By Aditi Malhotra
In the covertly toxic footsteps of millennial girlboss feminism, Gen Z seems to have reincarnated a similar culture in the manner of the ‘that girl’ aesthetic.
The ‘that girl’ trend, while vague in its description of what ‘that’ actually is, took social media by storm during 2021, encouraging women to lead the perfect life – a flawless culmination of the Pinterest aesthetic, hustle culture and wellness. Soon enough, the trend became a flurry of videos showcasing the exact same things – green juices at 6am, morning yoga in a cute matching set, journaling, skincare and hustling to work or study all while eating previously meal-prepped dishes. All in low exposure, obviously.
While a trend that inspires living a mindful lifestyle, prioritizing health and achievement seems like a wonderful, positive thing; the simple fact that the ‘that girl’ aesthetic revolves around just that, aesthetics, defeats its purpose and makes it a lot more harmful than it seems at first glance. The slew of videos that are centered around being ‘that girl’ is a showcasing of activities done to fit into that box rather than for the sake of the value those habits provide.
Ultimately, this leads to the painfully negative mindset of comparing oneself to these girls, and gradually, but surely, ‘that girl’ has become an increasingly unattainable ideal that only serves to put one at a disadvantage. The trend seems to focus on the how instead of the why, and, as the co-author of ‘The Wellness Syndrome’ Carl Cederström puts it, is a key flaw in the current obsession with wellness culture and with social media transforming wellness into an ideology.
What’s more, is that men seem to only spur this archetypal image while mutating it from the perspective of the male gaze and posting purportedly inspiring messages.
While the end of girlboss feminism might be long gone, the widespread infatuation with hustle culture and productivity is nowhere near over. The shift from girlboss feminism to ‘that girl’ prompted a shift in the hustle as well – from hustling to become high-paid CEOs we started hustling for becoming the best version of ourselves; and while that sounds beneficial, the ideal of ‘best version’ has also been warped on social media into someone that never lets up and does everything in an aesthetic way.
As Laurie Santos, professor of psychology at Yale University says, “…the wellness trend tends to not come with a lot of acceptance. We feel like we have to be that girl.” As long as one works towards utopian standards and treats themselves as projects, capitalism overpowers, and mental health suffers.
Sieving through the beliefs the ‘that girl’ trend seems to propagate, one realizes that it does encourage some advantageous ideals, such as focusing on the small moments, the tiny achievements you make on a daily basis. It does, however, spur a very dichotomous paradigm, wherein if you don’t manage to become ‘that girl’ you’re considered to have failed by default, in spite of the massive spectrum of achievements and “best versions” that seem to go easily dismissed.
As American author Marianne Williamson says, “I’m better than I used to be. Better than I used to be yesterday. But hopefully not as good as I’ll be tomorrow.”
Fortunately, wellness is also defined by simply caring for oneself and their loved ones without necessarily involving 5am morning routines and the obligation of taking photos of every meal one eats. Wellness is defined by whatever you consider wellness to be.
The natural propensity of the ‘that girl’ trend towards aesthetics, to the extent that I can barely tell the difference between opening Pinterest and TikTok, is also incredibly detrimental in the way that it’s entirely unrealistic for someone to be aesthetic and look cute during everything they do. It is, however, possible for someone to be striving for consistent improvement while not fitting into the neat package of ‘that girl.’ As attractive and tempting the thought of being ‘that girl’, 24/7 might be, you can only be you, 24/7.
