Iβve always had bad taste; it never bothered me, but I know it bothered some of my exes! I actually have few regrets about my intellectual life βI mostly just get too enthusiastic about movies or music; the books I relate to stablyβ but Christ have I made myself look even uglier and more buffoonish with personal style gaffes!
I think that learning to be content with your own "bad" taste is a sign of maturity and can be a superpower when you're trying to build anything for a mass market.
(Also, and possibly relatedly, I'm a 52 year old man who enjoys listening to Taylor Swift and if that's the hill I die on, I am ready. Also also, I tend to think of bad taste these days as "wearing/watching/eating what everyone else is, but not actually enjoying it at all", so it's an internal personal mismanagement thing rather than an external one. But this may just be me trying to explain away why I like Taylor Swift.)
I'm wrestling with this because obviously taste is mostly a way to justify classism, but also it's kindof all we have? I love music, and I love the music I love, and I want that to mean something?
Sapiens is unbearably normie!!! Don't worry about impressing THAT guy. Impress us, the people who think Sapiens is lowbrow.
In all seriousness I think that my whole life improved immeasurably when I decided to validate my own taste. Like, once I decide that my taste in music/books/food/art is good, I can take delight in it even when it diverges from those whose taste I respect. So I can enjoy both disdaining what others think is good (eg Andy Warhol, or Murakami) and liking what others think is bad (eg fanfic as a genre, or Eat Pray Love) because I respect my own taste as well.
The 200 dollar electric kettle is worth it btw :P !
What bad taste is incredibly subjective. I like Taylor Swift & Olivia Rodrigo and found myself a bit ashamed to talk about my musical taste, mainly pop and indie pop. Why should pop be considered "bad taste" vs. the more rarefied or not as mainstream artists. I think it's ridiculous - you like what you like thats all
Fb marketplace has turned into the most addictive app for me so I feel personally attacked.
But the thing that really got me were the song descriptions - i have definitely put in more effort listening to some playlists from ppl I never speak to anymore than I did to some assigned readings
I loved reading this! Both because it efficiently diagnoses the way that I (and pretty much all my friends, tbh) approach culture: enthusiastic and ambitious about reading Big Sociology Books and Big Theory Books and picking our friends and lovers based on mutually compatible aesthetic vibesβ¦but also feeling a bit exhausted about it all and finding comfort in normie music, normie entertainment.
I care a lot about tasteβtheorising about it, cultivating it, sharpening itβbut it's exhausting to pick everything so carefully. I end up repeating a lot: outfits, music (been rinsing the same Soundcloud mix for almost 2 weeks now). And I've definitely done #2 on your list and picked the first YT makeu ptutorial and called it a dayβ¦
loved this! "don't kill the part of you that's cringe, kill the part that cringes"-core. "You end up with the furnishing God thinks you deserve." perfect.
"you wonder if future-you will cringe at the books you think are changing your life today"
I often scroll through my Goodreads and laugh at the books I gave a 5-star after reading a particularly perspective-altering book. it's funny what we deem life-changing in each era of our life
i only buy clothes secondhand, not out of any ethical conviction but more for the same serendipity and cosmic alignment you write about re: furniture! found this whole piece so relatable
Bad taste? Or tastes bad? Paxlovid tastes bad, but is necessary to recover from Covid. I'm not sure your list here shows "bad taste," Jasmine, as much as it is coming to terms with your middle school and teenage self. Which for you are fairly recent, so they linger. Decades ago in dating mode, I would always look through a prospective mates record collection: A much more accurate gauge than "swiping left" (or is it right? I've never had a dating app). The question seems akin to the notion of "guilty pleasures," which I no longer believe exist. Because there is no pleasure we should feel guilty about.
Iβve always had bad taste; it never bothered me, but I know it bothered some of my exes! I actually have few regrets about my intellectual life βI mostly just get too enthusiastic about movies or music; the books I relate to stablyβ but Christ have I made myself look even uglier and more buffoonish with personal style gaffes!
Love reading a post from you!!! What a blast.
Great post. The opposite of desultory!
I think that learning to be content with your own "bad" taste is a sign of maturity and can be a superpower when you're trying to build anything for a mass market.
I enjoyed this a lot.
(Also, and possibly relatedly, I'm a 52 year old man who enjoys listening to Taylor Swift and if that's the hill I die on, I am ready. Also also, I tend to think of bad taste these days as "wearing/watching/eating what everyone else is, but not actually enjoying it at all", so it's an internal personal mismanagement thing rather than an external one. But this may just be me trying to explain away why I like Taylor Swift.)
I read this a while ago and realize I barely remember it because my brain is mush, but the thing that stuck with me is the idea that "taste is earned". https://smathewss.substack.com/p/whats-earned-whats-not
I'm wrestling with this because obviously taste is mostly a way to justify classism, but also it's kindof all we have? I love music, and I love the music I love, and I want that to mean something?
I love this: This one is good, I feel like it sparkles. Do you, um, like music that sounds bad on purpose?
Sapiens is unbearably normie!!! Don't worry about impressing THAT guy. Impress us, the people who think Sapiens is lowbrow.
In all seriousness I think that my whole life improved immeasurably when I decided to validate my own taste. Like, once I decide that my taste in music/books/food/art is good, I can take delight in it even when it diverges from those whose taste I respect. So I can enjoy both disdaining what others think is good (eg Andy Warhol, or Murakami) and liking what others think is bad (eg fanfic as a genre, or Eat Pray Love) because I respect my own taste as well.
The 200 dollar electric kettle is worth it btw :P !
What bad taste is incredibly subjective. I like Taylor Swift & Olivia Rodrigo and found myself a bit ashamed to talk about my musical taste, mainly pop and indie pop. Why should pop be considered "bad taste" vs. the more rarefied or not as mainstream artists. I think it's ridiculous - you like what you like thats all
Fb marketplace has turned into the most addictive app for me so I feel personally attacked.
But the thing that really got me were the song descriptions - i have definitely put in more effort listening to some playlists from ppl I never speak to anymore than I did to some assigned readings
I loved reading this! Both because it efficiently diagnoses the way that I (and pretty much all my friends, tbh) approach culture: enthusiastic and ambitious about reading Big Sociology Books and Big Theory Books and picking our friends and lovers based on mutually compatible aesthetic vibesβ¦but also feeling a bit exhausted about it all and finding comfort in normie music, normie entertainment.
I care a lot about tasteβtheorising about it, cultivating it, sharpening itβbut it's exhausting to pick everything so carefully. I end up repeating a lot: outfits, music (been rinsing the same Soundcloud mix for almost 2 weeks now). And I've definitely done #2 on your list and picked the first YT makeu ptutorial and called it a dayβ¦
loved this! "don't kill the part of you that's cringe, kill the part that cringes"-core. "You end up with the furnishing God thinks you deserve." perfect.
i'm reminded of this essay by brandon taylor https://blgtylr.substack.com/p/spotify-lowkey-giving-sola-fide-vibes, which lives in my head rent-free, and the book "tacky" by rax king (unfortunately never finished it but what i read was fantastic).
#10 π«Ά i love this
"you wonder if future-you will cringe at the books you think are changing your life today"
I often scroll through my Goodreads and laugh at the books I gave a 5-star after reading a particularly perspective-altering book. it's funny what we deem life-changing in each era of our life
i only buy clothes secondhand, not out of any ethical conviction but more for the same serendipity and cosmic alignment you write about re: furniture! found this whole piece so relatable
Hahah love this, iβll add it to my post βcollated notes on tasteβ, which i made after my posting my other essay on, well, taste π
Bad taste? Or tastes bad? Paxlovid tastes bad, but is necessary to recover from Covid. I'm not sure your list here shows "bad taste," Jasmine, as much as it is coming to terms with your middle school and teenage self. Which for you are fairly recent, so they linger. Decades ago in dating mode, I would always look through a prospective mates record collection: A much more accurate gauge than "swiping left" (or is it right? I've never had a dating app). The question seems akin to the notion of "guilty pleasures," which I no longer believe exist. Because there is no pleasure we should feel guilty about.