@laura I can’t speak for Alia, but there’s the rampant capitalism, neoliberalism, the threat of catastrophic climate change, the reemergence of fascism, the inability for younger generations to live as well as our parents and grandparents, ongoing poverty and systemic oppressions... There’s a lot of stressors in our modern world. It’s not at all surprising that some people will look to an imagined past. But- that can be a dangerous thing, if not done with a clear mind. After all, looking to an imagined, very rosy, past is one of the major pillars of fascism. It’s the whole palingenetic part of palingenetic ultranationalism.
it's warmed over hitler youth propaganda, I was shown it in history class at school blonde girls in frilly dresses growing victory gardens for the war effort (or reich) and living in the countryside so they could breed once the soldiers return home really disturbing actually
@@seabreeze4559 frilly dresses and living in the country are not a nazi thing??? Like I'm sure they liked it too but they don't hold a monopoly on the idea of living in the country
Rural life is very relaxing and romantic if you are rich enough to hire someone to run your farm. Otherwise, it is incredibly hard work and difficult to make ends meet.
@@scarlett9750 if you want to be a farmer, definitely be a farmer, monetary consideration be damned. Just don’t pretend it is easy and similar to English country estate life which only the wealthy can afford.
@@jchacho6335 I mean there are also people out there that still don't mind hard work over living next to/on top of you in a city. If I had the chance to get the entire fuck away from my toxic neighbors that fight from 5:30am to 11:30pm, then fuck yes I'm getting a tiny home or something and forgetting people exist until I naturally need to interact. I've never had anything than blue collar jobs most of my life so far, so daily sweating isn't something I'm about to complain about when I look at what other alternatives are available to me now.
@@normandy2501 cottagecore is not selling actual rural life, which I agree can be very rewarding. It is selling the rural life of a Jane Austin book, which doesn’t actually exist anymore and only existed then for the incredibly wealthy, landed gentry.
I grew up in the mountains and people its fricking hard. I think cottagecore is more of a cosplay trend than lifestyle. Living like nomads when there are 8 freaking billion people is not sustainable.
it's old hitler youth propaganda, and it's creeping me out people are embracing it we were shown it in school and it lured girls with frilly dresses, in the countryside, baking bread, waiting for the conspicuously absent men (soldiers) to come home and breed with, it was propaganda to keep them like cows, docile in reality, the countryside is cold lonely and very very smelly and urban people with any mental health problem always get more depressed if they move here it's like a trailer park thing minus the trailer they're pushing, another form of slumming it one prepper called homestead tessie lives this life for real and it's punishing work, they just want nubile (ew) blonde goopey looking women wearing very short mini dresses pretending they're farmers - it's extremely superficial
I was looking for this comment. I grew up in the suburbs, but I was always kind of aware in the back of my mind that some of the things I'd heard about rural living (difficulties getting amenities if shops are far away, being more exposed to extreme weather events, fewer available jobs, rural poverty in some areas) weren't really talked about in these videos? Like I'm not saying they would be moving to a war zone or anything, but surely there must have been some difficulties in the transition from a big city to the middle of nowhere. I certainly know I'd make a terrible farmer and not know what the hell I was doing. But that would ruin the aesthetic videos I guess?
Didn't grow up in the country but I've got enough family and friends who did. If you just want to live in a cottage but maybe make supply runs to wal-mart in town twice a month that is one thing. But being an actual cottager really is something else. Most of the people who daydream about this kind of life don't have the skills to do so. They've never chopped wood in 90 degree heat or nigh freezing cold. They've never tilled a patch of ground and planted seeds. Than had to spend 3+ hours weeding and watering it everyday. It's a lot of hard labor. Especially if you are trying to be self-sufficient. Not to mention that being way out in the boonies after a really bad snowstorm just fucking sucks. But I will say even knowing that cottagecore art is beautiful.
Another mountain middle-of-nowhere person, and I have to say, it's not that hard for me or other people who grew up with it, but for a person coming from a city, it's going to be murderous. Like in the winter, when you pretty much have to walk to the nearest shop through the snow because the car won't start, bonus points if you have to come down from the mountains and then drag yourself back up with all the food. You might also have to deal with frozen toilets and faucets, opening doors only to find a wall of snow, the moods of a woodfire, having like 3 months of warm, depending on where you are also swamps, underground water and collapsing mine ceilings, having to work your ass off to prepare for winter... It's extremely beautiful, I'll admit that. And no, it doesn't smell, unless you live right next to a farm - and that smell is not all that much unpleasant anyway. But people should know about the issues too.
Cottage core (in a general sense) by other names has been around for centuries. I came across books about the “pastoral” and “golden age” and “Arcadia” it’s an aesthetic/movement/philosophy/art style that seems to circulate every few generations (each has their differences but the general idea seems to be an idealistic life away from society and infused with nature/beauty/etc).
I think it's paradoxal that many of these cottagecore youtubers make a living from technology and globalization. Also, they do it because they know that, if needed, they can go to the nearest city and get what they want. Some may have more video editing skills than farming or gardening.
exatamente!! isso que me deixa encabulada, eles romanticizam essa vida no interior, essa paisagem bucólica, mas eles sabem o que é viver de fato no interior?
@@isabelletenorio2911 Parece que nunca leram aquele livro de vestibular (A cidade e as serras)... Viver no interior raiz com a tecnologia da cidade é um ótimo combo! Hoje é bem mais fácil conseguir isso do que quando os portugueses escreveram esse livro chato, e não me parece paradoxal que alguém escolha montar esse combo. Também não vejo problema com alguém viver no campo e ter como conseguir coisas na cidade. Na verdade, sempre foi assim! Lembro de minha mãe dizendo que minha tia avó a visitava de São Paulo uma vez por mês para trazer coisas que não conseguiam no interior.
Anyone who's worked on a farm, lived in the woods, or grew up in a rural area will tell you it's anything but romantic paradise. Especially if they were poor, old, disabled, or the area they lived in had a terrible climate. There also aren’t that many men in cottagecore. Probably because living on a farm or in the woods for men means non stop work. According to these influencers, cottagecore women get to lay around baking and picking flowers. Meanwhile, cottagecore men get to work in the fields, hunt, feed the animals, and collect wood all day everyday. Not a very fair lifestyle.
It's not paradoxical unless they are claiming to live a 100% traditional. The awesome thing about modern day is that we can get the best of both worlds and live somewhere rural while using the internet to connect with others. There are plenty of real farmers that market their farms online. There are even Mennonite youtubers.
@@janicefinch3563 exactly! Some people seem to have a hard time understanding that wanting to live a simpler life doesn't mean having to completly isolate yourself form the society we live in.
my favorite thing about cottagecore youtubers is when they inevitably make the "how I afford this lifestyle" video and when you open it the answer is always "privilege"
Well, not really. For example, Paola (cottagefairy) work as a teacher where she lives. So it is not always privilege that goes behind that way of living. She left the big city where she worked very hard to work on another place where she feels happier and closer to nature. She says it herself that as an artist she enjoys romanticizing her videos but they are not an accurate representation of what she does on a daily basis. Not that she doesn't do those things but not every day, she also has to work on her job. Her videos are an art work also 😊
Anyone who's worked on a farm, lived in the woods, or grew up in a rural area will tell you it's anything but romantic paradise. Especially if they were poor, old, disabled, or the area they lived in had a terrible climate. There also aren’t that many men in cottagecore. Probably because living on a farm or in the woods for men means non stop work. According to these influencers, cottagecore women get to lay around baking and picking flowers. Meanwhile, cottagecore men get to work in the fields, hunt, feed the animals, and collect wood all day everyday. Not a very fair lifestyle.
@@criticalthinkingconcubus hello! I know it is not a paradise. My grandparents live in rural Portugal and trust me, I know what poverty is.:( Specially on a place like that, where it is dry and rocky and not very fertile. But my point is that this girl is not living of the land. Just because someone is living on a cottage and close to nature doesn't mean that they need to live of the land. This girl found a way to live her dream and I think that is great! We don't all need to live in big cities and it's good that people are showing other ways of living in the modern world. And it is a bit harsh to judge them all so harshly and call it all privilege without even knowing the circustances. And assume they all live like in the old days, thankfully for them they don't:p I think it is great that people are mixing the modern world with nature, a calmer life and trying to live more sustainable. I live in Lisbon now but if I ever get a job that allows me to do it, I would love to move to a quieter place.
A bit late to show, but something about allot of those tweets that really make my stomach turn is how they claim scandinavian culture (Which since I am danish is my cultural heritage) for their white nationalism. I have heard of people doing that in both denmark, Norway and Sweeden before too, but it bugs me extra when its americans. There are many aspects of pre christian scandinavian culture I am proud of and I do love and have always loved Nordic mythology and the Nordic folk tale, and the fact that something i really love is getting appropriated by Neo Nazis and alt right, white supremacy is breaking my heart.
TLDR; My aesthetic does not explain my beliefs about anything, do NOT put labels on me based on how I dress/where I live Yeah, I'm Swedish with Swedish-speaking Finnish heritage and those summers with my nan's family in the Turku archipelago, and the winters in my other grandma's hometown up north in Sweden are both great! I am so so grateful for having those things because living in beautiful landscapes is such a gift. I am really considering moving farther north both because the houses are so much cheaper (and prettier, and you don't have, like, any neighbours) and because you get so much more nature just, everywhere. Also, full disclosure, I hate wearing trousers. Last time I wore a pair of jeans I was 13 or something. Trousers give me anxiety about my body and they feel so claustrophobic, it's not a political statement or whatever it's really just about what I'm comfortable with. I am also one heck of a romantic (as in I love the Brontës and Thomas Hardy and Thomas Cole and all that). This means that cottagecore is absolutely right up my alley, it also means that, as a woman, there are so many kinds of people who just assume things about me or put labels on me just because. I am soooo tired of people assuming I'm politically to the right, or anti-feminism or religious as flip or classist/racist/homophobic just because of how I dress and where I want to live. Worst of all are the people who (either because of their own bigotry and shallowness or because of the bigotry and shallowness they apply to me) just think that I am completely ignorant of anything and everything. Like??? You can dress in a certain way and live in a certain place and still read the news? My boyfriend really doesn't believe you can have good internet access in any kind of rural areas and??? I would absolutely love to live a 19th century-like life (with the internet, indoor plumbing, and modern medicine, absolutely without the racism, misogyny, and forced religion) but that does not mean I want to be completely self-sufficient (because that is HARD) or embrace the 19th-century beliefs of "being gay is a sin" or "women shouldn't talk" or "immigration is bad" or, like, general racism/orientalism/islamophobia/anti-semitism. Urgh! Rant over, thank you for your time.
My father was Swedish and my mother's parents from Norway. I believe 100% in Nordic-style Democratic Socialism, so the "small government" label doesn't really fit me. Like you, I enjoy Nordic culture and folklore, but I utterly reject that that culture is superior to other cultures, and I despise White Supremacy and White Nationalism. That those movements and the people in them (many of whom can't even claim that as their heritage) have co-opted the symbols and stories of my ancestors makes my blood boil. They poison everything they touch.
@@turtleboy1188 that's not what it's about, like whatever you like that's really great, go you! What reallygets to me, personally, is more about how you use and appropriate those things
I have a complicated relationship with cottagecore because I was raised in a very conservative fundamentalist Christian environment where I was expected to fill a mothering role, even as a child. I was, however, in a very chaotic family structure in a rich family where buying things was used as a patch for neglect. We rarely did simple things like making food from scratch or mending clothes. Instead, we just went to McDonald’s and Forever 21. Hand crafts became extremely important to me as a creative outlet and I felt very in control and very good when I could make homemade bread or hats for my family. Now, I’m trying to break out of the box of being, basically, a domestic servant, but I still very much enjoy those time consuming domestic tasks like baking bread and horticulture and embroidery. I’m crocheting a baby blanket as I watch this video. I just really like the idea of a person-centered life with a simple, carefully crafted environment and a slow pace of living. But also I will never be a trad wife. No. I’ll make skirts for my trans spouse thank you very much.
The second part made me smile. I think you are finding a good balance between rejecting the oppressive fundamentalist nature of your childhood while not giving up a part of yourself. Sometimes, when we want to reject something we dislike, we veer into the other extreme. Example: Not wearing pink even though it's actually a nice colour, just because pink is associated with enforced femininity. But we can only be truly free when we make our peace with something even though it might have been coopted by people we don't want to be like. Not sure whether I'm making any sense. ^ ^ Anyway, as a fellow textile/fiber crafter I wish you much success with all your crafty endeavors. :)
I’m a 17 year old south East Asian male - I don’t think I really fit into your target audience but I find your channel so interesting. Honestly the number of trends out there has had me so confused for so very long and it’s nice to see someone break it down very slowly. Love this channel, and I hope you don’t mind me sticking around!
The first thing I thought of when cottage style got big was Japanese Mori style, it looks the same to me. Mori was very popular around 2010 and earlier.
It's funny how I've always been reposting cottage core content on Tumblr back in the days (aka during the last decade since Tumblr's pretty much dead nowadays) but I'd never been fully aware of this term until later. I guess I just enjoyed looking at nature pictures and images of this innocent blooming life because that's what it kinda resembles for me personally. I've also always felt this personal connection to this type of content since I've grown up in rather rural areas and cottage core stuff therefore reminds me of my home and my childhood. It's pure nostalgia and happiness to me, with a sense of endless summers and liberating happiness. Keep up the good work! I appreciate your videos.
Pretty nice to see The Cottage Fairy featured in this video. She is one of the people you could identify as someone living a cottagecore lifestyle, but who doesn't really label herself as such while being fully transparent with all the benefits and challenges that may come with such lifestyle. Also me being a male, it sometimes felt weird and exclusive when looking at things related to cottagecore cause if not all, most of the content are you said, female. So to any brothers who may read this, try to go beyond the fact that is always portrayed by woman and see the values and ups and downs of this lifestyle if this is something you inspire to do. "Little House On The Prairie" is a fairly good example.
Wow, great thoughts and research! I completely agree that asthetics like cottagecore, dark academia etc. can have the tendency to reproduce conservative, exclusive, privileged patterns and transport bad values. By being aware of that and by knowing the background you can try to stand against that developpement. Also diversity is so important! I simply love the asthetics - my motto is: historical asthetics not historical values (I'm dressing in a historical-ish-way with some cottagecore vibes). So I combine those amazing elements with my personal values: I see myself as a lesbian/feminist/minimalist/vegan and fight everyday for a better world, sometimes small in discussions, sometimes bigger in articles etc. Well difficult to express all of that in english, it got a little messy - sorry :) J'adore tes vidéos! Grüße aus Deutschland
Cottage core is what got me interested in all the aesthetics, like the academia’s and much more, I didn’t exactly ever click with it but I liked the idea of it I suppose. Thank you for bringing so much light to the dark sides of these aesthetics’s. No one seems to talk about them and it’s slightly concerning. So thank you!
Anyone who's worked on a farm, lived in the woods, or grew up in a rural area will tell you it's anything but romantic paradise. Especially if they were poor, old, disabled, or the area they lived in had a terrible climate. There also aren’t that many men in cottagecore. Probably because living on a farm or in the woods for men means non stop work. According to these influencers, cottagecore women get to lay around baking and picking flowers. Meanwhile, cottagecore men get to work in the fields, hunt, feed the animals, and collect wood all day everyday. Not a very fair lifestyle.
Since you mentioned Ghibli, I also want to mention similar movements in Japanese subcultures such as Natural Kei (1970s - pres) and Mori Kei (2006 - early 2010s). As far as I can tell, cottagecore is not derived from these, but I find it interesting to try to understand the reasons these almost identical aesthetics developed independent of eachother.
I'm a POC who enjoys the aesthetic as it gives me inspiration for writing. Also, growing up I had an abundance of books describing a fairy like places, usually surrounded by nature, places like the shire from the hobbit. So cottagecore to me is really just an escape from a life filled with social anxiety . That's what the aesthetic is, an escape. Its important to realise that living in rural areas is not always as pretty as it seems. Especially if you are poor or disabled.
I commute from Connecticut to NYC everyday for work. It’s a stressful life and more stress is caused by all the screens and technology and apps and social media that are always around me. So some months ago I decided to spend 3 days in a cabin in North Maine, without internet, and it was a life changing experience. I walked in the woods, I saw rivers, lakes, waterfalls and when I was in the cabin I read and wrote a lot. It seems that when you disconnect you gain so much time for yourself. I am not sure if I could do it for months but a few days really regenerate you.
This was such a good video, honestly so underrated. I think the thing with most aesthetics is that they're a mode of presentation, a way of appearing to the outside world and that makes them more easily corruptible. That's how an aesthetic like cottagecore that's supposed to be about limiting consumption can lead to so much fast fashion or DA can claim to be about the pursuit of education but only feature one narrative. The right wing especially have this thing with co-opting leftist aesthetics (using the term more broadly here) like how in America, they somehow think left (always) means big govt and the right is about freedom & liberty even though imho that's a very leftist aesthetic like there's nothing at all free about free markets & white supremacy, leftism is about democracy and equality which are fundamentally more freeing for all, so I'm not even surprised about how trad wives and eco-fascists have co-opted this aesthetic too. However the racial problems with cottagecore are a little more complex than just a matter of diversity and I noticed (understandably) that you didn't cover it so it might be worth (if you haven't already) linking to a poc who has already talked about it & giving them a platform. Still, loved the video! Sorry for the mini-essay lol
Thank you for your comment, I totally agree with you! Yes I didn't cover issues of representation or the fact that it's very Eurocentric and sometimes reminiscent of colonialism, I solely focused on how it is "coopted" by traditionalist and the alt-right but yeah, it's a discussion we need to have :)
You're right, I'm a fan of cottagecore but I feel that lifestyle may be not be inclusive for all people in the world because it's Eurocentric. That's what I feel everytime I watched a cottagecore video. Because, I live in south east asia. With only two seasons, rainy and dry, it doesn't feel great to walk around. Well, maybe the rural people have get used to it, but, I know I don't! When I lived in rural area for a month (for a college assignment), I can tell the "cottagelife" in south east asia is no way the same like the cottagelife potrayed on the (Eurocentric) youtubers. No random flowers or berries available, and boy the weather is either extremely hot or rainy. Also, the rural people are poor... The forest is real forest where there are monkeys, snakes, (if lucky) elephants or tigers, so that's a whole different world.
@@Farah_fara I live in France, and here aswell, the cottagecore only show a romanticized life. Even if our countryside is probably far less poorer and far less dangerous than South East Asian one. A very big portion of the country side is endless wheat/corn field wich are not romantic at all. And they will never be sean on a cottagecore instagram.
I really do hope that cottagecore remains inclusive, fun, and just happy and freeing. It’s literally the only thing getting me through the pandemic and bringing me joy 😂
I discovered cottagecore by being a sapphic trans woman. also, I wanna flex on the state by raising a nuclear family in their romanticised aesthetic while making it relentlessly gay and leftist
@@makaelaischillin Its the core of a family, so parents and their children. I'd say that it's most often used to describe the "traditional" family with two (married) parents and one to three children - and at least in my country, germany, in a very heteronormative way. Did I explain it well? PS: google or another search engine is your friend ;)
@@makaelaischillin nuclear family is the American 1950s stereotypical family of a husband that works& provides for the family, a wife that stays at home and two children (boy+girl) living a "traditional"/ conservative life in a suburban neighbourhood
Looooove this analysis! I’ve been super curious about the social implications of the cottage core, as a modern version of the romanticisation of the rural as you mentioned! This was extremely interesting to watch!! I discovered cottage core via sustainable living, as you also talked about! It evolved into a mindset of slow living, escaping the urban hustle and embracing nature as time went by. I really do hope this aesthetic remains a positive and inclusive one, especially for BIPOC. I can see how it can easily be whitewashed >
I think one issue with aesthetics that isn’t discussed enough is how a very specific version of one can get to be the ‘one true way’ to be (insert aesthetic here). Wouldnt it be fascinating to see (at least without having to search and search) an Indian take on Dark Academia? Or Latinx Cottagecore? Masc Light Academia?
I really enjoyed the video breakdown! It's interesting to see where something. as harmless as cottagecore trends can take us. Though, as an animation industry worker, I'd probably like to point out that Hayao Miyazaki's Ghibli films tend to get mixed up in the aesthetics of it purely only for the aesthetics, not principle wise at all imo. Miyazaki himself has always been an advocate for simple living, long before cottage core was a thing (i.e Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke being the pioneer work of his talking about environment and how we as humans treat it was created long before 2010s.). He's much more an environmentalist than anything remotely close to cottage living lifestyle. Miyazaki grew up in rural countryside Japan and perhaps that reflects heavily in how he writes and animates his creations. While Ghibli films are often materials that the general masses use to amplify the romanticisation of cottagecore living, it isn't something that Miyazaki had wanted to perpetuate at all. That, i think is solely on the fans' prorogation , imo. but love the video!
I love cottage core! As somebody who primarily works with technology in my day job, it’s nice to have an escape. Unfortunately, my farming attempts haven’t gone too well this year! Hoping to try again in the spring! 💜
Something somewhat related to the last point about ethnic nationalists and cottagecore: nationalism, and even the modern understanding of what a nation is itself, first took shape in close association with romanticism (from what I understand, it's the consensus among scholars that the first proper expressions of nationalism are to be found in two German philosophers, Herder and Fichte)--so, from the beginning, with romanticism and its reverence for Nature, etc., a love of the rural and rustic have been joined with nationalism. Some further examples I can't think of a way to organise properly: an interest during the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Scottish ballads, which were seen as expressions of humanity's creative impulse untainted by the artificial manners of overcivilised peoples (which at that time more or less meant the French), the notion of a 'National Poet', an increased appreciation for the study of history and above all rural traditions (the fairy tales of the Grimm brothers were compiled at this time), etc.--all in reaction to les Lumières, well summarised in Wordsworth's line "we murder to dissect." Also, nota bene, nationalism then didn't really entail thinking one's country was superior to others in any way--it might even be seen as a reaction against Enlightenment philosophers who had a tendency to look upon non-Greek-Roman-Chinese-and-Modern-European peoples as less civilised and therefore less human. Sorry if incoherent, rush.
I've spent my life in city's central - now living the cottage life - I miss the city esp after isolating this year. I miss biking everywhere, walking to have coffee etc. Cottage life can be freaky expensive and requires cars. On the other hand - after living in a tent while building our house by hand, I have a real relationship with nature that I never had before. In my case - I'll likely Airbnb or sell this place in the long run and return to human company. Meanwhile, I'm becoming an amazing gardener. But I'd prefer an urban architectural and CO-HOUSING solution that allows me to garden and bike to my friend's houses. Warmest regards Jennie
It is just a style, not an actual lifestyle to be encouraged. There is beauty and value in all past styles too, and it is natural and good to embrace that beauty.
Alice ! you are the voice I have been looking for on youtube! im learning french so im super exited that u are french. your content is incredibly interesting and uniqe. i love it. subscribed.
Merci pour cette vidéo :) I hadn't thought much about the political aspect of cottagecore to be honest! I mostly hear of it in context to lgbtq+ people, since many avidly reject capitalism and such. I've also associated it with the aesthetics of Studio Ghibli, which is interesting since a few of their movies have been inspired by western European architecture and clothing... I wish there were more representation of non-Western cottagecore. It's something I'll be on the lookout for in the future.
Oh now I wish I remember the name! There is a Japanese clothing style and lifestyle that has the same focus as cottagecore, and I know of at least one Chinese youtuber who makes videos of her building a bamboo house, harvesting vegetables, cooking and baking from scratch, raising animals, weaving cloth and sewing clothes etc etc. :)
I grew up in the mountains sandwiched between the endless forests and a lot of wetland, so for me this is not an aesthetic. And let me tell you... It's not for everyone. It's beautiful, but it's hard, and you need at least basic skills with an axe, pickaxe and a hammer to survive, even if you decide to buy your stuff. You need to be able to deal with being without water and be able to do a lot of walking over the hills. And if you do it in continental Europe, especially the east, you also have to be ready for the culture. Basically, do it if it makes you happy, just be careful about the side effects
Fascinating take on cottagecore. Thanks for your deep dive. I got into cottage core simply because my love of nature and sustainability. It is the overall coziness of the aesthetic that I love.
Cottagecore is fascinating to me because a lot of my family lives like this, but mostly not by their own choice and they are fighting to get out of it because they are isolated, lonely and struggle financially...it is hard to find qualoty education and work opportunities is such places...but hey, the aesthetic is nice, who wouldn't want to live like a fairy godmother in a magical forest....
When I began creating my own wardrobe in the 70's it was very much like what is now called cottagecore. But back then it was called "What on earth?", "You're strange", and "Honey that looks like something your granny would've worn" 😂 I still dress this way. It makes me happy, and I'm so pleased to see the next generation enjoying it.
Yes yes yes! I would like to film that in Paris and do a good, innovative analysis, something that hasn't been done yet but yes it will come eventually, I promise ☺️ Thanks for the recommendation!
@@nicolefriedman3007 A lot of pre-christian traditions and cultural history (vikings, norse mythology, midsummer, the futhrak etc) are commonly misappropriated by the white nationalist movement , because they view it as pure white culture without any “foreign” influences. This isn’t really a new phenomenon, as many N*zi politicians and political theorists such as Alfred Rosenberg fetishized and saw Nordic culture in the same way.
I am really glad that I have come across your videos! Wonderful, wonderful contents! As a new sociology + cultural anthropology student, it is so interesting to see how these aesthetic trends could reflect deeper social problems/issues/history in society. And I really think that the points you've made in this video are the answers to why I am always, sort of, found cottagecore a little bit disturbing 😅 (even though it's my favourite aesthetic). As a boy who lives in Malaysia, perhaps, the feelings of cosiness/nostalgia + rural lifestyle that I have always seen in the earlier Disney cartoons/movies, are what made me fell in love with cottagecore in the first place. Thanks for making this video! Now I will binge-watching the rest of them~! ❤
The thing I really like about your videos is how you deliver the essays like they aren’t scripted. It feels very conversational and non-confrontational. More, please!!!!
My thoughts exactly. It's like saying you're a private person/you kind your own business then announcing that instead of just... doing it. Truly anti-modern behaviour wouldn't even be known by "everyone else" (not for a long time anyway) if it wasn't announced everywhere and used to make money (by being an influencer of that lifestyle for example).
Me & my husband left the city before covid & bought a 19th century cottage in rural Shropshire. Our modern furniture did not suit our new home so we got rid of everything & hit the multiple charity shops in the area & filled our home with beautiful cheap furniture etc. We’d left our jobs so money was tight. Everything we have now is vintage & antique, including country clothing (charity shops) and because we’re so far from the nearest shops I’ve learned to bake & grow vegetables. It leads you into that lifestyle & it is the best thing we have ever done. Its still a struggle at times, but I would never go back to modern living. We were never this happy & we’re in our 38th year together.
Love your commentary and channel. You really make a good point again in this video. But I have to disagree with you about one thing: In most cases cottage life isn't necessarily more sustainable. In a city (at least in European cities) you have everything you need in daily life relatively near - like school, your workplace, stores, your friends, hobbies, etc - so you can walk, take your bike, public transport or just a short car ride. In the countryside you have to use your car for nearly everything. What's also not very sustainable is the huge amount of land that is needed for detached houses in the countryside - land sealing is a huge problem for the environment. Apartments are simply more sustainable since they waste less land. So, apart from people who really want to live off grid and fully support themselves through farming, I think the current trend towards country life it's really just about the aesthetics and another form of consumerism.
You’re right that living the cottage core life involves a LOT of privilege. There’s class privilege, in being able to give up your life and try something completely different- the people who do this usually have a safety net to fall back on if it doesn’t work out. But for me, I see the able bodied privilege. I could never live the cottage core lifestyle, because I am too disabled to garden and cook. I can hand sew, which is nice, but that won’t keep me well enough to survive. And that is not something I see talked about by those who try to bring more people in to the lifestyle. Which is a pity, because a more communal cottage core lifestyle is something that I could take part in. I can sew and mend for people, in exchange for food and other assistance. And this is a direction I’d like to see it move in, a more inclusive direction, one that is less individualistic, and therefore requires less privilege. And hey, I’m pretty sure that a communal lifestyle, where people barter (ie moneyless), where things are provided on the basis of need, where people contribute what they can, where class doesn’t exist, and people are able to govern their own little community based on what that community needs (with the possibility of working together with other communities to provide for larger needs), I’m pretty sure there’s a word for that. A word that emphasises that communalism, the community. It’s on the tip of my tongue... Hmmmm....
@@lightningbug3189 close, but not quite. My word is Communism. As in, a redo of the entire system, but people tend to be very scared of that word. I wouldn’t mind living In an accessible, secular commune though.
I don't have a problem with gay people posting on social media, it is totally within their right to do that, however I don't like how it is portrayed that cottagecore is a gay lifesyle, like straight people can do cottagecore too. And I don't like how you're saying that being a traditional wife is a bad thing, what's wrong with living off the land, raising kids, and staying at home?
No answer. If you want to declare yourself a dog and be led around on a leash they're all "let your freak flag fly!" But if you want to be traditional it's: "No not like that!"
I’ve literally just watched all of your videos and I really love all of them, your opinion is very interesting and I agree to the fact that these aesthetics look good but shouldn’t be politicised ... It’s a little bit annoying how the way people dress has to deal with who or how they vote, or even how they act, yes dressing up can showcase your personality but it doesn’t go in direct correlation to who you are... The same thing with dark academia and this, romanticising these ways of living is not positive for society in any way... yet people keep doing it by forgetting why were people living these lifestyles in the first place and why they’ve stopped. Drinking coffee off vintage mugs or running in flower fields is not a personality trait! Thank you very much for this, it was good food for thought! I’ll be waiting for the next videos xx
What's with some of you people?? Just because some people choose to embrace and explore certain traditional aesthetics doesn't make them survivalists, white supremacists, or believe women should be property. Rural folk art has been around for a while. I love it when Millennials and Zoomers rediscover vintage and traditional culture. One can pick and choose. One can embrace that stuff and still be welcoming and inclusive to people of all backgrounds, and believe women should be free to choose whatever path in life they wish to. I've lived in semi-rural areas for short period of time. While there can certainly are a lack of social life outlets for those who are single, its not survival mode. Most people who live in rural areas just commute to a job, and at the closest they have to a farm is a large garden and a lot of pets that they take care of on the side. And while the nearest grocery store being a half hour away is certainly something to get used to. Its not going to kill you. Obviously some have made an attempt to be a serious farmer, and yeah that can be exhausting work, but most don't. Most just commute into town for a job.
so as a kid I always wanted to live in a cottage and grow my own food and bask in nature and so coming into 2020 and that being given a label I could go to one place and find other people that have the same dream as I was really refreshing. Unfortunately, I found out really quick the space wasn't very inclusive of people that looked like me but I eventually found other black and BIPOC creators trying to make the space more inclusive and that gave me hope I could still enjoy my method of escapism.
If you have a Facebook there’s a great group I’m in called 🌺 Multicultural Cottagecore 🌺 it a very inclusive group that focuses less on Eurocentric cottagecore.
Your channel is very underrated and so necessary at the same time; I've only just discovered you and your thorough analyses of online communities and, in my opinion, they're very much on point ;) As for cottagecore, I suppose I stumbled upon it through the cottagefairy and only because she relaxes me with her imagery and soothing voice. She provides the online space with oneiric and gentle ideas about identity and living intentionally. However, I'm very much aware that that kind of life is out of reach for most people, since you do need a sustainable and maybe even privileged financial situation or an incredibly strong will power; and as I grow older I'm led to believe less in the latter. Could it be sour grapes? Perhaps. But I still believe that there are so many fantasies that we are feeding other people and ourselves with and it's simply delusional and perhaps even dangerous. Cut the perhaps.
I wanna design my future home in a mix of cottagecore and dark academia aesthetic, i love living sustainable but because im a pretty two sided person (not meaning two faced just things that normally throw each other out ig) i plan on living this lifestyle in the city, ill live it out at home but have a more modern lifestyle outside because for me this aesthetic is something to run too and calm down when i get overwhelmed, its really calming
Alice, you should do a video about Norwegian Black Metal. The points you made about ecofascism are also embodied in NBM. I know it's not a trendy theme anymore, but it is similar to the cottagecore trend since it has all the aesthetic elements which are politicized.
Thanks for the perspective. I'm just checking out cottagecore for home ideas as I like the idea of using vintage items we have already and tying them together in a vibe. Having lived in a wooden caravan, The cottagecore decor can be impractical eg lots of dust / dirt catchers. Modern and mid century modern is a lot easier to maintain. But you can use colour and pattern to soften it. I guess cottagecore can be good if it's about time in nature, using vintage clothes and decor and green living (eg avoid toxic chemicals and buying things you dont need). The far right seem to latch onto almost anything but I suppose there is a definite tendency for the right to try and stake a claim to the countryside.
I've always loved the aesthetic (probably because I lived with my grandma and she had a very romantic styled house) but I discovered the tag through looking at Otome Kei cords! Otome Kei literally translates to Maiden Style from Japanese and is like a combo of cottagecore and dark academia styles.
We lived with the Amish mennonites in Ireland for some years, also had a homestead and homeschooled our 5 daughters. This cottagecore idea is new to me, is it a living history or reenactment that longs to reconnect to the best of the past, those things that give us continuity and connection? Living frugally in multigenerational homesteads with neighbours who broadly reflect your world view and values used to be the default position of most human beings. Oh, that and belief in God which underpinned the stability of community. Sunday worship, moral norms , festivals and yes modest clothing. Enjoyed your video!
For me cottage core is serval things: firstly its an escapism to a time in my life where i still lived with my mum and we had a garden where we spend a lot of time. (She died when i was a young boy) we did live rather poor and in a small village and i do not miss the financial struggel at all. Im still kind of in that position since im a student, but i climbed a big step on the educational latter compared to my parents and as a soon to be teacher in Germany, ill definitely have some financial stability. So cottage core kinda reminds me of my mum, the gardening and the most beautiful moments of my childhood. But cottage core also is something i enjoy, as a imaginary escapism from capitalism and climate change... Which are both two things that mentally drain me (and probably a lot of other people as well) Cottage core also reflects the wish of mine to cut out certain technology out of my life. As an older Gen Z, i might not have always lived with internet, a phone or computer but it definitely had an big impact on me and i realise that i struggle with my consumption and wish to live more in the moment. The last (smaller) aspects for my interest in cottagecore is my general interest in biology, gardening, cooking, sustainability and vintage clothes. Im aware that most of this is just a longing for an idealised life and is actually unaffordable/impossible for the majority of people and/or is absolutel hard work (e.g. the idea of actually growing all of your own food) But i like the idea of implementing a few thing in my life that fit in that theme, that bring me joy (e.g. making noodles from scratch) or eventually having a small garden (even if its just on a balcony or window sill) The perfect cottagecore life is not achievable for the majority of people, however, if it brings you joy and you can easily implement it into your existing life, then there is no shame in getting that flower dress or going to the woods every other weekend. 😊
I was nodding along the entire time you were speaking. Your points are so insightful and I really liked your analysis. I think the whole point of fighting for women to be able to work is to give them the choice. I see a lot of people bash stay at home moms and having grown up with one who chose to stay home and later chose to go back to work, I feel a little defensive of them sometimes 😅. But I think the tradwife movement is doing it wrong if they're not teaching their young daughters that they CHOSE to stay home and that their daughters can make that choice themselves and are encouraged to at least be educated. And if they're constantly trying to please their husbands they are ABSOLUTELY doing it wrong. It's pretty gross that they're using cottagecore to lure people to that way of thinking.
one of the most important books to read on this subject is Raymond Williams' *The City and the Country.* Gives a Marxian analysis of the origin of the very concept of "the country" in the emerging relations of mutual economic dependence between the city and the country as the industiral revolution got going.
I have a bit of a complicated relationship with cottagecore. On one hand, I like the aesthetic and I want to fully embrace it, but on the other hand, seeing cottagecore depicted online (instagram mostly), really makes me roll my eyes at it. I am female, white, almost 30; I own a small business (I make and sell fantasy gowns and corsets for a living), part of the LGBT community and I live in Europe. I don't live in the fancy bit of the Europe that gets Dark Academia's panties wet, but in the ex communist area which is less glamorous but also highly gentrified and almost cut throat expensive. Since I was a young teenager I noticed the cities in my country getting more and more crowded and more and more expensive. You have to be in debt for 30 years and tied to a job you hate in order to afford a tiny 1 bedroom apartment. I knew since I was 16 that city life isn't for me. My needs and wants aren't urban at all, especially nowadays when I can order anything I need from books to fabrics and building tools online. So it has been my one goal and dream since I finished high school to own a big plot of land next to a forest and have a tiny house or cottage on that land, with farm animals and all that. And I have actually been making a lot of progress on that front. I am saving up, I am studying everything pertaining to my desired lifestyle, I moved from my big city to a smaller one, I found a way to go and tend chicken for a summer to see if I can do it (I can), I raised rabbits, I lived without running water or a toilet for a few weeks... What I mean to say is that this thing, this lifestyle that the younglings transformed into an aesthetic is my desired lifestyle and future plan. And the glamorization really bothers me. You see these beautiful girls with long flowy hair and pristine dresses holding a baby lamb, or walking in a field and you think it's cute, but it's so hard. You can't do formwork in a pretty white dress with your hair perfectly coiffed. I mean I suppose you can try, but you will hate it. You can't just take a lamb and take a photo of it in your arms. I know because I tried. It's a living animal. I won't want to sit for photos, or it will want to eat your hair/ dress. It will get your pretty dress dirty with mud. Or it will cry and scream for its mom. And if you are not careful, the lamb's mom will hit you with her head! You can't look at a few minutes of video compilations on RUclips/ Tik tok or at painstakingly staged photos on instagram and decide you want "that" to be your life. This cottagecore aesthetic is a fairytale, a glamorized snapshot of a lifestyle full of hard work, of too much or too little rain, too much or too little sun, of animals that get sick and a myriad o other issues. It is hard work, just as working in an office can be hard work. Just as being a model for a living can be hard work, or being a person who tests video games. Just because something is glamorized, and it looks desirable and cute from the surface it doesn't mean that it doesn't have its hardships and challenges.
And as you said in this video, this aesthetic and narrative can be used as a front for shady people to sell their shady ideas to others. But as I tried to detail in my comment, it can also be used to downplay country life, and make gullible young people to want to quit their jobs to move in a remote cottage while they are unprepared for the realities of doing such a thing.
I live this way and even though I talk about how hard it is in many videos, many people just see the pretty things and think that’s all it is. One thing I find annoying is how many of these young women always wear light coloured thin dresses which is the most unrealistic thing. When you’re exposed to the elements like you are in the countryside thick thight or jeans are your best friend, and light colours are not because you get dirty the minute you are outside (or maybe that’s just because I have kids). Idk, people project a lot of traditional values on me, so it’ll be interesting when I start talking about how I’m actually and anarchist who wants to see the state destroyed and the commons restored. Will lose a large part of my audience that way though.
I've always been cottagecore, but putting a name on the aestheticism I subscribe to has been nice... With the exception of my evangelical coworkers who see my modest dress, thrifty lifestyle and my love of housekeeping as being a godly housewife. I hate how the beautiful aesthetic has been used to lure in those looking for a simple life to look at figures who promote hate and shame towards others because one isn't Christian/white/cis. I really hope the future of the growing movement begins to be based more in love of others, the planet, and continues to promote an eco conscious lifestyle
Ah, one of things of The Tradwife: "Her husband works to support her staying at home and raising the kids". Yeah, because late stage capitalism allows for most men to have wage which supports whole family, sure...
Maybe its somewhat liberating that motherhood is seen as a job and respected that way by their partners (optimistic) and this way women don’t have the double burden of a full time job and a full time parenting, cleaning, caring for husband role.
@@natashafrazer3703 but my point was that it isn't affordable for most people in current situation. So this idea that traditional men simply allow his wife to be The Tradwife is just fantasy.
@@FlauFly The reason youre unable to do this is that female labour participation is government subsidized (as well as employer profits that come along with it) while the single working parent families are not.
I discovered cottagecore on Facebook. I think in an art group, or plant group, or group suggestions. While the aesthetic doesn’t really reflect me (I’m a goth, I like black, blah blah) the life style called out my ‘inner child’. As a kid I wanted to be a witch, be close to nature, and learn a lot as well as create. Cottagecore or homesteading is as close as I could get to what was ideal and comfortable for my inner child. At the same time, I had also developed an awareness to Capitalism and Global issues. I want to get away from that bubble, and have more control of my life and anxieties. I want to live not survive.
I was obsessed with the show, Little Bear, as a kid, so that's honestly what I think of when I think of cottage core. I do have dreams of moving out to the the hilly portion of my state with friends and having a small homestead. However, I am def a leftist and want it to be a cozy, accepting community. Ideally, I would like to be within biking distance of a town as well. Honestly, I'm just sick of the suburbs, and I miss living more out in nature.
Thank you for this critique of the cottage life trend. After many stressful years in the software industry my husband and I live (can afford) a modest cottage life now. We grow nearly all our vegetables. As the soil is still in a neglected state this is really hard work, so no time for decorating cakes in summer. In winter heating with wood is work, too. I don´t wear flower dresses, I´m a feminist and this trend of idealising country and family life of older times makes me worrying about the future as in several countries nazi-like ideologies are rising.
I am glad that you brought up that Cottagecore did not have a whole lot of representation from minorities, and that there is very little representation in the Cottagecore aesthetic “scene” as well. But, after doing a google search I also noticed that there are none, that I could find, videos on the Cottagcore aesthetic when a couple or a person has one or more children. I have a few ideas as to why this might be, not backed up by any research except a quick google on the web. So, I would like to hear you opinion.
4:05 - I know this isn't the main point of the video, but living in a cottage in the country doesn't necessarily lower your carbon footprint or make your lifestyle more sustainable. If you are most of your own food, then it certainly lowers those transport and manufacture parts of your footprint, but not everyone who lives the country does that. Conversely, it can potentially hugely increase your fuel usage if you have to drive into town for everything you can't produce on your own (compared to if you lived in a city and could walk or take the metro to many stores), and keeping an individual house properly heated or cooled can be more energy intensive than when you share walls with other dwellings as in an apartment or row house. In addition, the higher proportion of people that live in this highly distributed way, the more land you need for all those cottages - which can lead to habitat destruction. Which is not to say that you CAN'T live a sustainable cottage life, of course - it just has to be properly thought out, and you have to actually be content staying at home and not traveling or using city amenities very much.
I'm not into cottagecore, actually we are in the process of moving into a more urban place.x) And I very much appreciate a big government. The wellfare state makes people content (Finland was chosen as the happiest country in the world). Also having a mortgage is no problem, it's just a form of paying to live somewhere. And living close to the services, cafes, museums, etc. tends to cost so much that most people don't have that kind of money on their bank accounts. I love the old fashioned aesthetics though, so this trend has seemed quite interesting. And occasionally it's fun to rent a cabin with minimal conveniences. I'd just never want to live there permanently, or even own a cabin, because renting for a week or two is so easy, and lets us have the freedom (!) to travel abroad or do something else. And our neighbors are fine, many of them really nice people, and the community in our suburb is very active, so I wouldn't want to give up on that either. (Suburb in the Finnish context = apartment buildings and condominiums, immigrants mixed with native Finns, in general a more affordable place to live.)
I stumbled upon the cottage fairy recently and I love it because it's very relaxing to watch. I also started to feel the need of living in nature because of the pandemic...being around people is very anxiety provoking since covid, especially because there are a lot of them who refuse to wear masks :( Ok, now I'll go and watch more of her videos :)
My boyfriend called my new Japanese style apron a “tradwife” apron and I was so offended 😂 This is such a cool breakdown, thanks for sharing! Glad it was in my recommended
Anyone who's worked on a farm, lived in the woods, or grew up in a rural area will tell you it's anything but romantic paradise. Especially if they were poor, old, disabled, had severe allergies, or the area they lived in had a terrible climate. There also aren’t that many men in cottagecore. Probably because living on a farm or in the woods for men means non stop work. According to these influencers, cottagecore women get to lay around baking and picking flowers. Meanwhile, cottagecore men get to work in the fields, hunt, feed the animals, and collect wood all day everyday. Not a very fair lifestyle.
escapism from my urban life, that is what cottagecore meant to me. it made me appreciate the scarce trees in my environment. it is like a hidden gem amongst living in a densely populated urban area. it’s a little treat for my soul. i currently can’t embrace myself in such a way of life, but let’s see if it could be realized in the future :)
also it is quite hurtful that these cottagecore influencers aren’t very truthful with the way they portray rural life, it isn’t fully sustainable and isn’t as romantic in real life.
Maybe I am misunderstanding. Should we want to be under big government? Whats wrong with not wanting government control and wanting to be able to live your life out in the woods doing your own thing. Maybe this is just an American thing but I just find it so strange to hear someone say that wanting to be free of government control is a bad thing. Especially when the person is just wanting to live in the woods. Or am I misunderstanding what she said?
I guess I've been doing cottage core my whole life without even realising it I just learned the term a few days ago. I grew up in a farming hunting family community. My profile picture is from over 6 years ago. In the way I dressed hasn't changed since I was a child. I've always believed in fairies and have had a love of fairy tales and books and animals and wilderness and climbing trees. I know how to grow out the woods and pick out what's Edible and what's poisonous. And I have always related with those characters that fit in with this cottage core lifestyle. Like Anne of Green Gables. I've helped animals birth and have taken care of newborn calves and lambs. I have nursed chipmunks, baby birds, barn kittens, When I was a toddler I had a pet raven My mom nurse to health. And I used to teach fairy house building. I also used to build life size fairy houses out of bitter sweet vines. I never knew I never knew the way I lived my life in the core of my beingI never knew the way I lived my life in the core of my beingWas a thing until recently. I like the fraves cottage core. I always Perceived myself As some weird outsider no one can relate to and And now I'm finding There are people Who seemed to see the world in ways that I do. If anyone's into the MB TI personality types I am an INFP. I lack a lot of what is considered common sense I lack a lot of what is considered common sense But I can find an identify tracks in the woods.
Great video! I also think a big problem with cottagecore is the romantisation of the rural environment and lifestyle. I am queer and grew up in the Spanish countryside, and although it did give me a lot of peace and I wouldn’t change it for the city, there were many times I did not feel safe walking around. The leading ideology is right to far-right and seeing as lgbtq+ people are a big part of those who enjoy cottagecore, I feel like if they were to move to the countryside, it would not as great as the aesthetic paints it to be.
Tradwives and eco-fascists practice Tradcore. Cottagecore and Tradcore are mutually exclusive lifestyles and aesthetics and they should not be equated. Those in the Cottagecore sphere don’t have to worry about Nazis invading our space because they practice a different unrelated “core” entirely, one they made for themselves as not to be associated with our very leftist and gay Cottagecore. Are there Tradcore people who use the Cottagecore hashtag? Yes unfortunately, but it isn’t their aesthetic or lifestyle, they’re just trying to expand or radicalize their followers with misinformation. However those of us who are also Germanic Recon Pagans do have to worry about Nazis hijacking our spaces and we work very hard at disposing them and their influence (I recommend Ocean Keltoi’s channel for more info on anti-fascist Germanic pagans). I embraced Cottagecore as a way to heal my relationship with rural life. I was raised in a secluded rural Christian doomsday cult. We would go on “survival camps” where we’d spend a week or two in the wilderness (the cult leader’s satellite phone as our only means of worldly communication) and survive with our camping gear, and even though I nearly died at 9 years old from contaminated water, it did make me a more resourceful person in a fucked up kinda way. After my family left the cult when I was 13 we moved to a city and I resented rural life (and Christianity) as backwards. Now I’m healing my traumas and learning to appreciate the countryside again, fall in love with it really. I see the love my mom and her parents had for the backbreaking work they did to keep up their farm. It’s hard to live out there AND be dirt poor, but to the right person, like my Oma, it’s the only way to live a good and meaningful life. (I’m also studying Orthodox Christian theology in order to heal my relationship with a religion that scarred me so deeply, even tho I am a pagan and will not be converting.) I get it, Cottagecore is just a cozy aesthetic for many people, and that is because Hygge is an essential aspect. I think it’s nice more people in the cities are learning about botany, foraging, and agriculture. As well as traditional crafts like textile weaving which have only recently been automated for the first time in the past 20,000+ years. We do need more diversity in the movement, it is very “generic white” currently. You don’t need a gingham blanket and western tea set with bunnies on it to go picnicking, enjoy using your own traditional pieces. Whether you’re Chinese or Syrian, your rural cultures aesthetic and cuisine is just as Cottagecore, don’t westernize it. Ultimately, Cottagecore is *a romanticization and preservation of rural peoples and their culture as distinct and precious.* It should be inherently diverse in its expressions. Are you Korean? Ukrainian? Look at the rural life in your native country and there is your own unique Cottagecore inspiration. And don’t just make it an aesthetic, learn about that class of people, appreciate them, and use any privilege you have to help their quality of life. I think cottagecore and the decolonize movement can go hand-in-hand if they want to as well, if cottagecore followers become genuinely concerned with sustainability and the preservation of rural traditional life, which includes indigenous people *most especially.* There is still work to be done in that regard though, some followers who live on colonized land are still a bit homestead-colonial-y. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk
I do a lot of the things cottagecore people are into--live in the country in an old house build in the 1700s, avid gardener with a 900 sq ft garden, grow most of my own veggies, I do a lot of canning and food preservation, am very into handcrafts like knitting and cross stitch, planted a starter orchard this spring, building chicken coops this summer to add a flock next year.. but honestly, cottagecore often really just makes me roll my eyes. It's so twee. It's like an entire aesthetic based on Marie Antoinette building a peasant village so she could cosplay being a farmer. It often has very, very little to do with actual rural life.
I love cottage core as a way To connect people to nature. And to connect people to people it should not represent racism and sexism. It should represent that fact that we are all equal and connected and what effects one effects us all.
I discovered cottagecore because someone described me as "cottagecore" and I didn't know what it meant. But when I looked it up it felt exactly like an extension of all the things I had been interested in since I was little, it was really nice to discover :)
In Germany there is a N*zi community who live "traditional". Like not pre-industrial but 1930s. In my own village is a family like that as well. I'm so incredibly sorry for the kids. Who knows what they're being taught, and that they're always just amongst ppl like them and just the fact that they need to look a certain way. The girls always two braids, long skirt. And they're driving around with some kind of Wehrmacht car.
Discovered cottage core with your video ! Interesting trend that illustrate the way the world reflects on itself. Good analysis, I want to deep dive in this social trend now. But I feel that people idialize the cottage and fram life as way more ecofriendly than living in a city, which might not be the case some times. I feel that this trend shows how people would like things to be in order to have a sustainable lifestyle and avoid climate change... But it's more complicated than that and should'nt be to romanticize.
C'était super intéressant! Avec ma coloc' on s'envoie souvent des tweets de comptes cottagecore parce qu'on aime beaucoup l'esthétique et qu'on a envie d'une maison et d'un jardin. Quand le boulot devient trop pénible, on regarde le prix des maisons en Normandie, et on commente en disant "oh, là on pourrait vivre notre rêve cottagecore!" Mais c'est surtout pour le fun. Après, on a conscience aussi que c'est une vie un peu idéalisée. On avait vu passer un tweet qui disait quelque chose comme "tout le monde veut une vie cottagecore jusqu'à ce qu'il faille enfiler des bottes en caoutchouc et virer les limaces du jardin" et ma foi... x) Par contre, j'avais jamais fait le lien avec l'écofascisme, ton analyse est vraiment éclairante!
Wow! This video is very eye opening. I didn't realize there was a connection between cottagecore and racism. I decorate with a bit of cottagecore style because we inherited a couple of quilts and a few pieces of furniture from our parents and grandparents. We also have always enjoyed browsing in shops that sell vintage, second hand items. For us it's just an attractive way to decorate our home and save some money and help the environment by using second hand items.
That took a serious turn! I have never heard of ecofascists until now but of course a shade of evil is within every movement, the further into extremes it goes. That’s pretty wild though...
I love that half the current aesthetics involve a rejection of the current time, it is definitely not a coincidence.
Yeah I very much agree, the world atm feels bleak and depressing so we need a sort of escapism, so we turn to a nostalgia tinted past
@James Smith Take a good guess.
@laura I can’t speak for Alia, but there’s the rampant capitalism, neoliberalism, the threat of catastrophic climate change, the reemergence of fascism, the inability for younger generations to live as well as our parents and grandparents, ongoing poverty and systemic oppressions...
There’s a lot of stressors in our modern world. It’s not at all surprising that some people will look to an imagined past. But- that can be a dangerous thing, if not done with a clear mind. After all, looking to an imagined, very rosy, past is one of the major pillars of fascism. It’s the whole palingenetic part of palingenetic ultranationalism.
it's warmed over hitler youth propaganda, I was shown it in history class at school
blonde girls in frilly dresses growing victory gardens for the war effort (or reich) and living in the countryside so they could breed once the soldiers return home
really disturbing actually
@@seabreeze4559 frilly dresses and living in the country are not a nazi thing??? Like I'm sure they liked it too but they don't hold a monopoly on the idea of living in the country
Rural life is very relaxing and romantic if you are rich enough to hire someone to run your farm. Otherwise, it is incredibly hard work and difficult to make ends meet.
seems right. I can barely keep up with my two raised planters let alone acres of crops
So if u wanna be happy and afford the things u want...u need money and money only. Okie. Noted.
@@scarlett9750 if you want to be a farmer, definitely be a farmer, monetary consideration be damned. Just don’t pretend it is easy and similar to English country estate life which only the wealthy can afford.
@@jchacho6335 I mean there are also people out there that still don't mind hard work over living next to/on top of you in a city. If I had the chance to get the entire fuck away from my toxic neighbors that fight from 5:30am to 11:30pm, then fuck yes I'm getting a tiny home or something and forgetting people exist until I naturally need to interact. I've never had anything than blue collar jobs most of my life so far, so daily sweating isn't something I'm about to complain about when I look at what other alternatives are available to me now.
@@normandy2501 cottagecore is not selling actual rural life, which I agree can be very rewarding. It is selling the rural life of a Jane Austin book, which doesn’t actually exist anymore and only existed then for the incredibly wealthy, landed gentry.
I grew up in the mountains and people its fricking hard. I think cottagecore is more of a cosplay trend than lifestyle. Living like nomads when there are 8 freaking billion people is not sustainable.
what are the hardest parts?
it's old hitler youth propaganda, and it's creeping me out people are embracing it
we were shown it in school and it lured girls with frilly dresses, in the countryside, baking bread, waiting for the conspicuously absent men (soldiers) to come home and breed with, it was propaganda to keep them like cows, docile
in reality, the countryside is cold lonely and very very smelly and urban people with any mental health problem always get more depressed if they move here
it's like a trailer park thing minus the trailer they're pushing, another form of slumming it
one prepper called homestead tessie lives this life for real and it's punishing work, they just want nubile (ew) blonde goopey looking women wearing very short mini dresses pretending they're farmers - it's extremely superficial
I was looking for this comment. I grew up in the suburbs, but I was always kind of aware in the back of my mind that some of the things I'd heard about rural living (difficulties getting amenities if shops are far away, being more exposed to extreme weather events, fewer available jobs, rural poverty in some areas) weren't really talked about in these videos? Like I'm not saying they would be moving to a war zone or anything, but surely there must have been some difficulties in the transition from a big city to the middle of nowhere. I certainly know I'd make a terrible farmer and not know what the hell I was doing. But that would ruin the aesthetic videos I guess?
Didn't grow up in the country but I've got enough family and friends who did. If you just want to live in a cottage but maybe make supply runs to wal-mart in town twice a month that is one thing. But being an actual cottager really is something else. Most of the people who daydream about this kind of life don't have the skills to do so. They've never chopped wood in 90 degree heat or nigh freezing cold. They've never tilled a patch of ground and planted seeds. Than had to spend 3+ hours weeding and watering it everyday. It's a lot of hard labor. Especially if you are trying to be self-sufficient. Not to mention that being way out in the boonies after a really bad snowstorm just fucking sucks. But I will say even knowing that cottagecore art is beautiful.
Another mountain middle-of-nowhere person, and I have to say, it's not that hard for me or other people who grew up with it, but for a person coming from a city, it's going to be murderous. Like in the winter, when you pretty much have to walk to the nearest shop through the snow because the car won't start, bonus points if you have to come down from the mountains and then drag yourself back up with all the food. You might also have to deal with frozen toilets and faucets, opening doors only to find a wall of snow, the moods of a woodfire, having like 3 months of warm, depending on where you are also swamps, underground water and collapsing mine ceilings, having to work your ass off to prepare for winter...
It's extremely beautiful, I'll admit that. And no, it doesn't smell, unless you live right next to a farm - and that smell is not all that much unpleasant anyway. But people should know about the issues too.
Alice is here to analyse every trend, and i'm here for this
Is Alice a trader?
Cottage core (in a general sense) by other names has been around for centuries. I came across books about the “pastoral” and “golden age” and “Arcadia” it’s an aesthetic/movement/philosophy/art style that seems to circulate every few generations (each has their differences but the general idea seems to be an idealistic life away from society and infused with nature/beauty/etc).
Yeah the Victorian Era had the Romantic Movement, which is basically cottagecore right now
I think it's paradoxal that many of these cottagecore youtubers make a living from technology and globalization. Also, they do it because they know that, if needed, they can go to the nearest city and get what they want. Some may have more video editing skills than farming or gardening.
exatamente!! isso que me deixa encabulada, eles romanticizam essa vida no interior, essa paisagem bucólica, mas eles sabem o que é viver de fato no interior?
@@isabelletenorio2911 Parece que nunca leram aquele livro de vestibular (A cidade e as serras)... Viver no interior raiz com a tecnologia da cidade é um ótimo combo! Hoje é bem mais fácil conseguir isso do que quando os portugueses escreveram esse livro chato, e não me parece paradoxal que alguém escolha montar esse combo.
Também não vejo problema com alguém viver no campo e ter como conseguir coisas na cidade. Na verdade, sempre foi assim! Lembro de minha mãe dizendo que minha tia avó a visitava de São Paulo uma vez por mês para trazer coisas que não conseguiam no interior.
Anyone who's worked on a farm, lived in the woods, or grew up in a rural area will tell you it's anything but romantic paradise. Especially if they were poor, old, disabled, or the area they lived in had a terrible climate. There also aren’t that many men in cottagecore. Probably because living on a farm or in the woods for men means non stop work. According to these influencers, cottagecore women get to lay around baking and picking flowers. Meanwhile, cottagecore men get to work in the fields, hunt, feed the animals, and collect wood all day everyday. Not a very fair lifestyle.
It's not paradoxical unless they are claiming to live a 100% traditional. The awesome thing about modern day is that we can get the best of both worlds and live somewhere rural while using the internet to connect with others.
There are plenty of real farmers that market their farms online. There are even Mennonite youtubers.
@@janicefinch3563 exactly! Some people seem to have a hard time understanding that wanting to live a simpler life doesn't mean having to completly isolate yourself form the society we live in.
my favorite thing about cottagecore youtubers is when they inevitably make the "how I afford this lifestyle" video and when you open it the answer is always "privilege"
YES 😭
Yup, it's almost always something like, we had a million dollar house we sold and we live off the interest or something like that. :S
Well, not really. For example, Paola (cottagefairy) work as a teacher where she lives. So it is not always privilege that goes behind that way of living. She left the big city where she worked very hard to work on another place where she feels happier and closer to nature. She says it herself that as an artist she enjoys romanticizing her videos but they are not an accurate representation of what she does on a daily basis. Not that she doesn't do those things but not every day, she also has to work on her job. Her videos are an art work also 😊
Anyone who's worked on a farm, lived in the woods, or grew up in a rural area will tell you it's anything but romantic paradise. Especially if they were poor, old, disabled, or the area they lived in had a terrible climate. There also aren’t that many men in cottagecore. Probably because living on a farm or in the woods for men means non stop work. According to these influencers, cottagecore women get to lay around baking and picking flowers. Meanwhile, cottagecore men get to work in the fields, hunt, feed the animals, and collect wood all day everyday. Not a very fair lifestyle.
@@criticalthinkingconcubus hello! I know it is not a paradise. My grandparents live in rural Portugal and trust me, I know what poverty is.:( Specially on a place like that, where it is dry and rocky and not very fertile. But my point is that this girl is not living of the land. Just because someone is living on a cottage and close to nature doesn't mean that they need to live of the land. This girl found a way to live her dream and I think that is great! We don't all need to live in big cities and it's good that people are showing other ways of living in the modern world. And it is a bit harsh to judge them all so harshly and call it all privilege without even knowing the circustances. And assume they all live like in the old days, thankfully for them they don't:p I think it is great that people are mixing the modern world with nature, a calmer life and trying to live more sustainable. I live in Lisbon now but if I ever get a job that allows me to do it, I would love to move to a quieter place.
A bit late to show, but something about allot of those tweets that really make my stomach turn is how they claim scandinavian culture (Which since I am danish is my cultural heritage) for their white nationalism. I have heard of people doing that in both denmark, Norway and Sweeden before too, but it bugs me extra when its americans. There are many aspects of pre christian scandinavian culture I am proud of and I do love and have always loved Nordic mythology and the Nordic folk tale, and the fact that something i really love is getting appropriated by Neo Nazis and alt right, white supremacy is breaking my heart.
I'm really thinking about digging a bit more into that topic!
TLDR; My aesthetic does not explain my beliefs about anything, do NOT put labels on me based on how I dress/where I live
Yeah, I'm Swedish with Swedish-speaking Finnish heritage and those summers with my nan's family in the Turku archipelago, and the winters in my other grandma's hometown up north in Sweden are both great! I am so so grateful for having those things because living in beautiful landscapes is such a gift. I am really considering moving farther north both because the houses are so much cheaper (and prettier, and you don't have, like, any neighbours) and because you get so much more nature just, everywhere. Also, full disclosure, I hate wearing trousers. Last time I wore a pair of jeans I was 13 or something. Trousers give me anxiety about my body and they feel so claustrophobic, it's not a political statement or whatever it's really just about what I'm comfortable with. I am also one heck of a romantic (as in I love the Brontës and Thomas Hardy and Thomas Cole and all that). This means that cottagecore is absolutely right up my alley, it also means that, as a woman, there are so many kinds of people who just assume things about me or put labels on me just because. I am soooo tired of people assuming I'm politically to the right, or anti-feminism or religious as flip or classist/racist/homophobic just because of how I dress and where I want to live. Worst of all are the people who (either because of their own bigotry and shallowness or because of the bigotry and shallowness they apply to me) just think that I am completely ignorant of anything and everything. Like??? You can dress in a certain way and live in a certain place and still read the news? My boyfriend really doesn't believe you can have good internet access in any kind of rural areas and??? I would absolutely love to live a 19th century-like life (with the internet, indoor plumbing, and modern medicine, absolutely without the racism, misogyny, and forced religion) but that does not mean I want to be completely self-sufficient (because that is HARD) or embrace the 19th-century beliefs of "being gay is a sin" or "women shouldn't talk" or "immigration is bad" or, like, general racism/orientalism/islamophobia/anti-semitism. Urgh! Rant over, thank you for your time.
My father was Swedish and my mother's parents from Norway. I believe 100% in Nordic-style Democratic Socialism, so the "small government" label doesn't really fit me. Like you, I enjoy Nordic culture and folklore, but I utterly reject that that culture is superior to other cultures, and I despise White Supremacy and White Nationalism. That those movements and the people in them (many of whom can't even claim that as their heritage) have co-opted the symbols and stories of my ancestors makes my blood boil. They poison everything they touch.
Time to stop loving things lmao
@@turtleboy1188 that's not what it's about, like whatever you like that's really great, go you! What reallygets to me, personally, is more about how you use and appropriate those things
I have a complicated relationship with cottagecore because I was raised in a very conservative fundamentalist Christian environment where I was expected to fill a mothering role, even as a child. I was, however, in a very chaotic family structure in a rich family where buying things was used as a patch for neglect. We rarely did simple things like making food from scratch or mending clothes. Instead, we just went to McDonald’s and Forever 21. Hand crafts became extremely important to me as a creative outlet and I felt very in control and very good when I could make homemade bread or hats for my family.
Now, I’m trying to break out of the box of being, basically, a domestic servant, but I still very much enjoy those time consuming domestic tasks like baking bread and horticulture and embroidery. I’m crocheting a baby blanket as I watch this video. I just really like the idea of a person-centered life with a simple, carefully crafted environment and a slow pace of living. But also I will never be a trad wife. No. I’ll make skirts for my trans spouse thank you very much.
The second part made me smile.
I think you are finding a good balance between rejecting the oppressive fundamentalist nature of your childhood while not giving up a part of yourself.
Sometimes, when we want to reject something we dislike, we veer into the other extreme. Example: Not wearing pink even though it's actually a nice colour, just because pink is associated with enforced femininity.
But we can only be truly free when we make our peace with something even though it might have been coopted by people we don't want to be like.
Not sure whether I'm making any sense. ^ ^
Anyway, as a fellow textile/fiber crafter I wish you much success with all your crafty endeavors. :)
@@johannageisel5390 aww thank you. Your kind words made me smile at the end of a hard day :)
@@megantaylor2871 Glad to hear that. :) Enjoy your evening!
I’m a 17 year old south East Asian male - I don’t think I really fit into your target audience but I find your channel so interesting. Honestly the number of trends out there has had me so confused for so very long and it’s nice to see someone break it down very slowly. Love this channel, and I hope you don’t mind me sticking around!
The first thing I thought of when cottage style got big was Japanese Mori style, it looks the same to me. Mori was very popular around 2010 and earlier.
Mori Kei was my introduction to cottagecore! They compliment each other very well.
Mori Girl aesthetic was my jam back in the day 🍀 Huge fan of Aoi Yu
It's funny how I've always been reposting cottage core content on Tumblr back in the days (aka during the last decade since Tumblr's pretty much dead nowadays) but I'd never been fully aware of this term until later. I guess I just enjoyed looking at nature pictures and images of this innocent blooming life because that's what it kinda resembles for me personally. I've also always felt this personal connection to this type of content since I've grown up in rather rural areas and cottage core stuff therefore reminds me of my home and my childhood. It's pure nostalgia and happiness to me, with a sense of endless summers and liberating happiness. Keep up the good work! I appreciate your videos.
Pretty nice to see The Cottage Fairy featured in this video. She is one of the people you could identify as someone living a cottagecore lifestyle, but who doesn't really label herself as such while being fully transparent with all the benefits and challenges that may come with such lifestyle. Also me being a male, it sometimes felt weird and exclusive when looking at things related to cottagecore cause if not all, most of the content are you said, female. So to any brothers who may read this, try to go beyond the fact that is always portrayed by woman and see the values and ups and downs of this lifestyle if this is something you inspire to do. "Little House On The Prairie" is a fairly good example.
I just discover this channel a few minutes ago and I'm already addicted
Thank you so much 🥰
Same! Am binge watching after I put my kid to bed lol
Me too!
Got here because of Dark Academia, stayed because of you🤍
Same ✨
same
Wow, great thoughts and research!
I completely agree that asthetics like cottagecore, dark academia etc. can have the tendency to reproduce conservative, exclusive, privileged patterns and transport bad values.
By being aware of that and by knowing the background you can try to stand against that developpement. Also diversity is so important!
I simply love the asthetics - my motto is: historical asthetics not historical values (I'm dressing in a historical-ish-way with some cottagecore vibes). So I combine those amazing elements with my personal values: I see myself as a lesbian/feminist/minimalist/vegan and fight everyday for a better world, sometimes small in discussions, sometimes bigger in articles etc.
Well difficult to express all of that in english, it got a little messy - sorry :)
J'adore tes vidéos! Grüße aus Deutschland
Not messy at all! Merci for sharing your thoughts on all of this ☺️
The vintage community has: “Vintage Fashion not Vintage values.”
@@dessieangel1021 exactly :)
Cottage core is what got me interested in all the aesthetics, like the academia’s and much more, I didn’t exactly ever click with it but I liked the idea of it I suppose. Thank you for bringing so much light to the dark sides of these aesthetics’s. No one seems to talk about them and it’s slightly concerning. So thank you!
Anyone who's worked on a farm, lived in the woods, or grew up in a rural area will tell you it's anything but romantic paradise. Especially if they were poor, old, disabled, or the area they lived in had a terrible climate. There also aren’t that many men in cottagecore. Probably because living on a farm or in the woods for men means non stop work. According to these influencers, cottagecore women get to lay around baking and picking flowers. Meanwhile, cottagecore men get to work in the fields, hunt, feed the animals, and collect wood all day everyday. Not a very fair lifestyle.
Also I live on the countryside, eremit-style, but I basically only wear adidas, fleece and rubber boots.
I just stumbled upon cottage core the first time and instantly had old alcoholic farmers in rubber boots and moustaches in rural austria in mind :)
Since you mentioned Ghibli, I also want to mention similar movements in Japanese subcultures such as Natural Kei (1970s - pres) and Mori Kei (2006 - early 2010s). As far as I can tell, cottagecore is not derived from these, but I find it interesting to try to understand the reasons these almost identical aesthetics developed independent of eachother.
I'm a POC who enjoys the aesthetic as it gives me inspiration for writing. Also, growing up I had an abundance of books describing a fairy like places, usually surrounded by nature, places like the shire from the hobbit.
So cottagecore to me is really just an escape from a life filled with social anxiety .
That's what the aesthetic is, an escape. Its important to realise that living in rural areas is not always as pretty as it seems. Especially if you are poor or disabled.
I commute from Connecticut to NYC everyday for work. It’s a stressful life and more stress is caused by all the screens and technology and apps and social media that are always around me. So some months ago I decided to spend 3 days in a cabin in North Maine, without internet, and it was a life changing experience. I walked in the woods, I saw rivers, lakes, waterfalls and when I was in the cabin I read and wrote a lot. It seems that when you disconnect you gain so much time for yourself. I am not sure if I could do it for months but a few days really regenerate you.
This was such a good video, honestly so underrated. I think the thing with most aesthetics is that they're a mode of presentation, a way of appearing to the outside world and that makes them more easily corruptible.
That's how an aesthetic like cottagecore that's supposed to be about limiting consumption can lead to so much fast fashion or DA can claim to be about the pursuit of education but only feature one narrative. The right wing especially have this thing with co-opting leftist aesthetics (using the term more broadly here) like how in America, they somehow think left (always) means big govt and the right is about freedom & liberty even though imho that's a very leftist aesthetic like there's nothing at all free about free markets & white supremacy, leftism is about democracy and equality which are fundamentally more freeing for all, so I'm not even surprised about how trad wives and eco-fascists have co-opted this aesthetic too.
However the racial problems with cottagecore are a little more complex than just a matter of diversity and I noticed (understandably) that you didn't cover it so it might be worth (if you haven't already) linking to a poc who has already talked about it & giving them a platform.
Still, loved the video! Sorry for the mini-essay lol
Thank you for your comment, I totally agree with you! Yes I didn't cover issues of representation or the fact that it's very Eurocentric and sometimes reminiscent of colonialism, I solely focused on how it is "coopted" by traditionalist and the alt-right but yeah, it's a discussion we need to have :)
You're right, I'm a fan of cottagecore but I feel that lifestyle may be not be inclusive for all people in the world because it's Eurocentric. That's what I feel everytime I watched a cottagecore video. Because, I live in south east asia. With only two seasons, rainy and dry, it doesn't feel great to walk around. Well, maybe the rural people have get used to it, but, I know I don't! When I lived in rural area for a month (for a college assignment), I can tell the "cottagelife" in south east asia is no way the same like the cottagelife potrayed on the (Eurocentric) youtubers. No random flowers or berries available, and boy the weather is either extremely hot or rainy. Also, the rural people are poor... The forest is real forest where there are monkeys, snakes, (if lucky) elephants or tigers, so that's a whole different world.
@@Farah_fara im from south asia and i totally agree
@@Farah_fara I live in France, and here aswell, the cottagecore only show a romanticized life. Even if our countryside is probably far less poorer and far less dangerous than South East Asian one. A very big portion of the country side is endless wheat/corn field wich are not romantic at all. And they will never be sean on a cottagecore instagram.
I really do hope that cottagecore remains inclusive, fun, and just happy and freeing. It’s literally the only thing getting me through the pandemic and bringing me joy 😂
I discovered cottagecore by being a sapphic trans woman. also, I wanna flex on the state by raising a nuclear family in their romanticised aesthetic while making it relentlessly gay and leftist
🔥
yess!
What’s a nuclear familyv
@@makaelaischillin Its the core of a family, so parents and their children. I'd say that it's most often used to describe the "traditional" family with two (married) parents and one to three children - and at least in my country, germany, in a very heteronormative way. Did I explain it well?
PS: google or another search engine is your friend ;)
@@makaelaischillin nuclear family is the American 1950s stereotypical family of a husband that works& provides for the family, a wife that stays at home and two children (boy+girl) living a "traditional"/ conservative life in a suburban neighbourhood
Looooove this analysis! I’ve been super curious about the social implications of the cottage core, as a modern version of the romanticisation of the rural as you mentioned! This was extremely interesting to watch!! I discovered cottage core via sustainable living, as you also talked about! It evolved into a mindset of slow living, escaping the urban hustle and embracing nature as time went by. I really do hope this aesthetic remains a positive and inclusive one, especially for BIPOC. I can see how it can easily be whitewashed >
I think one issue with aesthetics that isn’t discussed enough is how a very specific version of one can get to be the ‘one true way’ to be (insert aesthetic here).
Wouldnt it be fascinating to see (at least without having to search and search) an Indian take on Dark Academia? Or Latinx Cottagecore? Masc Light Academia?
Oh yes please!!!
Turkish cottagecore right here
@@EmmaLemmon Make a video, please! :D
@@johannageisel5390 Haha no I think I'm way too introverted for that
@@EmmaLemmon Aw. :(
I would like to know how you combine turkish fashion and culture with cottagecore (if that's what you do).
I really enjoyed the video breakdown! It's interesting to see where something. as harmless as cottagecore trends can take us. Though, as an animation industry worker, I'd probably like to point out that Hayao Miyazaki's Ghibli films tend to get mixed up in the aesthetics of it purely only for the aesthetics, not principle wise at all imo. Miyazaki himself has always been an advocate for simple living, long before cottage core was a thing (i.e Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke being the pioneer work of his talking about environment and how we as humans treat it was created long before 2010s.). He's much more an environmentalist than anything remotely close to cottage living lifestyle. Miyazaki grew up in rural countryside Japan and perhaps that reflects heavily in how he writes and animates his creations. While Ghibli films are often materials that the general masses use to amplify the romanticisation of cottagecore living, it isn't something that Miyazaki had wanted to perpetuate at all. That, i think is solely on the fans' prorogation , imo. but love the video!
I used to work at a bookshop with TheCottageFairy. Brings back memories to see her mentioned in this video.
Aww that's so cool !
.
Maybe there is some masculine approach to Cottagecore trough "The lumberjack lifestyle": beards, jeans, rustic life.
It's called being Mountain Men.
I noticed a lot of this in marketing in the 90's. U did bring up some really great points.
I love cottage core! As somebody who primarily works with technology in my day job, it’s nice to have an escape. Unfortunately, my farming attempts haven’t gone too well this year! Hoping to try again in the spring! 💜
Something somewhat related to the last point about ethnic nationalists and cottagecore: nationalism, and even the modern understanding of what a nation is itself, first took shape in close association with romanticism (from what I understand, it's the consensus among scholars that the first proper expressions of nationalism are to be found in two German philosophers, Herder and Fichte)--so, from the beginning, with romanticism and its reverence for Nature, etc., a love of the rural and rustic have been joined with nationalism. Some further examples I can't think of a way to organise properly: an interest during the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Scottish ballads, which were seen as expressions of humanity's creative impulse untainted by the artificial manners of overcivilised peoples (which at that time more or less meant the French), the notion of a 'National Poet', an increased appreciation for the study of history and above all rural traditions (the fairy tales of the Grimm brothers were compiled at this time), etc.--all in reaction to les Lumières, well summarised in Wordsworth's line "we murder to dissect." Also, nota bene, nationalism then didn't really entail thinking one's country was superior to others in any way--it might even be seen as a reaction against Enlightenment philosophers who had a tendency to look upon non-Greek-Roman-Chinese-and-Modern-European peoples as less civilised and therefore less human. Sorry if incoherent, rush.
Yes! You made such a good point !
I've spent my life in city's central - now living the cottage life - I miss the city esp after isolating this year. I miss biking everywhere, walking to have coffee etc.
Cottage life can be freaky expensive and requires cars.
On the other hand - after living in a tent while building our house by hand, I have a real relationship with nature that I never had before.
In my case - I'll likely Airbnb or sell this place in the long run and return to human company.
Meanwhile, I'm becoming an amazing gardener. But I'd prefer an urban architectural and CO-HOUSING solution that allows me to garden and bike to my friend's houses.
Warmest regards
Jennie
It is just a style, not an actual lifestyle to be encouraged.
There is beauty and value in all past styles too, and it is natural and good to embrace that beauty.
Alice ! you are the voice I have been looking for on youtube! im learning french so im super exited that u are french. your content is incredibly interesting and uniqe. i love it. subscribed.
Aww thank you so much 😭😊
Merci pour cette vidéo :) I hadn't thought much about the political aspect of cottagecore to be honest! I mostly hear of it in context to lgbtq+ people, since many avidly reject capitalism and such. I've also associated it with the aesthetics of Studio Ghibli, which is interesting since a few of their movies have been inspired by western European architecture and clothing... I wish there were more representation of non-Western cottagecore. It's something I'll be on the lookout for in the future.
Oh now I wish I remember the name! There is a Japanese clothing style and lifestyle that has the same focus as cottagecore, and I know of at least one Chinese youtuber who makes videos of her building a bamboo house, harvesting vegetables, cooking and baking from scratch, raising animals, weaving cloth and sewing clothes etc etc. :)
@@AnnekeOosterink Do you mean Mori?
@@johannageisel5390 Possibly, I've not read up on it, just saw it in passing.
@@AnnekeOosterink liziqi ?
I grew up in the mountains sandwiched between the endless forests and a lot of wetland, so for me this is not an aesthetic. And let me tell you...
It's not for everyone. It's beautiful, but it's hard, and you need at least basic skills with an axe, pickaxe and a hammer to survive, even if you decide to buy your stuff. You need to be able to deal with being without water and be able to do a lot of walking over the hills.
And if you do it in continental Europe, especially the east, you also have to be ready for the culture.
Basically, do it if it makes you happy, just be careful about the side effects
Fascinating take on cottagecore. Thanks for your deep dive. I got into cottage core simply because my love of nature and sustainability. It is the overall coziness of the aesthetic that I love.
Cottagecore is fascinating to me because a lot of my family lives like this, but mostly not by their own choice and they are fighting to get out of it because they are isolated, lonely and struggle financially...it is hard to find qualoty education and work opportunities is such places...but hey, the aesthetic is nice, who wouldn't want to live like a fairy godmother in a magical forest....
When I began creating my own wardrobe in the 70's it was very much like what is now called cottagecore. But back then it was called "What on earth?", "You're strange", and "Honey that looks like something your granny would've worn" 😂 I still dress this way. It makes me happy, and I'm so pleased to see the next generation enjoying it.
I'm starting to absolutely fall in love with this channel. I think I'm addicted to video essays
Will you talk about French fashion and it’s history?
Yes yes yes! I would like to film that in Paris and do a good, innovative analysis, something that hasn't been done yet but yes it will come eventually, I promise ☺️ Thanks for the recommendation!
Being Scandinavian - I'm frustrated how our past/culture are hi-jacked by such eco-facists.
Can u elaborate?
@@nicolefriedman3007 A lot of pre-christian traditions and cultural history (vikings, norse mythology, midsummer, the futhrak etc) are commonly misappropriated by the white nationalist movement , because they view it as pure white culture without any “foreign” influences. This isn’t really a new phenomenon, as many N*zi politicians and political theorists such as Alfred Rosenberg fetishized and saw Nordic culture in the same way.
As a black girl in Europe who's always been really interested in finnoscandia I straight up screamed near the end of the video...
@@sbakst Thank you for elaborating on my behalf. Was on vacation and didn't check youtube :)
Tiberh
I am really glad that I have come across your videos! Wonderful, wonderful contents! As a new sociology + cultural anthropology student, it is so interesting to see how these aesthetic trends could reflect deeper social problems/issues/history in society. And I really think that the points you've made in this video are the answers to why I am always, sort of, found cottagecore a little bit disturbing 😅 (even though it's my favourite aesthetic). As a boy who lives in Malaysia, perhaps, the feelings of cosiness/nostalgia + rural lifestyle that I have always seen in the earlier Disney cartoons/movies, are what made me fell in love with cottagecore in the first place. Thanks for making this video! Now I will binge-watching the rest of them~! ❤
The thing I really like about your videos is how you deliver the essays like they aren’t scripted. It feels very conversational and non-confrontational. More, please!!!!
Cottagecore is not a rejection of modern life. I mean they're using social media to broadcast the aesthetic!
ah its the usual. narcissism. infantilised adults playing house
My thoughts exactly. It's like saying you're a private person/you kind your own business then announcing that instead of just... doing it. Truly anti-modern behaviour wouldn't even be known by "everyone else" (not for a long time anyway) if it wasn't announced everywhere and used to make money (by being an influencer of that lifestyle for example).
Isn't this argument similar to 'socialists using capitalist Apple iPhone to tweet out their support for socialism' argument?
Not every 'cottagecore' person wants to live on a farm
Ya to me it's in the woods wit magic and fairies not farm
Me & my husband left the city before covid & bought a 19th century cottage in rural Shropshire. Our modern furniture did not suit our new home so we got rid of everything & hit the multiple charity shops in the area & filled our home with beautiful cheap furniture etc. We’d left our jobs so money was tight. Everything we have now is vintage & antique, including country clothing (charity shops) and because we’re so far from the nearest shops I’ve learned to bake & grow vegetables. It leads you into that lifestyle & it is the best thing we have ever done. Its still a struggle at times, but I would never go back to modern living. We were never this happy & we’re in our 38th year together.
Love your commentary and channel. You really make a good point again in this video. But I have to disagree with you about one thing:
In most cases cottage life isn't necessarily more sustainable.
In a city (at least in European cities) you have everything you need in daily life relatively near - like school, your workplace, stores, your friends, hobbies, etc - so you can walk, take your bike, public transport or just a short car ride. In the countryside you have to use your car for nearly everything. What's also not very sustainable is the huge amount of land that is needed for detached houses in the countryside - land sealing is a huge problem for the environment. Apartments are simply more sustainable since they waste less land.
So, apart from people who really want to live off grid and fully support themselves through farming, I think the current trend towards country life it's really just about the aesthetics and another form of consumerism.
You’re right that living the cottage core life involves a LOT of privilege. There’s class privilege, in being able to give up your life and try something completely different- the people who do this usually have a safety net to fall back on if it doesn’t work out.
But for me, I see the able bodied privilege. I could never live the cottage core lifestyle, because I am too disabled to garden and cook. I can hand sew, which is nice, but that won’t keep me well enough to survive.
And that is not something I see talked about by those who try to bring more people in to the lifestyle. Which is a pity, because a more communal cottage core lifestyle is something that I could take part in. I can sew and mend for people, in exchange for food and other assistance. And this is a direction I’d like to see it move in, a more inclusive direction, one that is less individualistic, and therefore requires less privilege.
And hey, I’m pretty sure that a communal lifestyle, where people barter (ie moneyless), where things are provided on the basis of need, where people contribute what they can, where class doesn’t exist, and people are able to govern their own little community based on what that community needs (with the possibility of working together with other communities to provide for larger needs), I’m pretty sure there’s a word for that. A word that emphasises that communalism, the community. It’s on the tip of my tongue...
Hmmmm....
I'm really sorry, I really don't know what you're referring to ahaha 😂😂😂
anarcho-communism? 👁️👁️
Alexandria! (the Walking Dead :)
A commune. There are some near where I live, but all are religious.
@@lightningbug3189 close, but not quite. My word is Communism. As in, a redo of the entire system, but people tend to be very scared of that word. I wouldn’t mind living In an accessible, secular commune though.
I don't have a problem with gay people posting on social media, it is totally within their right to do that, however I don't like how it is portrayed that cottagecore is a gay lifesyle, like straight people can do cottagecore too. And I don't like how you're saying that being a traditional wife is a bad thing, what's wrong with living off the land, raising kids, and staying at home?
No answer. If you want to declare yourself a dog and be led around on a leash they're all "let your freak flag fly!" But if you want to be traditional it's: "No not like that!"
I’ve literally just watched all of your videos and I really love all of them, your opinion is very interesting and I agree to the fact that these aesthetics look good but shouldn’t be politicised ... It’s a little bit annoying how the way people dress has to deal with who or how they vote, or even how they act, yes dressing up can showcase your personality but it doesn’t go in direct correlation to who you are... The same thing with dark academia and this, romanticising these ways of living is not positive for society in any way... yet people keep doing it by forgetting why were people living these lifestyles in the first place and why they’ve stopped. Drinking coffee off vintage mugs or running in flower fields is not a personality trait!
Thank you very much for this, it was good food for thought! I’ll be waiting for the next videos xx
I'm honestly so grateful that I found your channel. It has been so enlightening
What's with some of you people?? Just because some people choose to embrace and explore certain traditional aesthetics doesn't make them survivalists, white supremacists, or believe women should be property.
Rural folk art has been around for a while. I love it when Millennials and Zoomers rediscover vintage and traditional culture. One can pick and choose. One can embrace that stuff and still be welcoming and inclusive to people of all backgrounds, and believe women should be free to choose whatever path in life they wish to.
I've lived in semi-rural areas for short period of time. While there can certainly are a lack of social life outlets for those who are single, its not survival mode. Most people who live in rural areas just commute to a job, and at the closest they have to a farm is a large garden and a lot of pets that they take care of on the side. And while the nearest grocery store being a half hour away is certainly something to get used to. Its not going to kill you. Obviously some have made an attempt to be a serious farmer, and yeah that can be exhausting work, but most don't. Most just commute into town for a job.
Here's the thing. I think we can incorporate aspects of cottage core into our daily lives, even if we don't own a cottage or live in the country.
so as a kid I always wanted to live in a cottage and grow my own food and bask in nature and so coming into 2020 and that being given a label I could go to one place and find other people that have the same dream as I was really refreshing. Unfortunately, I found out really quick the space wasn't very inclusive of people that looked like me but I eventually found other black and BIPOC creators trying to make the space more inclusive and that gave me hope I could still enjoy my method of escapism.
If you have a Facebook there’s a great group I’m in called 🌺 Multicultural Cottagecore 🌺 it a very inclusive group that focuses less on Eurocentric cottagecore.
Your channel is very underrated and so necessary at the same time; I've only just discovered you and your thorough analyses of online communities and, in my opinion, they're very much on point ;) As for cottagecore, I suppose I stumbled upon it through the cottagefairy and only because she relaxes me with her imagery and soothing voice. She provides the online space with oneiric and gentle ideas about identity and living intentionally. However, I'm very much aware that that kind of life is out of reach for most people, since you do need a sustainable and maybe even privileged financial situation or an incredibly strong will power; and as I grow older I'm led to believe less in the latter. Could it be sour grapes? Perhaps. But I still believe that there are so many fantasies that we are feeding other people and ourselves with and it's simply delusional and perhaps even dangerous. Cut the perhaps.
I wanna design my future home in a mix of cottagecore and dark academia aesthetic, i love living sustainable but because im a pretty two sided person (not meaning two faced just things that normally throw each other out ig) i plan on living this lifestyle in the city, ill live it out at home but have a more modern lifestyle outside because for me this aesthetic is something to run too and calm down when i get overwhelmed, its really calming
Alice, you should do a video about Norwegian Black Metal. The points you made about ecofascism are also embodied in NBM. I know it's not a trendy theme anymore, but it is similar to the cottagecore trend since it has all the aesthetic elements which are politicized.
Thanks for the perspective. I'm just checking out cottagecore for home ideas as I like the idea of using vintage items we have already and tying them together in a vibe. Having lived in a wooden caravan, The cottagecore decor can be impractical eg lots of dust / dirt catchers. Modern and mid century modern is a lot easier to maintain. But you can use colour and pattern to soften it.
I guess cottagecore can be good if it's about time in nature, using vintage clothes and decor and green living (eg avoid toxic chemicals and buying things you dont need). The far right seem to latch onto almost anything but I suppose there is a definite tendency for the right to try and stake a claim to the countryside.
I've always loved the aesthetic (probably because I lived with my grandma and she had a very romantic styled house) but I discovered the tag through looking at Otome Kei cords! Otome Kei literally translates to Maiden Style from Japanese and is like a combo of cottagecore and dark academia styles.
We lived with the Amish mennonites in Ireland for some years, also had a homestead and homeschooled our 5 daughters. This cottagecore idea is new to me, is it a living history or reenactment that longs to reconnect to the best of the past, those things that give us continuity and connection?
Living frugally in multigenerational homesteads with neighbours who broadly reflect your world view and values used to be the default position of most human beings. Oh, that and belief in God which underpinned the stability of community. Sunday worship, moral norms , festivals and yes modest clothing.
Enjoyed your video!
For me cottage core is serval things: firstly its an escapism to a time in my life where i still lived with my mum and we had a garden where we spend a lot of time. (She died when i was a young boy) we did live rather poor and in a small village and i do not miss the financial struggel at all. Im still kind of in that position since im a student, but i climbed a big step on the educational latter compared to my parents and as a soon to be teacher in Germany, ill definitely have some financial stability. So cottage core kinda reminds me of my mum, the gardening and the most beautiful moments of my childhood.
But cottage core also is something i enjoy, as a imaginary escapism from capitalism and climate change... Which are both two things that mentally drain me (and probably a lot of other people as well)
Cottage core also reflects the wish of mine to cut out certain technology out of my life. As an older Gen Z, i might not have always lived with internet, a phone or computer but it definitely had an big impact on me and i realise that i struggle with my consumption and wish to live more in the moment.
The last (smaller) aspects for my interest in cottagecore is my general interest in biology, gardening, cooking, sustainability and vintage clothes.
Im aware that most of this is just a longing for an idealised life and is actually unaffordable/impossible for the majority of people and/or is absolutel hard work (e.g. the idea of actually growing all of your own food)
But i like the idea of implementing a few thing in my life that fit in that theme, that bring me joy (e.g. making noodles from scratch) or eventually having a small garden (even if its just on a balcony or window sill)
The perfect cottagecore life is not achievable for the majority of people, however, if it brings you joy and you can easily implement it into your existing life, then there is no shame in getting that flower dress or going to the woods every other weekend. 😊
I was nodding along the entire time you were speaking. Your points are so insightful and I really liked your analysis.
I think the whole point of fighting for women to be able to work is to give them the choice. I see a lot of people bash stay at home moms and having grown up with one who chose to stay home and later chose to go back to work, I feel a little defensive of them sometimes 😅. But I think the tradwife movement is doing it wrong if they're not teaching their young daughters that they CHOSE to stay home and that their daughters can make that choice themselves and are encouraged to at least be educated. And if they're constantly trying to please their husbands they are ABSOLUTELY doing it wrong. It's pretty gross that they're using cottagecore to lure people to that way of thinking.
My husband's love of the Folklore album led me to realize his personal aesthetic is gnomecore.
one of the most important books to read on this subject is Raymond Williams' *The City and the Country.* Gives a Marxian analysis of the origin of the very concept of "the country" in the emerging relations of mutual economic dependence between the city and the country as the industiral revolution got going.
That's something I'm adding to my to read list, thank you 😊
Cottagecore is, in a way, rich people pretending to be poor
I have a bit of a complicated relationship with cottagecore. On one hand, I like the aesthetic and I want to fully embrace it, but on the other hand, seeing cottagecore depicted online (instagram mostly), really makes me roll my eyes at it. I am female, white, almost 30; I own a small business (I make and sell fantasy gowns and corsets for a living), part of the LGBT community and I live in Europe. I don't live in the fancy bit of the Europe that gets Dark Academia's panties wet, but in the ex communist area which is less glamorous but also highly gentrified and almost cut throat expensive.
Since I was a young teenager I noticed the cities in my country getting more and more crowded and more and more expensive. You have to be in debt for 30 years and tied to a job you hate in order to afford a tiny 1 bedroom apartment.
I knew since I was 16 that city life isn't for me. My needs and wants aren't urban at all, especially nowadays when I can order anything I need from books to fabrics and building tools online. So it has been my one goal and dream since I finished high school to own a big plot of land next to a forest and have a tiny house or cottage on that land, with farm animals and all that. And I have actually been making a lot of progress on that front. I am saving up, I am studying everything pertaining to my desired lifestyle, I moved from my big city to a smaller one, I found a way to go and tend chicken for a summer to see if I can do it (I can), I raised rabbits, I lived without running water or a toilet for a few weeks...
What I mean to say is that this thing, this lifestyle that the younglings transformed into an aesthetic is my desired lifestyle and future plan. And the glamorization really bothers me. You see these beautiful girls with long flowy hair and pristine dresses holding a baby lamb, or walking in a field and you think it's cute, but it's so hard. You can't do formwork in a pretty white dress with your hair perfectly coiffed. I mean I suppose you can try, but you will hate it.
You can't just take a lamb and take a photo of it in your arms. I know because I tried. It's a living animal. I won't want to sit for photos, or it will want to eat your hair/ dress. It will get your pretty dress dirty with mud. Or it will cry and scream for its mom. And if you are not careful, the lamb's mom will hit you with her head! You can't look at a few minutes of video compilations on RUclips/ Tik tok or at painstakingly staged photos on instagram and decide you want "that" to be your life. This cottagecore aesthetic is a fairytale, a glamorized snapshot of a lifestyle full of hard work, of too much or too little rain, too much or too little sun, of animals that get sick and a myriad o other issues. It is hard work, just as working in an office can be hard work. Just as being a model for a living can be hard work, or being a person who tests video games. Just because something is glamorized, and it looks desirable and cute from the surface it doesn't mean that it doesn't have its hardships and challenges.
And as you said in this video, this aesthetic and narrative can be used as a front for shady people to sell their shady ideas to others. But as I tried to detail in my comment, it can also be used to downplay country life, and make gullible young people to want to quit their jobs to move in a remote cottage while they are unprepared for the realities of doing such a thing.
Yeah, it's hard to de-worm cattle in a frilly dress.
I live this way and even though I talk about how hard it is in many videos, many people just see the pretty things and think that’s all it is. One thing I find annoying is how many of these young women always wear light coloured thin dresses which is the most unrealistic thing. When you’re exposed to the elements like you are in the countryside thick thight or jeans are your best friend, and light colours are not because you get dirty the minute you are outside (or maybe that’s just because I have kids). Idk, people project a lot of traditional values on me, so it’ll be interesting when I start talking about how I’m actually and anarchist who wants to see the state destroyed and the commons restored. Will lose a large part of my audience that way though.
My grandparents are hippie homesteaders, which is like functional over fashionable cottage core.
I've always been cottagecore, but putting a name on the aestheticism I subscribe to has been nice... With the exception of my evangelical coworkers who see my modest dress, thrifty lifestyle and my love of housekeeping as being a godly housewife. I hate how the beautiful aesthetic has been used to lure in those looking for a simple life to look at figures who promote hate and shame towards others because one isn't Christian/white/cis. I really hope the future of the growing movement begins to be based more in love of others, the planet, and continues to promote an eco conscious lifestyle
Ah, one of things of The Tradwife: "Her husband works to support her staying at home and raising the kids". Yeah, because late stage capitalism allows for most men to have wage which supports whole family, sure...
Lmao even with both parents working half the time it still isn't enough.
Maybe its somewhat liberating that motherhood is seen as a job and respected that way by their partners (optimistic) and this way women don’t have the double burden of a full time job and a full time parenting, cleaning, caring for husband role.
@@natashafrazer3703 but my point was that it isn't affordable for most people in current situation. So this idea that traditional men simply allow his wife to be The Tradwife is just fantasy.
@@FlauFly The reason youre unable to do this is that female labour participation is government subsidized (as well as employer profits that come along with it) while the single working parent families are not.
I've been getting a lot of your videos recommended to me, and I am not complaining. excellent content.
i love how you affecting my critical thinking, all power to you Alice!
I discovered cottagecore on Facebook. I think in an art group, or plant group, or group suggestions. While the aesthetic doesn’t really reflect me (I’m a goth, I like black, blah blah) the life style called out my ‘inner child’. As a kid I wanted to be a witch, be close to nature, and learn a lot as well as create. Cottagecore or homesteading is as close as I could get to what was ideal and comfortable for my inner child. At the same time, I had also developed an awareness to Capitalism and Global issues. I want to get away from that bubble, and have more control of my life and anxieties. I want to live not survive.
I was obsessed with the show, Little Bear, as a kid, so that's honestly what I think of when I think of cottage core.
I do have dreams of moving out to the the hilly portion of my state with friends and having a small homestead. However, I am def a leftist and want it to be a cozy, accepting community. Ideally, I would like to be within biking distance of a town as well. Honestly, I'm just sick of the suburbs, and I miss living more out in nature.
I really liked cottage core but I think me liking it just went out the window..I like it because it’s like a escape from anxieties and it’s fun.. -p-
Thank you for this critique of the cottage life trend. After many stressful years in the software industry my husband and I live (can afford) a modest cottage life now. We grow nearly all our vegetables. As the soil is still in a neglected state this is really hard work, so no time for decorating cakes in summer. In winter heating with wood is work, too. I don´t wear flower dresses, I´m a feminist and this trend of idealising country and family life of older times makes me worrying about the future as in several countries nazi-like ideologies are rising.
I am glad that you brought up that Cottagecore did not have a whole lot of representation from minorities, and that there is very little representation in the Cottagecore aesthetic “scene” as well. But, after doing a google search I also noticed that there are none, that I could find, videos on the Cottagcore aesthetic when a couple or a person has one or more children.
I have a few ideas as to why this might be, not backed up by any research except a quick google on the web. So, I would like to hear you opinion.
What is really sad, is this is just trying to bring back what should have never been lost in the first place
4:05 - I know this isn't the main point of the video, but living in a cottage in the country doesn't necessarily lower your carbon footprint or make your lifestyle more sustainable. If you are most of your own food, then it certainly lowers those transport and manufacture parts of your footprint, but not everyone who lives the country does that.
Conversely, it can potentially hugely increase your fuel usage if you have to drive into town for everything you can't produce on your own (compared to if you lived in a city and could walk or take the metro to many stores), and keeping an individual house properly heated or cooled can be more energy intensive than when you share walls with other dwellings as in an apartment or row house.
In addition, the higher proportion of people that live in this highly distributed way, the more land you need for all those cottages - which can lead to habitat destruction.
Which is not to say that you CAN'T live a sustainable cottage life, of course - it just has to be properly thought out, and you have to actually be content staying at home and not traveling or using city amenities very much.
I'm so glad you brought up eco fascism because many people keep getting tricked into this
I'm not into cottagecore, actually we are in the process of moving into a more urban place.x) And I very much appreciate a big government. The wellfare state makes people content (Finland was chosen as the happiest country in the world). Also having a mortgage is no problem, it's just a form of paying to live somewhere. And living close to the services, cafes, museums, etc. tends to cost so much that most people don't have that kind of money on their bank accounts.
I love the old fashioned aesthetics though, so this trend has seemed quite interesting. And occasionally it's fun to rent a cabin with minimal conveniences. I'd just never want to live there permanently, or even own a cabin, because renting for a week or two is so easy, and lets us have the freedom (!) to travel abroad or do something else. And our neighbors are fine, many of them really nice people, and the community in our suburb is very active, so I wouldn't want to give up on that either. (Suburb in the Finnish context = apartment buildings and condominiums, immigrants mixed with native Finns, in general a more affordable place to live.)
I stumbled upon the cottage fairy recently and I love it because it's very relaxing to watch. I also started to feel the need of living in nature because of the pandemic...being around people is very anxiety provoking since covid, especially because there are a lot of them who refuse to wear masks :(
Ok, now I'll go and watch more of her videos :)
My boyfriend called my new Japanese style apron a “tradwife” apron and I was so offended 😂
This is such a cool breakdown, thanks for sharing! Glad it was in my recommended
Anyone who's worked on a farm, lived in the woods, or grew up in a rural area will tell you it's anything but romantic paradise. Especially if they were poor, old, disabled, had severe allergies, or the area they lived in had a terrible climate. There also aren’t that many men in cottagecore. Probably because living on a farm or in the woods for men means non stop work. According to these influencers, cottagecore women get to lay around baking and picking flowers. Meanwhile, cottagecore men get to work in the fields, hunt, feed the animals, and collect wood all day everyday. Not a very fair lifestyle.
escapism from my urban life, that is what cottagecore meant to me. it made me appreciate the scarce trees in my environment. it is like a hidden gem amongst living in a densely populated urban area. it’s a little treat for my soul. i currently can’t embrace myself in such a way of life, but let’s see if it could be realized in the future :)
also it is quite hurtful that these cottagecore influencers aren’t very truthful with the way they portray rural life, it isn’t fully sustainable and isn’t as romantic in real life.
Maybe I am misunderstanding. Should we want to be under big government? Whats wrong with not wanting government control and wanting to be able to live your life out in the woods doing your own thing. Maybe this is just an American thing but I just find it so strange to hear someone say that wanting to be free of government control is a bad thing. Especially when the person is just wanting to live in the woods. Or am I misunderstanding what she said?
They don't know why they're upset. They just want to be angry and try to break people down for not being just like them.
I guess I've been doing cottage core my whole life without even realising it I just learned the term a few days ago. I grew up in a farming hunting family community. My profile picture is from over 6 years ago. In the way I dressed hasn't changed since I was a child. I've always believed in fairies and have had a love of fairy tales and books and animals and wilderness and climbing trees. I know how to grow out the woods and pick out what's Edible and what's poisonous. And I have always related with those characters that fit in with this cottage core lifestyle. Like Anne of Green Gables. I've helped animals birth and have taken care of newborn calves and lambs. I have nursed chipmunks, baby birds, barn kittens, When I was a toddler I had a pet raven My mom nurse to health. And I used to teach fairy house building. I also used to build life size fairy houses out of bitter sweet vines. I never knew I never knew the way I lived my life in the core of my beingI never knew the way I lived my life in the core of my beingWas a thing until recently. I like the fraves cottage core. I always Perceived myself As some weird outsider no one can relate to and And now I'm finding There are people Who seemed to see the world in ways that I do. If anyone's into the MB TI personality types I am an INFP. I lack a lot of what is considered common sense I lack a lot of what is considered common sense But I can find an identify tracks in the woods.
Great video! I also think a big problem with cottagecore is the romantisation of the rural environment and lifestyle. I am queer and grew up in the Spanish countryside, and although it did give me a lot of peace and I wouldn’t change it for the city, there were many times I did not feel safe walking around. The leading ideology is right to far-right and seeing as lgbtq+ people are a big part of those who enjoy cottagecore, I feel like if they were to move to the countryside, it would not as great as the aesthetic paints it to be.
Tradwives and eco-fascists practice Tradcore. Cottagecore and Tradcore are mutually exclusive lifestyles and aesthetics and they should not be equated. Those in the Cottagecore sphere don’t have to worry about Nazis invading our space because they practice a different unrelated “core” entirely, one they made for themselves as not to be associated with our very leftist and gay Cottagecore. Are there Tradcore people who use the Cottagecore hashtag? Yes unfortunately, but it isn’t their aesthetic or lifestyle, they’re just trying to expand or radicalize their followers with misinformation.
However those of us who are also Germanic Recon Pagans do have to worry about Nazis hijacking our spaces and we work very hard at disposing them and their influence (I recommend Ocean Keltoi’s channel for more info on anti-fascist Germanic pagans).
I embraced Cottagecore as a way to heal my relationship with rural life. I was raised in a secluded rural Christian doomsday cult. We would go on “survival camps” where we’d spend a week or two in the wilderness (the cult leader’s satellite phone as our only means of worldly communication) and survive with our camping gear, and even though I nearly died at 9 years old from contaminated water, it did make me a more resourceful person in a fucked up kinda way. After my family left the cult when I was 13 we moved to a city and I resented rural life (and Christianity) as backwards.
Now I’m healing my traumas and learning to appreciate the countryside again, fall in love with it really. I see the love my mom and her parents had for the backbreaking work they did to keep up their farm. It’s hard to live out there AND be dirt poor, but to the right person, like my Oma, it’s the only way to live a good and meaningful life.
(I’m also studying Orthodox Christian theology in order to heal my relationship with a religion that scarred me so deeply, even tho I am a pagan and will not be converting.)
I get it, Cottagecore is just a cozy aesthetic for many people, and that is because Hygge is an essential aspect. I think it’s nice more people in the cities are learning about botany, foraging, and agriculture. As well as traditional crafts like textile weaving which have only recently been automated for the first time in the past 20,000+ years. We do need more diversity in the movement, it is very “generic white” currently. You don’t need a gingham blanket and western tea set with bunnies on it to go picnicking, enjoy using your own traditional pieces. Whether you’re Chinese or Syrian, your rural cultures aesthetic and cuisine is just as Cottagecore, don’t westernize it.
Ultimately, Cottagecore is *a romanticization and preservation of rural peoples and their culture as distinct and precious.* It should be inherently diverse in its expressions. Are you Korean? Ukrainian? Look at the rural life in your native country and there is your own unique Cottagecore inspiration. And don’t just make it an aesthetic, learn about that class of people, appreciate them, and use any privilege you have to help their quality of life. I think cottagecore and the decolonize movement can go hand-in-hand if they want to as well, if cottagecore followers become genuinely concerned with sustainability and the preservation of rural traditional life, which includes indigenous people *most especially.* There is still work to be done in that regard though, some followers who live on colonized land are still a bit homestead-colonial-y.
Thank you for coming to my TedTalk
I do a lot of the things cottagecore people are into--live in the country in an old house build in the 1700s, avid gardener with a 900 sq ft garden, grow most of my own veggies, I do a lot of canning and food preservation, am very into handcrafts like knitting and cross stitch, planted a starter orchard this spring, building chicken coops this summer to add a flock next year.. but honestly, cottagecore often really just makes me roll my eyes. It's so twee. It's like an entire aesthetic based on Marie Antoinette building a peasant village so she could cosplay being a farmer. It often has very, very little to do with actual rural life.
I love cottage core as a way To connect people to nature. And to connect people to people it should not represent racism and sexism. It should represent that fact that we are all equal and connected and what effects one effects us all.
I discovered cottagecore because someone described me as "cottagecore" and I didn't know what it meant. But when I looked it up it felt exactly like an extension of all the things I had been interested in since I was little, it was really nice to discover :)
Girl you are so f-g BRILLIANT! So glad you exist in this mess that is RUclips ❤️👏
In Germany there is a N*zi community who live "traditional". Like not pre-industrial but 1930s. In my own village is a family like that as well. I'm so incredibly sorry for the kids. Who knows what they're being taught, and that they're always just amongst ppl like them and just the fact that they need to look a certain way. The girls always two braids, long skirt. And they're driving around with some kind of Wehrmacht car.
Discovered cottage core with your video ! Interesting trend that illustrate the way the world reflects on itself.
Good analysis, I want to deep dive in this social trend now.
But I feel that people idialize the cottage and fram life as way more ecofriendly than living in a city, which might not be the case some times.
I feel that this trend shows how people would like things to be in order to have a sustainable lifestyle and avoid climate change... But it's more complicated than that and should'nt be to romanticize.
C'était super intéressant! Avec ma coloc' on s'envoie souvent des tweets de comptes cottagecore parce qu'on aime beaucoup l'esthétique et qu'on a envie d'une maison et d'un jardin. Quand le boulot devient trop pénible, on regarde le prix des maisons en Normandie, et on commente en disant "oh, là on pourrait vivre notre rêve cottagecore!" Mais c'est surtout pour le fun. Après, on a conscience aussi que c'est une vie un peu idéalisée. On avait vu passer un tweet qui disait quelque chose comme "tout le monde veut une vie cottagecore jusqu'à ce qu'il faille enfiler des bottes en caoutchouc et virer les limaces du jardin" et ma foi... x) Par contre, j'avais jamais fait le lien avec l'écofascisme, ton analyse est vraiment éclairante!
Wow! This video is very eye opening. I didn't realize there was a connection between cottagecore and racism. I decorate with a bit of cottagecore style because we inherited a couple of quilts and a few pieces of furniture from our parents and grandparents. We also have always enjoyed browsing in shops that sell vintage, second hand items. For us it's just an attractive way to decorate our home and save some money and help the environment by using second hand items.
That took a serious turn! I have never heard of ecofascists until now but of course a shade of evil is within every movement, the further into extremes it goes. That’s pretty wild though...