While the ‘Just Girly Things’ Facebook group is all about girly aesthetics, it can definitely appeal to a wider audience than that. And as of this moment, the group’s audience is more than 690k strong – that’s how many people have joined to browse its wholesome, funny, cute, and in many cases, relatable content.
But, just like the content in the group, many other things deemed ‘girly’ on the internet can, in fact, be enjoyed or used by everyone. Take the terms coined using the word ‘girl’: ‘girl boss,’ ‘girl dinner,’ ‘girl math’ – they all might have the word ‘girl’ in common, but there’s nothing inherently feminine about them.
In a piece for BBC, culture writer and author Lillian Stone delved deeper into the trend of adding the ‘girl’ bit to all sorts of nouns. Talking about ‘lazy girl jobs,’ ‘girl math,’ and ‘girl dinner,’ she noted that just like women, men, too, “can have good, low-stress jobs; do mental gymnastics to permit themselves to buy something expensive; and eat five strawberries, two boiled eggs and a lone cheese stick for dinner.”
That poses the question – why choose one specific group of people? Stone notes that, according to experts, some creators brand things like that to reach maximum impact. Essentially, such labels are clever marketing, which gets people talking. However, the author of the piece points out that while they can create a sense of community or drive conversation, such ‘girl’ trends can also be “infantilising and reinforce harmful gender stereotypes.”
Talking to BBC, assistant professor of marketing at Singapore Management University, Shilpa Madan, shared her two cents on the ‘girl’ label, noting that using labels makes certain things seem more approachable to some groups; in this case – women.
"As human beings, we have an innate desire to belong to social groups. When something is labelled as a 'girl' thing, it creates an immediate sense of relatability, fostering a feeling of community and shared sisterhood," Madan told BBC. "Any excuse to partake in a shared ritual or join a 'tribe' as part of a viral trend – even temporarily – is hard to resist."
But while adding ‘girl’ to a noun can make some content feel more relatable, Stone notes that there is a downside to “wrapping trends in feminised branding,” as they can result in prescriptive gender constraints.
Talking about the issue, Shilpa Madan pointed out that gendered labels are restricting. "Men can also be interested in 'lazy jobs,' and some women might not appreciate their careers being labelled 'lazy' or their dinners as exclusively 'girl' territory. It is easy for these labels to feel patronising, especially since they may inadvertently minimise the complexity of women's experiences or undermine their autonomy."
A UK-based journalist, Rosalind Moran, saw another issue with the widespread use of femininity-infused terms; the word ‘girlies,’ for instance. Writing for Missing Perspectives, she noted that embracing ‘girlies’ suggests that when a woman ‘grows out’ of girlhood, her best days are behind her, which, Moran notes, is an idea that feminists have long disputed.
“Even though being a woman can be an uphill battle, we need pop culture to represent more emotionally, ideologically, and professionally diverse female characters, and for wider culture to celebrate a broader cross-section of women, across all life stages,” Moran wrote. “Girlies are a warning sign. Storytelling sectors and wider society need to listen and respond.”
If you’re done with this list and looking for similar content, continue to Bored Panda’s category dedicated to all things wholesome for more; or browse our memes here for some good laughs.
