Has it ever occurred to you that although we are in Southern California, almost every clothing store is brimming with the attire fit for a country bumpkin? In the past year, it has become extremely apparent that stores will shift to whatever demographic is more normalized at a time. 

Now more than ever, the political climate is increasingly reflected in popular culture like fashion and media.

With different presidents come tremendous shifts in culture. Certain ideals are being promoted more to the public, popularizing the culture that accompanies them. 

If you were old enough to remember fashion from the 2010s to 2022, you’ve most likely noticed the major shift from experimental to more conservative fashion.

With the current president, Donald Trump, more conservative ideals are being pushed out to the public. People are more scared to be progressive and experimental, turning to clothing that is more normalized alongside people who support Trump. 

Cowboy boots, sweaters with American flags, and shirts with horses on them have all been extremely popularized in the past year or so, coinciding with Trump’s reelection. 

Would American flag sweaters and cowboy boots have gone viral back in 2021? Absolutely not.

With the spike in ultranationalism, the appearance of patriotism in clothing is showing up everywhere. Clothing brands are now appealing to the more conservative demographics, ignoring the demographics that lean left. 

During Joe Biden’s presidency, it was quite the opposite. The era of his presidency was often called the era of Woke Culture, where people were extremely aware of social injustices, especially since it was in close proximity to the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Woke Culture was at an all-time high, and people fully embraced it. It became much more normalized to experiment with different styles and even different gender identities. 

With this, clothing brands weren’t afraid to be unique and branch out as well. Androgynous designs, funky colors, and ethical materials were everywhere. Dressing in a unique, sometimes funky way wasn’t taken too seriously.

Now, people take the way they dress far too seriously, causing people to dress more for conformity than to express themselves. Frankly, it’s boring. People often say they miss the time when fashion and media were exciting and daring; it made life feel less serious in harsh times. 

Unfortunately, under the new governmental leadership, drastic measures are being taken to put an end to woke culture. Pete Hegseth, head of the Department of War, has had a major impact in dismantling “woke culture”. In April, he said, “…we’re giving wokeness the boot. We’ve said goodbye to the harmful effects of woke culture and so-called diversity, equity and inclusion programs.”

Woke culture was a time when people didn’t dare to say slurs, especially in public, for fear of being harshly criticized. Now, there is a newfound confidence people have in saying offensive comments without fear of being chastised. Specifically, the R-slur is being used more commonly now. 

I constantly hear people saying, “It’s okay to say the R-slur again!” However, they probably don’t even realize how horrible the slur is, because our own president says it. 

When such a high power as the president is being so blatantly offensive and bigoted, it rubs off on society. 

With Trump’s reputation for crossing shocking moral boundaries, people who support him see doing the same as more normalized. 

It seems to give people who say it a sense of excitement, crossing moral boundaries they certainly couldn’t have crossed only a few years ago. They are still berated, but since conservatism is higher in power right now, they receive a lesser backlash socially.

The effect of a right-wing government has had the opposite impact on progressive people who used to embrace their unconventionality.

Individuals who were loud and proud in their nonconformity years past are now hiding it or are just sick of right-wing backlash. 

For example, Demi Lovato identified as nonbinary for multiple years, then came out to say she was returning to her initial pronouns because she “just got tired” of constantly having to educate people about them. 

Even in general, the media has changed drastically since Biden’s presidency. Trends used to be full of creativity and whimsy, but now the media has been overtaken by more drab, uninteresting content.

Tradwife influencers like Nara Smith and Ballerina Farm are going viral on the internet for romanticizing traditional gender roles and homemaking. 

While being a devoted wife and mother is admirable, presenting yourself as “superior” for having these values is very disdainful. It targets people without traditional values and insinuates that they are inferior. 

Glorifying this submissive, gender-conforming lifestyle is so harmful to society, setting the feminist movement back decades. It can be very appealing to right-wing people who highly value this lifestyle. 

This lifestyle is for men who desire compliant, conservative housewives who dedicate their lives to their home. This lifestyle is for women who aspire to be like these tradwives to fulfill these men’s desires. 

Societally, these people use their lifestyle to shame others who don’t do the same, and it has become much more prominent in the past few years.

The country is now so polarized, casting leftists into the shadows and Republicans into the limelight of fashion and culture. It’s truly despicable that fashion and media have been dulled down to cowboy hats and beige sweaters. 

When leftists ran the show, culture was so full of creativity and individuality. People weren’t afraid to look too unique; in fact, they wanted to be unique. 

Who knows what culture the next presidency will bring?