Every teen girl and young adult knows what being “That girl” means, everyone wants to be her. But where does this trend come from and what is it really?
Origins & concept
The “That Girl” trend started in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic. It first appeared on Tiktok which gain a lot more users at that time. Once the trend had gained in popularity, it spread on Pinterest and even Youtube in which vloggers showed ways to be “That Girl”. Until this day it is still trending and it has even led to other trends such as the “Clean Girl”.
But what does it mean to be “That Girl”? Being “That Girl” is more a way of living, it’s not only a trend. Those girls have a routine. Their goal is to be as productive as possible so that they can be the best version of themselves.
By showing this perfect life, they’re supposed to motivate young women to do the same if they want to be successful. This trend has a whole aesthetic, going from food to fashion and even music. Creating mood boards from this aesthetic is an activity that can be made as it might motivate you to start this lifestyle.
Here are examples of routines :
Morning
- Wake up early
- Workout at home/ at the gym / go for a walk
- Listen to a podcast
- Drink lemon water
- Shower/hair/ makeup
- Healthy breakfast
- Iced (or not) coffee/smoothie
- Make a to-do list for the day
- Journaling
Night
- Light candles to make the room cozy
- Tea
- Skincare
- Read
- Prepare your outfit the next day
- Meditate
- Sleep early
- Journaling
Day
- Grocery shopping (lots of veggies, fruits)
- Cook own meal
- Focus on goals
- Study/work on own project
- Quality time with friends & family
- Snack on fruits
- Drink 2L of water
- Clean
room
The other side of the trend
One of the keys to this trend is to romanticize our daily lives which means to pretend. A famous motto I would associate this trend with is “fake it until you make it”. But isn’t it that the keyword, FAKE?
As everyone knows, what you see on social media might not be reality. Why would this trend be any different? They are setting so much high expectations on teenagers and young adults with this trend. Telling girls that if they have a different lifestyle, they are not successful in life. But isn’t that the purpose of life? Choosing which path we want to take and thrive in our own way.
This trend is promoting self-care and self-betterment by having a routine, being productive, and improving our mind, body and spirituality. However, it can be toxic if it’s too extreme. Feeling bad for not following your routine for a day, or just for skipping some points of the routine. Thinking you’re a failure if your day didn’t go as planned. Or even working yourself to death because you want to be so successful that you won’t take a break. That is not how it works. What girls need to keep in mind is that shit happens and we shouldn’t let it set our mood for the rest of the day. Not following the routine from A to Z won’t kill you. It’s no big deal.
As the trend was breaking the internet being on every girl's "for you page", some brands took advantage of it to create some ads specifically targeting teenage girls and young women. The two sectors that promoted their brand with this trend are the fitness industry and the skin care sector. They would ask “those girls” to promote their product by saying that it helped them get better skin, feel good in their workout clothes, and lose weight by drinking some sort of compliments. Anything that would make the products sell in big quantities. Even though everyone understands that those are just ads and that the products might not work for them, girls would still buy that miracle pill or miracle cream that would remove all their complexes. We can then say that this trend isn’t only about motivation but it became a way of making money in an “easy” way.
__________
References
- 7AM *PRODUCTIVE* MORNING ROUTINE (Winter Edition) (as a college student) | vlog style, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgQD3rf-Sk8.
- 7am winter morning routine | productive simple habits for the colder season ~aesthetic~, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we62eXeVOWY.
- Aesthetics Wiki. « That Girl », 3 juin 2024. https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/That_Girl.
- Being « THAT girl » if you’re not a morning person (evening habits), 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSdxYxzimwg.
- « Ce que je pense sincèrement de la tendance «That girl» sur TikTok ». Consulté le 4 juin 2024. https://www.noovomoi.ca/vivre/temoignages/that-girl-tiktok.html.
- HOW TO BE « THAT GIRL »: 10 ways to become more productive & be the best version of yourself, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrUnli8WhWM.
- how to build a routine & stay consistent: a 66 days challenge (day in the life) 🌱, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI22Bc6s8Bk.
- Joshi, Shamani. « I Tried To Be TikTok’s ‘That Girl’ for a Week ». Vice (blog), 9 septembre 2021. https://www.vice.com/en/article/5db8ek/tiktok-youtube-viral-trend-that-girl-internet-genz-challenge.
- ROMANTICIZING MY MORNINGS ☁️ how I set my day up for success + healthy & productive habits, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbCFwFdj2rE.
- We Tried To Be « That Girl » For A Week, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvd1btIWgOw.