The Harms of the “That Girl” Lifestyle Aesthetic
You should wake up at 6 a.m. everyday. You should drink green juice to start your morning and a gallon of water throughout each day. You should exercise for at least an hour, and don’t forget to meditate and journal.
You should follow a five-step skincare routine, morning and night. You should only eat raw foods, and you should be happy every day and clean and dress minimalistically – matching sets, basics, nothing too colorful or different. Never drink, never go out, never miss a chore in your planner.
Does that sound at all familiar to you?
If it does, it likely stems from a new lifestyle aesthetic that developed in the last year over the course of the pandemic. Generally, apps like TikTok and Pinterest are where this idea began and grew from. The new goal for young women, and even teenage girls, is to be “that girl.”
Browsing a social media feed, you’re probably seeing video reels of someone’s daily routine and it seems perfect, simple, healthy. A word that a lot of people have used in describing it is “clean,” and there’s a lot to be said about why these ideals are dangerous.
The “that girl” lifestyle aesthetic trend is yet another toxic expectation that young women are facing today. Why would all of these seemingly healthy habits and ideals be negative? They’re harmful because a majority of the target audience is not fit to live in such a strict way.
As a college student, I know that my schedule is already incredibly tight with school, work, internships, and extracurriculars – not to mention a social life. What if I don’t have the time, or the financial freedom even, to live in this way? Most of us don’t.
There are absolutely benefits to taking care of yourself. I think that all of the habits that we see in the “that girl” lifestyle are healthy and potentially good for one’s mental health…when followed in a less strict way. There is nothing wrong with being a girl who wakes up early, goes to the gym right away, eats healthy, and makes time to take care of herself or even better herself.
But this pressure becomes dangerous and harmful when society (especially the social media community) starts to look upon their own routines and lifestyles as unhealthy just because they don’t drink green juice or go to sleep by 9 p.m.
Another thing to be said about this is the financial aspect of living in the way of the trend. The general population does not have the time to follow the habits outlined within being “that girl” because of financial obligations like work. It would be a privilege to most, to be able to have all the free time in your day to just spend every minute practicing self-care.
Beyond this, there are a lot of costs that go into it. Drinking and eating all organic products, wearing Set Active and Ariztia daily, going to the gym, having a regimented skincare routine, etc. all cost a significant amount of money when these things are meant to be done regularly. And the idea that all of these things make you “clean,” as people refer to it online, is damaging in and of itself because being “clean has nothing to do with these things.
At the end of the day, the best way to live is to live a life of balance. As young women, we need to give ourselves a lot of grace. We have so many pressures and expectations to meet based on societal standards already, so there’s no use in us creating any more for ourselves. If being happy and doing well means going out every weekend, sleeping in, eating pasta every day, and binging your favorite shows, then that’s okay. Being healthy and happy isn’t one size fits all–there’s no need to be “that girl” because that girl doesn’t exist, it’s simply another social media image that looks appealing on a screen. You decide what it means to be “that girl”; don’t feel pressure to conform to an unrealistic standard that isn’t any guarantee to the perfect life.
Lonnie Hayes-McKelley — February 21st, 2022
