Gen-Z woman is revealing the peace in the “mundane” in an act of resistance against how social media has warped Australians’ perception of “normal”.
A perfectly-organised pantry, immaculate makeup and matching activewear — this is the type of life Ally Perdikaris told Yahoo Lifestyle that she is not buying into. Instead she’s embracing “normalcore”.
It’s easy to come off social media and think having these things are a “normal” way to live.
Every other post is either someone living a gorgeously aesthetic life or spruiking the product you need to achieve it for yourself.
Australians are spending roughly seven hours a day online, according to RedSearch research, and it makes it tricky to separate this ideal from our actual, everyday existence.
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The 28-year-old from Sydney started noticing with more of her friends and colleagues buying into online trends and seeing them as an essential part of life.
“It was the little things infiltrating,” she said.
“One day I went into work and heaps of people had a Labubu on their key chain and then there’s the fashion micro trends like the mesh shoes that everyone had to have for like a week.”
“People were going after work to get something and laughing they’d been ‘influenced.’
“I didn’t think it was normal to be spending money on this stuff but I was the one that stuck out.”
What is normal for Aussies?
It made Ally wonder if there were other people that felt like her.
So a year ago she started making her “normal core” videos talking about what her not particularly aesthetically-pleasing life looked like.
“I wanted to break up people’s feed a bit. Give people a reminder to get real,” she said.
Ally wants other Australians to know “it’s okay to live a normal life — most of us do”.
“I pack my lunch for work in a plastic tub, not a bento box, I don’t go for walks in cute sets of matching active wear, I buy coffee from the fish and chip shop because it’s cheaper than the cafe,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle.
“I love that social media allows you to curate how you present yourself to the world, but that also means we can get swept up in unrealistic versions of life.
I”t’s okay to wear old clothes and go for the cheaper food and coffee options.”
Ally said it’s normal to wear old clothes and opt for cheaper options instead of following trends. Picture: Ally Perdikaris
It all sounds very familiar for hundreds of her viewers and Ally said the majority of responses have been positive.
“Watching my videos I think people feel relieved,” she said.
“I’m showing them someone else who doesn’t do all this crazy stuff.
“I’m an influencer that’s not influencing them to do anything and I feel nice about that.”
Normal saves you cash
Ally has realised that being “normal” saves you a lot of money because (surprise!) social media is actually one big marketing machine sneakily designed to get you to spend your cash.
“Some of my popular videos are ones where I talk about how to under consume but really it’s just being normal and not buying lots of crap you see online,” the 29-year-old said.
Ally has revealed the more mundane parts of life to fight against overconsumption. Picture: Ally Perdikaris.
“You can re-use jars instead of buying all new ones from Kmart or rent a dress for a wedding instead of buying a new one.
“It’s stuff that I think people have forgotten or maybe never knew. It’s kind of common sense stuff.”
Normal is better for mental health
Ally also talked about her exercise routine in an attempt to normalise that sometimes doing nothing all week is realistic.
“People are at the gym all the time online,” she said.
“I just try to do some movement every day which might be walking to the station but I have a full time job and sometimes I don’t have time.”
Refreshingly she does not have full hair and makeup done in her videos, admitting she sometimes looks like a “dag”.
But that’s okay. Also normal.
Ally’s pantry isn’t perfectly organised and she’s okay with that. Picture: Ally Perdikaris
Who has time for contouring on a Tuesday when you’re working from home?
At a time when Aussie’s mental health is at an all time low and psychologists are seeing our increased time on social media as a contributing factor, normal core is exactly the wake up call needed.
A recent Headspace survey found
42 per cent of young people felt social media anxiety was largely causing their mental health decline.
It’s not hard to see why.
Constant exposure to trends — from beauty filters to productivity hacks — set unrealistic standards, leaving us feeling inadequate and overwhelmed.
Everyone else online seems to be able to find time and money to do these things, why not me?
And, if that’s the feeling when you get off social media, it might be time to add a bit of the normal core trend to your feed.
“People message me and say thank you, that they needed this,” Ally said.
“It makes me feel happier. It wasn’t the intention but it’s a good outcome.”
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