Abby Leonard | January 11, 2024
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When I unwrapped my Stanley Cup for Christmas I was excited. The color was cute, the straw was convenient, and it perfectly fit in my car’s cupholder. This excitement was quickly challenged when I returned to school the following week. It seemed the “VSCO girl” phenomenon had returned and so did the attitudes that came with it. During the “VSCO girl” epidemic, I was in eighth grade and too engaged in the relentless jokes, the “sksksk” and “I dropped my hydroflask.”
However, this time I’m on the other side. The viral videos about tackling people or camping all night for Stanley Cups are, of course, crazy but also represent a tiny minority of people. This is not to say all critiques of the cups are invalid, but I have not had one person try to talk to me about my new water bottle in the context of consumerism. Instead, people have asked me the obsession with the cups, and asked jokingly if I was, “one of those.” Truthfully, I am one of “those”; I wear Uggs, I listen to Taylor Swift, etc etc. It is not the assertion that I’m a basic white girl that bothers me, but rather the assumption of my sheepishness, of my stupidity. The idea of getting any unnecessary new thing simply because it’s popular is silly, but the opposite is also true. To reject using a gift (especially one that I wanted) simply for fear of being perceived a certain way, simply because many other girls have the water bottle, simply because it is popular, is just as illogical. To be so concerned with being unlike others isn’t unique, it is simply contrarian. Still, there is validity to the claim that trends such as Stanley Cups foster a culture of over-consumption, a constant cycle of buying the new trendy thing. However, this critique cannot always be applied.
If someone were to, hypothetically, actually need a new reusable water bottle, say if their old one broke, why can’t they choose a Stanley Cup? Could it be that the two Stanleys in my APES class are pastel pink and blue, while the three Gatorade bottles are dark green and orange? Could it be that one of the Gatorade bottles is owned by a man, while neither of the Stanleys are? While the assertion that people hate things simply because teen girls like them has been somewhat done to death, it is important to note within this context. Still, I believe that the Stanley Cup is most valuable as a case study for our enduring resistance to conformity.
Despite arguments that critiques are due to the cup’s size or price, I’m certain that walking in with a nearly identical Yeti cup would not yield the same results. I find it ironic that this obsession with uniqueness has created a culture in which it is just as popular to have a negative view of the Stanley as it is to have one. This is obviously a very minuscule issue- and I hope no one is genuinely offended by a Stanley Cup joke- but there is still value in analyzing the motivations of our thought processes. So within these echoing hiveminds I ask you, the reader, to consider your opinion of the notorious Stanley and, most importantly, ask yourself why. I prompt you to act with conviction and if you want a Stanley Cup, get one and if you don’t, don’t. Because you’re a whole person, not a water bottle. It’s that simple.
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