The lime green takeover has officially reached Coppell Student Media, however probably not in the way you thought it would.
When English singer/songwriter Charlotte Aitchison, known by the stage name Charli XCX, released her latest album brat, it spread like wildfire becoming a trend across social media and leading to the creation of brat culture.
The brat culture emphasizes being messy and authentic, that it’s ultimately OK to make mistakes. Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign was quick to embrace this.
Soon after Aitchison’s tweet saying “kamala IS brat,” the Harris campaign changed its X page banner to lime green with “kamala hq” splayed across in the signature lowercase brat font. The goal here, of course, is most likely to appeal to newer, younger voters.
While in the past I have been a bit of a pessimist, critiquing both candidates, today I want to take the stance of an optimist: Kamala is brat, and I am here for it.
Normally, I would have been the first to say using celebrity endorsements and embracing pop culture trends is completely ridiculous for a political campaign, but this one feels different. The moment that “brat Kamala Harris” memes entered the mainstream, I began to see just how much it fit if we take a look at her past.
Going back to her days as a prosecutor, Harris learned to go after criminals using her own specific style of attack. Skipping ahead, she developed more and more as a political figure and by the 2020 vice presidential debate, we ended up seeing her deliver the snappy and famous one-liner “I’m speaking.” Now, poised as the potential next president by the Democratic Party, I can see in the public engagements, speeches and the presidential debate how unapologetically herself she is, not only based on what she says but the way she carries herself.
Harris does not fit the standard set by previous presidents. She is a woman, she is of Jamaican and Indian descent and she does not have children of her own. This, among other things, makes her quite the unique candidate when you consider how much our country still values the nuclear family.
However, I think her unusual candidate profile and unwillingness to fit the mold of those who came before puts her in an interesting, advantageous position.
With all the power and clout Harris has gathered, there has never been a better time to channel it towards female empowerment. Just think about it, a brat Kamala Harris is what we need right now to send a message of defiance to all women.
In a time where women are facing increasing pressures, not only from their government but the ever-rigidifying standards of society, having a feminist, female icon who isn’t another unserious pop culture celebrity, but the potential leader of our country could do a lot to prove that women can, realistically, break through the external and internal shackles we bear.
Having a political leader be so openly and unapologetically herself, one who says what she thinks and isn’t going to quiet herself to be more digestible for social approval or the men in power, has the potential to create an entire movement redefining girlhood as well as bolstering women’s position in and access to politics.
If Harris wins, she should focus her presidency around championing women’s societal liberation, in addition to many of the other important issues at hand. If she can do that, maybe then we have truly made progress. And hopefully it’s progress that lasts.
Follow Nyah (@nyah_rama) and @CHSCampusNews on X.
