Crystal Aura Gaze

Now that we are nearing towards the end of 2025, it’s time to finally admit it… the early 2020’s are over. And just like the beginning of a decade can feel so culturally different from the end of a decade, this era in time has been sealed. We’ve become distant enough from the 2010s, that we can analyze it now with a more detached perspective. And while we are in the thick of the 2020s, we can still make many observations about this period.

Disclaimer: As someone who lives in the United States, this article may be more focused on the North American culture, but can possibly apply to other countries and areas as well. Also, I’m not an expert on this subject, just a casual observer.

It started with a pandemic

In March 2020, the WHO officially declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. In May 2023, the WHO declared an end to the public health emergency of international concern. (source)

The 2020s started off with a worldwide tragedy — Coronavirus AKA “Covid.” It’s impossible to think about the early 2020s without thinking of the pandemic. However, right now in the year 2025, in some ways it almost feels like the pandemic never happened. Was it just a fever dream? Did we actually learn anything from this?

Of course, the pandemic affected the entire world — not just the USA or the Americas. However, each country certainly handled it very differently. Let’s just say that some countries were much stricter than others, but every area was forced to deal with it in some way.

It feels like the pandemic ripped us away from culture — or the opportunity to create a new culture. Media, such as music and films, were forced to be put on pause or at least slowed down. And media itself is so defining of a culture.

The pandemic took control of the narrative and pushed many of us into a “cottagecore” lifestyle. Embracing the isolation and slow-living that came with quarantine, it built up a fantasy of living in simple times. Unable to go out as much, we had more time for discovering new hobbies — baking sourdough, gardening, sewing, etc. Quarantine also gave us the luxury of doing things “the old-fashioned way,” like cooking from scratch or hanging laundry on clothespins to dry.

Alongside, the pandemic further pushed digital life, with more people working from home and ordering things online to get delivered. It seems like society was already headed in this direction — but the pandemic further sped this up.

No doubt, the experience gave all of us some type of PTSD. However, it does seem like somewhere between 2023 and 2024, everything went back to “normal.” We stopped wearing masks, stopped doing six-feet social distancing, stopped testing ourselves for Covid, and basically moved on as if nothing happened. In my opinion, if someone from the year 2019 time-traveled to the year 2025, they probably would have no idea that we suffered through a pandemic.

While the pandemic officially ended in 2023, it seemed like most people could agree that it was over well before then. I would call the year 2022 as “the grey area,” in which it felt like it was over, but we were all still being extremely precautious. My first post-pandemic experience was going to a concert in February 2022 — I remember feeling a little strange being so close to strangers. But it did not take me long to adjust back to normal.

Perhaps, it will take us another decade or so to fully understand the lasting impact of Covid on society.

The Death of the Hipster

The 2020s has solidified “the death of the hipster,” which will now be forever associated with the 2010s. Hipster is an aesthetic and lifestyle that values environmentalism, counterculture, deconstruction, self-awareness, and most importantly… irony.

When I think of “hipster,” I think of flannel clothes, thick and black glasses, facial hair (and fake mustaches), vinyls and polaroids, thrift shopping, minimalism, vintage, and claiming that you liked something before it was cool.

The hipster movement seemed to peak in the early 2010s, dwindling down by the mid-to-late 2010s, and completely dead by 2019. It had great intentions, such as saving the environment, breaking away from groupthink, and using mustaches as party decor. But I think that it quickly turned into something more pretentious — using recycling as a means of moral superiority, for instance.

Music: from Festival EDM to Minimal Blending

EDM (electric dance music) dominated the 2010s, peaking in the middle of it. There were so many festival DJs collaborating with mainstream pop singers. These songs came with much bigger production: more intricate beats and a greater focus on the sound rather than the lyrics. Most pop songs were about going out, partying, and dancing. Almost every top hit had the word “tonight” in the title or chorus.

Pop music took a sharp turn in the year 2020, in which heavy production was replaced with more mellow beats. The fall of EDM could likely have to do with the shut down of EDM music festivals, due to Covid, which seemed to have peaked in the late 2010s.

In the early 2020s, music became more introspective. The subject of songs seemed to shift away from partying and dancing, and move towards relationships and heartache. This is not to say that pop music became depressing — there were still tons of upbeat hits — it was just centered around more deeper topics.

The late 2010s also brought a burst in music streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. A much larger access to all styles of genres became available. And so, going into the 2020s, we all had more exposure to music than ever. This brought on a blending of genres.

Artists brought more variety to their music — like when Beyonce released a country album in 2024. But streaming not only exposed us to more genres, it also exposed us to older music. Older songs resurfaced back into the charts.

• Dreams by Fleetwood Mac (1977) reached top 10 on the Hot 100 in 2020.
• Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush (1985) reached #3 on BillBoard Hot 100 in 2022.
• Bloody Mary by Lady Gaga (2011) trended in 2023.
• Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift (2019) reached #1 in late 2023.

However, with the commercial success of Charli XCX’s album “Brat” in the summer of 2024, party music with bold and brash beats was brought back into the mainstream. But something different about “Brat” verses 2010’s electro-pop, is that it’s not strictly about dancing — it’s also about self-reflection and uncomfortable feelings such as jealousy, insecurity, and existentialism.

A Rise in Video Content

In the 2020s, videos have begun to replace photos. Tiktok is one of the most popular social media apps — a platform that’s based on video content. It wasn’t long until Instragram copied Tiktok with the introduction of “Reels.” Following their lead, Youtube created “Shorts.” And now, almost every social media app has something similar to Tiktok videos.

Photography exploded when smartphones became popular and suddenly everyone had a camera in their pocket at all times. The “selfie” was invented in the early 2010s with the front-facing cameras on smartphones. (Yes, people were taking selfie-like photos before the existence of smartphones, but not in the same way!)

And even when you aren’t taking videos, we now have this “live photo” option in which our photos can serve as mini-videos. It’s not that videos have completely replaced photos (maybe not yet?), but they are much more common in this decade than ever before.

Feminism: evolution and devolution

Feminism has been happening since the mid 19th century. In the 21st, it has continued to grow, and was actually trending hard in the 2010s. That was truly the first decade when the word “feminist” became normalized — no longer associated with hatred or craziness. Whereas the word used to be thrown as an insult, it turned into badge of honor.

In the 2010s, feminism was very strong in celebrity culture, with celebrities declaring themselves to be feminists, or often being asked “are you a feminist?” in interviews. I believe that this decade marks a radical shift in the mainstream perception of feminism.

I believe that the greatest feminist win of the 2010s is the way that women no longer tolerated being degraded through language. For instance, women took words that men used to disgrace them (hateful words that ‘only apply to women’ – sl*t, b**ch, wh***, etc.) and changed their meaning so that we could no longer be hurt by them. And when I look back on the 2000s, I see so many sexist jokes on TV or derogatory lyrics in songs that are unacceptable today.

But as politics continue to become more strongly divided, I have seen feminism both evolve and devolve in the 2020s so far. With such a swing going one way, it tends to go back the other way.

This is my observation on feminism through the decades:

• Late 1960s and early 1970s – feminism surges along with the sexual revolution. Women are becoming more educated and creating careers. They are also dressing more provocatively and wearing mini skirts – and then women start wearing pants for the first time, introducing androgynous attire.
• 1980s – feminism declines. The AIDS outbreak in 1981 draws more fear towards sex, putting an end to the sexual revolution. Women’s fashion becomes more feminine and conservative than the 70s. (Feminism is still progressing, but much less extreme than before.)
• 1990s – a resurgence of feminism. Women’s fashion becomes much more androgynous. The rise of “girl power.”
• 2000s – feminism is fading out again. It’s still moving forward, but losing its power. Just because it has progressed so far, people begin to make a mockery out of feminism and claim that “it’s no longer needed.” People generally believe that feminists are uncool, angry, and crazy – and that there’s nothing left to fight for.
• 2010s – a huge feminism resurgence, with more understanding and respect for the word “feminist.” Celebrities are publicly declaring themselves to be feminists. More women are speaking up about being abused by men – gathering more public support and awareness.

The positive shift in the 2020s is that women are actually learning about their menstrual cycles in ways that previous generations did not. There is more education and openness around this process that rules our lives. And many women are no longer trying to suppress their period, rather, they are embracing each phase of their cycle. And it’s seen as more of a spiritual experience rather than something to be ashamed of.

But there has also been this rise in romanticizing gender roles and super conservative values. Many women are yearning for a 1950s-type of lifestyle. Women are joking, “I’m so mad at the women who fought for our right to work, because now I have to get up and go to work every day,” but there’s a lot of truth to it.

And there’s also backlash from many men. There’s a rise in podcasts of men who complain about women’s rights – and they have huge followings. But of course, this is not everyone who thinks this way – but we are definitely seeing more of this than there was in the 2010s.

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Now, let’s see what the late 2020s brings…