The Beige Baby Phenomenon
A Commentary on Colors and Social Status

The grass is always greener on the other side, or in the case of these babies and toddlers showcased on social media, the onesie is always brighter on the other side of the block.

In case you haven’t seen the influx of off color and lifeless cradle decor, let me paint you a picture. There is a specific genre of influencers and families on Instagram, TikTok, what have you, that take pride in their dull and uninspiring nurseries for their newborns, toddlers, and even adolescents. These nurseries often are painted with colors ranging from brown to eggshell, oftentimes coupled with a sleek wooden crib, pale sheets, and monotone shelves. Though, it doesn’t end with the furniture. These babies are given a line up of stuffed animals, playsets, books, and wardrobe that all follow the scheme of the aesthetic picked out and perfected by the parents.

Still with me? Now for comparison, take a minute to consider the colors of the environment you spent your formative years in. With my childhood in the early 2000’s, I think of bright orange-blue Nerf guns, paint streaked and marker stained craft tables, hand sewn quilts from grandma with mismatching tiles, and strawberry stained monster truck t-shirts. The insistence of perfection was not placed on the wild and incoherent mess that was the environment run by my brother and I. There were no unknown outsiders that would see into our private childhood. The emphasis of perfection was placed on our manners, academics, and kindness towards others, as that was what was perceived by the public. 

Now, back to these babies. Personally, there’s a few people I know in real life who are raising their child in a wonderland of beige, but the majority that I’ve witnessed are on viral posts captioned “What my toddler eats in a day” or “Spend a Saturday with our family” and other obsolete titles that give these moms a chance to subtly gloat their aesthetically pleasing and organized life. These videos provide little entertainment value to the majority, though they always tend to rack up thousands, and sometimes millions of likes and shares. My hypothesis to the popularity of these ‘family influencers’ is if they are able to display the illusion of wealth and social status through cohesiveness and manipulated perfection, then the viewers will react with awe and interest, because something so rigid seems unattainable to most onlookers. These beige baby families are using their children to climb to the same social status as celebrities and popular reality TV stars. 

For decades, the lives of Hollywood stars have been veiled by tabloids and red carpet events. They are shown in their big white and modern mansions, fancy cars, designer clothes, and always indulging in the newest fad diet. There is a glamor and mystery that comes with celebrities that is otherworldly to the common eye. For a long time, there was a massive social divide between your average Joe working at the convenience store and Angelina Jolie, for example. In recent years, that gap has slowly closed as the definition of famous has become altered by the likes and following on social media. Now, average Joe working at the convenience store is on par, and may even surpass the social media status of Angelina Jolie because their “OOTD” (outfit of the day) post went viral once. 

There is a long, tiring ladder that actors and musicians must climb in order to achieve what we see on TV and magazines. Some people aren’t born into a life where they are allotted the opportunity or privilege to make it up that latter. Though, as ‘mom influencers’ have realized, now all you need to be is born, and let social media take care of the rest. They use the deception of monochromatic bedrooms, matching cream school outfits, and taupe silicon dishware to show the viewer that they are on the same level as the celebrities residing in the marble mansions with regal furniture. Documenting the monotony of their toddler’s day provides the ability to monetize their hand carved “perfect life.” This is one of the unfortunate side effects of picture based social media: an accessible violation of privacy, as well as the ability to alter and control the way people view your private life. 

Without even touching the impact this lifestyle has on these children, it is clear that their use as an aesthetic money-maker feeding into their parent’s shallow obsession for notable social status is altogether harmful. On the outside, these brown and lifeless nurseries carefully curated into an Instagram slideshow simply looks like an odd and out of the ordinary way to live. Under the surface, we can see that influence of social status through social media is tainting the early childhood of many children born in the 2020’s.