Cartoon by Gordon Johnson
MADI MCGUIRE | OPINION COLUMNIST | mjmcguir@butler.edu
As I have grown older and become closer to owning a home and living in “the real world,” I found my obsession with a certain app became extreme.
Pinterest, for those who may not know, is a website where you can search topics like “home décor” or “women’s fashion” and you are given pages and pages full of beautifully decorated homes, unrealistically perfect women with gorgeous outfits and too-good-to-be-true dessert recipes.
When you find a project, recipe, outfit or just a picture that you enjoy, you can “pin” it onto your profile so that you can go back and see it later. You can find virtually anything on Pinterest.
This app has found its way into a discussion in one of my favorite classes.
In Media Literacy, we examine master narratives and different ideologies. Master narratives are easily-relatable outlines to stories that suggest a certain way of living or certain theme. The one I found most intriguing is the American dream.
Pinterest caters to the American dream by providing average, middle-class Americans with millions of beautiful-yet-unattainable homes, expensive shoes and clothes and many other unrealistic items that most of the American middle class will not achieve.
I know, it is harsh, but it is true.
Pinterest makes people think “normal” things are these high-end and high-fashion materialistic things. However, in reality, you end up pinning a whole board of things you will likely never actually make, use or attain.
I, regretfully so, have spent countless hours searching for the perfect wedding dress, engagement ring and wedding cakes for my wedding that is yet to exist.
I am 20—why do I think I need to plan a wedding? Seriously, I have an entire wedding strategically planned out on my Pinterest board—which is even private so no one can steal it. When I am ready to marry in about five years, I will be set.
My favorite thing to do on Pinterest is search for houses and cool decorations. I believe that I know exactly what color I would like my house to be, inside and out, and even the appliances and cabinets I want inside of my kitchen.
In fact, I have an entire board of kitchens to model my dream kitchen off of one day. You know, I am picking out my Pinterest home and kitchen that I will own after I get married with my perfectly planned Pinterest wedding.
I also have a board consisting of hundreds of fabulous home-cooked, four-course meals that just sound and look too good to not save for later. Steaks and veggies and recipes for the crock-pot — where am I going to cook these meals? I live in a tiny apartment.
When I get married in about five years with my perfect Pinterest wedding and live in my perfect Pinterest home with my dream kitchen, I can cook these meals for my husband.
The only slightly realistically attainable things I have saved on my Pinterest board are clothes and shoes.
I love shoes.
I find the most beautiful pumps or sandals and save them to buy later. So, I am prepared to spend about $30 on some new shoes. As it turns out, the darn things are $300. Well then, I guess they are not so realistic after all.
My board of watercolor art reminds me of my phase where I wanted to draw and paint more and never actually got to it. Just like my exercise and health board reminds me to eat healthily and exercise while I am laying in my bed eating chips.
Why do I love this app so much if most of the items I save are unrealistic and unattainable?
The fact I can, for just a moment, believe I can have these fabulous homes and shoes keeps me invested.
The human nature of organizing thoughts and ideas effortlessly consumes you on Pinterest, where you can find ideas and examples of absolutely any home, outfit or hairstyle that you want.
The most wondrous and expensive things I find on Pinterest will never make it into my closet or home, but a girl can dream.
