and arguably the most successful coffee flavor of all time... so you're in good company. Never let other people's opinions on "basic" or "mainstream" topics dissuade you from enjoying a piping-hot cup of deliciously sweetened, pumpkin-flavored java.