Simar Soni | I knew that Trump would win when I saw Kim Kardashian's hair

A Kim Kardashian post appeared in my feed on a cool September morning in 2022. Against the comprehensive American flag, she wore a denim-on denim outfit and a shiny blond hair. Your make -up was minimal and her butt was just a real American way. When I was 16, I knew that Donald Trump would become president again.

This memory reappeared on April 25 at the student fashion magazine, the annual charity show by The Walk. The pupils gathered to see the models that border the runway in Gingham printing gaps and boots. When I flipped the sides of the magazine this season, I came across the Americana shoot – one of the filming that I styled. I remember that I was enthusiastic about the 1960s cuts and cola doses on my Mood Board. These pictures were amazingly nostalgic and reminded me of the summer in my little hometown when I rolled my friends on the jump of country music in their jeep. Although this picture of middle Western Mericean was a child of immigrants who were not equal in the 1950s. When I look back, do I have to ask how someone like me, who has always dreamed of living in a big city, could find comfort in this romantized “American” picture?

All over the world, people laugh at what they should perceive America: a collage of weapons, burgers and cowboys. On the other hand, America has been driving global culture for decades. Hollywood is leading international film. New York is the Epicentrum of Financing. Los Angeles is the mecca for social media stars. Streetwear and hip-hop that come in American cities are now common all over the world.

However, it is not surprising that “Americity” was rejected by the domestic urban masses. When many of us go abroad, we do not identify with America. While others come from France, India and Japan, we come from California, Texas or New York. My Canadian cousins ​​present me as “cousin from the states”, not as the United States. We make this distinction because both Americans and non-Americans know that America as a single homogeneous nation is not uniform. Rather, America is a country that consists of many people and cultures.

In recent years, Americana has replaced many of these regional subcultures. Today it is “cool” to be American. Kim Kardashian's attempt to embody Marilyn Monroes Hollywood glamor on social media for months. Wealthy northern students decorate 400 US dollar Ralph Lauren American Flag Sweater. Cowboy boots have become a staple of the influencer culture. According to Inside Radio, Country Music is one of the fastest growing genres with 20 billion streams in 2023. With the rise of stars such as Chappell Roan and the revival of Ethel Cain in pop culture, it is clear that America is back.

This increase in American aesthetics is not new. Listening of country music has increased by 54% since 2005, and in 2015 70% of the non-white Americans heard country music once a week. These demographic changes are largely explained by the recession of 2008 and September 11th. We are looking for stability in times of crisis. It is something nice to sit in a diner where you are only concerned about what Milch shake should order. Our clothes reflect our deepest wishes. When we wear our faded “red, white and blue”, we really follow the promise of the American dream.

Even if Americana's revival is a coping mechanism, it was combined with ultra-conservative politics, especially with Trump's re-election. Some may argue that this conservative shift is a reaction to millennials and the “ultra-liberal” ideology of gen z. Is this conservative trend part of the process of looking for political balance? I do not agree.

Gen z was expected to be the most progressive generation. The UCLA found that the majority of the informed gene Z in the 2024 elections were intended to vote for the democratic candidate Kamala Harris. The shift between political progressiveness and aesthetic conservatism was far too fast. The conservative flood returned too quickly to be part of the regular pendulum of “ISMS”.

As Americans, we can and have recaptured Americana. Dean Gillispies Americana miniatures in the past were highlighted in the Museum of Modern Art and symbolized his time in prison and his trial. Lana Del Rey represents the modern teen girl down until its music videos of the 1950s. She often works with men with colors, such as Asaps Rocky, who were historically excluded from these art styles. To be clear, there is nothing to complain about if you have loving fringe or cowboy hats, especially if you undermine it in a unique and contemporary way.

However, the current version of Americana is far from an coping strategy or an artistic subversion. Rather, it is a symptom of a larger conservative cultural revolution. In a world in which speaking against the Trump administration can ruin their lives and lead to a loss of their visa or their degree, it makes sense why the students would align themselves with the American ideals. In an America that is politically split in every possible way, dreams of a united “America” overtake culture and serve as a recession indicator. Today Americana is paired with harmful rhetoric to create an outside group. The already mystified “American dream” is becoming more and more exclusive. Americana continues to signal the reactionary political landscape that we enter. So wear the cowboy boots that appear on Instagram, but be careful with the news behind you. At Penn, where newcomers (including me) wear silk and turtleneck sweaters on the nights – where we glorify the good old American money – it is easy for us to fall victim to Americana, first as aesthetics, but soon enough as an ideology. And when Americana is the dominant doctrine, our politics is based on an invented concept of American hegemony and state of emergency. We start to reject our enemies, allies and even fellow citizens if they do not fit the vision of what an “American” should be.

Simar Soni is a college in the first year in which political science from Danbury studies, Conn. Your e -mail is simars@sas.upenn.edu.