What the “Cottagecore” Aesthetic Tells Us About Our Failing Mental Health
By: Janice Bae
Tags: Culture, Society, Mental Health, Psychology, Social Media

Photo by Bertrand Bouchez on Unsplash

What the “Cottagecore” Aesthetic Tells Us About Our Failing Mental Health

Online escapism is a big trend, but what are we really escaping from?

Imagine lush green fields dappled with wildflowers on an English countryside. Moss and vines creep up the walls of a rustic cottage seemingly secluded from the hustle and bustle of city life. Inside the cottage, a young maiden wearing gingham bakes sourdough bread while enjoying a cup of tea.

If this sounds like heaven to you, you’re not alone. The “cottagecore” aesthetic has gone viral on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Tumblr in 2020.

Participants of this subculture share content fetishizing a simpler way to live. Foraged berries, candlemaking, home baked pies, an almost Hans Christian Andersen-like fairy tale in the forest.

By _iamarmy__ on Instagram

And given what we’ve all been through this year, it’s no surprise people are enjoying daydreams of an idyllic countryside.

We’ve been stuck at home since March dwelling on a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. Urban centers seem like infection riddled hellscapes. We see news every other day about people acting up at grocery stores and assaulting essential workers. Those of us who are unemployed are freaking out about how we’re going to live up to seemingly unrealistic capitalist expectations of pulling ourselves by the bootstraps before we become homeless.

How could this not make us want to run off into the forest and live a quaint homestead lifestyle?

Cottagecore fans are well grounded in the reality that this aesthetic is a means of escapism for them. This also explains why cottagecore is closely connected to queer culture and progressive political movements like BLM. Those who are clashing with mainstream society are yearning for a place where they can be themselves and live beautifully picturesque lives.

By hereatthecottage on Instagram

I can definitely see the appeal, and I’m also equally saddened by the fact that so many of us feel the need to seek escape from our lives.

I don’t want to be a drama queen, but the first few words that come to mind when I look back on this year (or arguably the past few years) is brutal, oppressive, corrupt, and exhausting.

Clearly the way our society is structured is taking a toll on mental health — and this toll is widespread enough for whole subcultures of aesthetics to become popularized online.

While I personally enjoy the aesthetic, I can’t help but imagine that many of those partaking in it aren’t actually reaping the benefits of what living a simpler lifestyle can do. They’re sitting in their beds scrolling through feeds of beautiful but unobtainable images — perhaps baking a loaf of bread from time to time hoping that it’s enough to fight back depressive and anxious thoughts that creep into their heads.

We can all appreciate the wholesomeness of cottagecore while recognizing that society has pushed us to a point where seeking refuge in the belief we can change the world to better accommodate our mental health has been rejected in lieu of online escapism. The fact that 1 in 6 Americans are taking psychiatric drugs is an indication that there is something deeply troubling about our state of mind.

While we may be able to find temporary respite in beautiful aesthetics that let us imagine we’re anywhere else but here, it won’t get to the root issue of why so many of us are suffering. But if it helps people for the time being, I look forward to sharing fantasies of a better way of life.