AES#40 That Girl

You know that girl on Instagram or Tiktok who always seems to have her life together and posts about it with the perfect balance of nonchalance and style? She has a name: THAT GIRL

It’s not exactly clear when or where the concept of “that girl” came from, but a number of videos have been uploaded to the app in the last few weeks. Many have thousands of views and likes, and the comment sections are full of other girls saying things like “love that for you” or “yes queen”!

The “that girl” trend kinda feels like the wellness version of Hot Girl Summer. It’s not about going to get pissed with your mates and living your best single life. Instead it’s about self fulfilment and achieving your goals. 

What does “that girl” do? 

• Wake up early 
• Makes her bed
• Workout 
• Eat a big bowl of fruit 
• Gratitude journals 
• Read a book 
• Study hard

 The problem of “That Girl” trends

• Promoting a message  that your productivity, health, success and happiness are only valid if your life looks a certain way. It’s a highly performative, ‘one size fits all’ approach to self-improvement and self-worth.
• Expectation that we should be constantly working on ourselves and consistently improving is totally unrealistic. In fact, obsessing over how productive or ‘perfect’ your day-to-day is could lead to major burnout. 

It was recently discovered that “that girl” trends can trigger Fatphobia. Fatphobia has been a problem in society for years. The idea that bigger means less healthy and less worthy has not yet been broken. It is important to understand that even if you are bigger and unhealthy, you will always begin in that body. You can be fat and healthy, because you have to begin somewhere. The idea that to be ‘that girl’ you have to be skinny is completely unfounded because anybody in any body can be on a self-improvement journey, and we cannot continue to invalidate the journeys of others solely based on the way that they look.

Although there are many cons, there are still many benefits and positive sides of this trend, for example,

• Do positive things in everyday life
• Try a healthy lifestyle 
• Learn to be more grateful
• Start your own self-improvement journey 

We should all aspire to be that girl. But not That Girl you saw on TikTok. Not That Girl whose morning routine is so aesthetic it resembles an artsy short film or That Girl who lost X kilograms in a month. We’re talking about that girl. That girl your younger self would look up to. That girl who loves herself unconditionally. That girl is working towards becoming the best version of herself.