For many people, the outcome of last year’s presidential election came as a shock. For me especially, I underestimated how much of a culture shift there has been in our country these past few years. A video I saw on TikTok put this into perspective. The video mentioned how trends like old money and clean girl were all simplistic ways of life, rooted in conservatism. After doing some digging I found other trends that were giving us the signs all along.
One example is an increase in Mormonism in the media. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as Mormonism, is a religion with extremely conservative values and practices. Mormon content creators such as Nara Smith and Rachel Parcell have amassed over millions on TikTok and Instagram, influencing many young people to join the conservative religion. Additionally, shows such as “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives”, which was released on Disney Plus in September, amassed over 25 million viewers within the first week. The LDS church reported that in 2023 membership in the church rose by 252,933. 64 percent of the LDS church voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election. The recent spotlight and acceptance of the Mormon religion could be an explanation. Millbrook student Mariamma Camara said, “I feel like recently I’ve seen a lot of influencers joining and promoting Mormonism. And girls now are dressing modestly and referencing the Mormon religion for inspiration. It’s a very conservative and white-centric religion. However, I’m Muslim, and I practice dressing modestly, but I [have] never seen anyone reference Islam for their inspiration because it’s not rooted in conservatism the way Mormonism is.”
Recent makeup and fashion trends have been another large indicator of this new conservative era. An example is the clean girl aesthetic, which emphasized simplistic makeup and outfits. The aesthetic highlighted pristine looks. However, it’s been under fire for not recognizing the makeup techniques originated from South-Asians and Black women, but when they wear it they aren’t awarded the same praise and it is not recognized to be the same aesthetic. This is because the trend is only accepted on people with eurocentric facial features, even though the makeup trend originated from people of color. Tenth grade student Reagan Jordan said, “I feel like the clean girl aesthetic especially was geared towards white women. The dialogue surrounding the trend and comparing it to modern day makeup and fashion trends created by Black women felt targeted in my opinion.”
The past year has been full of lifestyle trends, some of which stand out to me as having conservative ties. The first is the trad-wife trend. A tradwife is a married woman who chooses to live a traditional life and follow gender norms within their household. Which can mean they bake many or all items from scratch, homeschool, and their career is taking care of their family. It draws from 1950 clothing trends like pastel and soft colors, and aprons that reference a domestic look.Tenth grade student John Kivvet said, “We’ve come to a point where people find value items instead of the big flashy items. That’s probably why we’ve seen a lot of these trends.” Another impactful lifestyle trend is the stay-at-home girlfriend. The trend is young women documenting their days lounging at their wealthy boyfriends home. The trend has been under controversy for being financially dangerous and degrading. But through a conservative lens it shows commitment to one’s partner. Regardless, it definitely puts a concerning emphasis on women being in committed relationships and relying solely on their partner.
Good or bad, America is returning to its conservative roots. New lifestyles, fashion trends, and the media have been pushing a conservative message for some time now. Whether or not these trends will keep momentum though Trump’s upcoming presidency is unknown. However, it’s undeniable that our country is changing, the question is to what end?
