The best things we learned in 2023

2023 was the year in which we realized many things, just like Kylie Jenner in 2016. We did it thanks to TikTok and social debates, due to international politics and inflation. We discovered ugly things, but also beautiful and liberating things. We thought about the world but also about ourselves and how we navigate within contemporary times, and we learned something new, perhaps even two or three things. With discovery, however, changes follow. We found that even these are okay, and it's time to stop being contrarians and cultivate our happiness, which cannot be real if it is not shared. What will we learn in 2024? We don't know, but for now, let's take stock of 2023.

Being cringe is beautiful

2023 was the year of letting go of shame, from (almost) all points of view. No more worrying about how one appears, speaking too much or too little. No need to force a mysterious and detached attitude or label things we don't like or consider strange or uncool as cringe. The important thing is to be oneself, not harm anyone, and enjoy life in the name of spontaneity and joy, just as creator Dylan Mulvaney suggests. And if you couldn't do it in 2023, there's always 2024.

There are no style rules

If there's no cringe, then there are also no style rules. Black and brown, in 2023, have overcome their feud and look great together. If Taylor Swift can break the rules, perhaps we can too. TikTok creators got there first, proposing wild and maximalist pairings and shouting to the whole world that, according to them, fashion rules are outdated, along with fashion bloggers. Inspiration now is policentric; it comes from the street, movies, cartoons, and video games. A good resolution for 2024? Wear that combination you like but don't have the courage to propose and flaunt it proudly. Fashion is also communication and personality and cannot be limited by ideas from the last century.

Stop hate-watching

2023 marked the end of hate-watching and hate-following. What are we talking about? That natural (but to be fought) tendency to keep following and watching people, brands, and audiovisual products we no longer like, just to get angry or have something to hate and talk about with friends. When it comes to attention economy and online creators, the monetary aspect is also part of this view. With our views, in fact, we help some characters break through. So why not use that time differently and more productively, without getting trapped in hate-watching mechanisms?

What is pretty privilege

In a world where appearance is everything, becoming aware of your pretty privilege can be crucial to shift focus to important things and discriminated categories, and to move in the world with more awareness. If we broaden the concept of pretty privilege to notions like ableism and racism, it won't be difficult to notice how non-white, non-cis, older, fat, and those with some form of disability are treated differently from white, cis, thin, and conventionally shaped individuals, both at work and in everyday life. Understanding privilege is not admitting a lack of merit but a reflection that allows us to use it better, for ourselves and for the benefit of those who don't have it.

Being like other girls is fine

2023 was the year of girlhood. Girls who used to try to be unique and different, embraced the various shades of being a girl together, from music to hobbies, discovering and learning the infinite power of being just like others, together and in defiance of distinctions between basic b. and pick me girl. In this trend, there is also the rediscovery of gossip and the fundamental importance of feminine solidarity against a society that wants us at war to take advantage of us.

The city has bored us

We learned this thing this year, but it's actually a medium-term result of the 2020 pandemic. If rediscovering the countryside, small towns, clean air, and houses large enough to contain an entire family are added to inflation, eco-anxiety, the cost of living, and rents in Italian cities, and so on, is it really surprising that priorities are changing?