While the trend during my late middle school and early high school years was the “hipster” façade, which involved a lot of non-prescription and unnecessary Ray Ban glasses, record players, high-waisted shorts, and un-genuine appreciation for indie and alternative rock, a new trend has made its mark on my generation.

This new trend is known to me as the “hippie culture,” which is characterized by vegan/vegetarian diets, boho-style clothing, membership at a yoga studio, and a “passion” for nature and elements of Hinduism and Buddhism, has completely overcome my peers.

Let me make several things clear: I see no problem with vegan/vegetarian diets. I have no issue with boho-style clothing, nor the practice of yoga. I also do not hate environmentalists; I acknowledge the fact that we, as humans, have seriously destroyed our planet and that there is a need for us to try and make it better. I see nothing wrong with people who are genuinely passionate about certain issues and choose to act on them. The problem, however, is with those who do not feel genuinely about these issues, and are simply engaging in these activities only to look “cool” to their peers.

This illegitimate involvement not only adds to the teenage stereotype of doing things that don’t properly represent who you are for the sake of fitting in, but it soils the name of these practices. For example, yoga is supposed to be about finding your inner peace, and being satisfied and content with the person you are, and where you are at the moment. There are obviously physical benefits to doing yoga, but those aren’t supposed to be the reasons for practicing it. Unfortunately, my generation has become infatuated with the practice solely for the sake of improving their physical appearance, which completely goes against what yoga stands for. It is supposed to be something that provides an escape from the vanity and greed that clouds our everyday lives, but it has become a new outlet for those unfortunate blemishes. Now, my yoga classes have an overwhelming amount of teenage girls (mostly) who come with their friends solely so they can have someone to take a picture or video of them doing a headstand.

I also see how this negatively affects the movement of bringing awareness regarding the environmental issues we currently face. These issues are many, ranging from cruelty and abuse in the meat industry, to ocean pollution, to the overall decline of natural ecosystems. There is nothing wrong with participating in the movements to alleviate these issues, or by participating on a smaller and more personal scale, such as switching to a vegan or vegetarian diet, but again, the issue involves the questionable intentions of these individuals. Most of these individuals claim their concerns by posting pictures of nature with some heartfelt caption that attempts to mimic the happiness and peace that people who are genuinely interested in these activities (including yoga). Posting aesthetically pleasing pictures of the beach on social media does nothing to combat these issues. I’m not saying that people need to go and chain themselves to a tree in order to really make a difference, but they should at least spread awareness by posting links of important information regarding the issues, or maybe try to find some activity such as a beach clean-up that can make a difference. But they won’t do that because that requires time and effort, and because they don’t actually feel for these issues.

I sincerely hope that people can just start finding out who they really are instead of just going along with whatever is popular, because the lack of genuineness is extremely disconcerting.