Letters

Just a fad

February 26 - March 03 , 2020
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Gulf Weekly Just a fad

Gulf Weekly Mai Al Khatib-Camille
By Mai Al Khatib-Camille

Who is the @KhaleejiGirl? She is the voice of women across the region, touching on poignant topics and what is close to her heart. She has captured the attention of men and women on Instagram and will be sharing her thoughts with our readers too.


Every generation goes through fads and different fashion statements. It has become a way of life throughout time. Fads are a bizarre occurrence where for a brief time, an item, phrase or action becomes immensely popular for seemingly no reason, only to fade into oblivion forever afterwards. The subject of remembering such a fad becomes a rare entity.

The Khaleejigirl still remembers the fake pet fad that every child had in the 90s and early 2000s called the Tamogotchi. They were the tiny key chains that had a virtual pet on it. It had to be fed and taken care of regularly. Most of the people around you are not likely to admit owning one, let alone even remembering owning one.

Of course, this virtual toy was not the only a fad at the time. I could list the different kinds of fads especially that were “the hype” at the time. They would only be worn or used by an exclusive club of children or sometimes even teenagers. That is what makes fads so great. They create a union among people who took part in the trend. No matter what background we may come from, you can ask random people what a “yo-yo” is and they would instantly know it regardless of whether or not they owned one.

Maybe the purpose of creating fads was just that: no one gets left behind or feels friendless. Perhaps, even though it may be for a short time, the ultimate goal behind the fad is to create unity between random strangers who feel like they belong to something.

 

By Noor K Alaweyat







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