People Are Calling Out The "Beloved" 2000s Trends That Are Actually Weird, Confusing, Or Straight-Up Toxic, And It's 100,000% True

Yahoo

4 days ago

We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us the 2000s trends that were actually weird, confusing, or simply toxic, and they shared the once-loved fads that are now, well...concerning. Here are the eye-opening results:
1."Those stretchy popcorn shirts 😖. I had one as a kid, and it was both ugly and uncomfortable, so I never wore it."
—nathanvh
2."How wild the paparazzi and celebrity news media were. They were vicious, cruel, and did not care at all about how any of them felt. Some radio stations would have countdown clocks for minors turning legal. Asking teenagers their thoughts about sex or whether they were pregnant. Calling women fat for being a size 6."
—monikap6
3."Low-rise jeans. Gen Z is already trying to bring them back, but they don't realize that it's not just a matter of preference. For several years in the 2000s, you couldn't buy ANY kind of jeans besides low rise; that's practically all they sold."
"And if they were unflattering on your body type? Oh, boy, did people have cruel things to say about you."
—padawanryan
4."The pressure to be thin. I still struggle to this day with my body image because of what was slammed down my throat in my formative years. Thinking I had no value and no one would ever love me romantically if I didn't have a flat stomach was a lot."
—j458091739
5."One thing I don't miss is the cellphone salespeople. I remember playing 'Dodge the Cellphone Salesperson' when going to any shopping center. Any time I wanted to go to the food court or from any part of the shopping center to the other, I would get yelled at by the people at the cellphone kiosk. They would insult my intelligence by saying their phone was free."
"It was hard to just go to the food court without the annoying salespeople shouting at me. This was when people were just starting to have their own cellphones."
—troper
6."Fat-shaming. More specifically, shaming any woman who had the slightest bit of a tummy, whose ribs you couldn't see, etc. All of us millennial women have body dysmorphia from coming of age during the oughts (not that it's much better now)."
—Anonymous, 38, Oregon
"Body-shaming. It's always been an issue in Hollywood, but the 2000s were on a whole different level. I remember being a size 6 in high school and feeling like I needed to lose weight because *gasp* I wasn't a size 2, and I saw celebrities get shredded for being my size in the media. I've always been muscular with an hourglass figure, so even if I starved myself, I'd never have been a size 2. I'm a little curvier now as an adult (size 10), but still in shape, and I love my body. It hurts my heart when I look at photos of myself when I was younger, and I see a thin, beautiful girl who hated her body."
—minibubble32237
7."I don't miss those awful-looking PT Cruisers. Looks like someone tried to drive their sedan through the 1950s but got stuck in Bozo's driveway."
—colleend9
8."Freestyle rapping at high school house parties. Geez. You couldn't just kick it with the boys without someone suggesting, 'Let's freestyle.' The time I wasted trying to freestyle was stressful. Workaholics captures those moments pretty well."
—Anonymous, 42, California
9."Skinny jeans on everyone, even toddlers. They only looked good on particular body types, and trying to wrestle them off a kid who needed a diaper change was a nightmare."
—Anonymous, 46, New Jersey
10."I don't miss the time before being a nerd/individual, which was cool. In the early 2000s, 'fitting in' was still very much what was desirable. Irony didn't become trendy until, like, 2008. Before then, being blonde, straight, fashionable, and neurotypical was still considered ideal. I feel like these days, there's a bit more tolerance of different hobbies and styles than the more conformist days of the early '00s."
—Anonymous, 35, Nebraska
11."Super skinny eyebrows. I spent way too much time trying to make them as thin and crisp as possible."
—Anonymous, 40, Nevada
12."Not only was adult women's clothing all tight and low-rise, so was girls' and juniors' clothing. It was so uncomfortable to be pushed to dress in such a revealing way as a preteen and young teen. I just wanted to wear shorts and a T-shirt I could move in, but that required shopping in the boys' department, and obviously, that brought another set of problems. That and being so constrained to what was on trend."
"All stores carried different versions of the same thing. All low-rise to ultra-low-rise, cropped, and tight. Booooooo!"
—Anonymous, 36, Washington
13."Burberry. I saw Billie Eilish wearing it a few years ago, and it just reminded me of all the cheap knock-offs that were everywhere.
—katashworth
14."My mom always talks about how much she doesn't miss smokey eyes, orange tanning, or the hair extensions whenever the 2000s are brought up. Nothing pissed her more than the hair thing, though. EVERYONE was asking her if her naturally long hair was real, which was so annoying. She was never with the trend and never will be lol."
—Anonymous, USA
15."The 'Are you on your period?' joke that was used whenever someone was upset."
—Anonymous, 42, California
And finally...
16."Tanning beds. I did this a lot growing up in the '80s and worry a lot about cancer. It was really toxic, like, literally!"
—Anonymous, 57, Arizona
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
Whew. What are some other '00s trends that were actually awful? Tell us in the comments, or if you prefer to remain anonymous, you can use the form below.
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