Advice On How To Be #ThatGirl From Someone Who’s Not
A tanned and tidily manicured hand reaches out to snooze an alarm clock that reads 5:00 AM. A bed is neatly made, fresh-looking Nikes worn, and an intense, early morning workout is done. She’s eating scrumptious-looking breakfasts, quite varied, with avocado toasts and aesthetic smoothie bowls, and picture-worthy coffee. There’s a journal, filled out in font-like handwriting, after which she goes on to open her laptop and start working. All within the span of a minute. The caption reads “here’s your motivation to become #ThatGirl with me!”. But is it really motivation?
The #ThatGirl trend on TikTok gained popularity last year, and is still booming on all social media platforms, promoting aesthetic, bite-sized videos as “productivity” vlogs. Getting down to the basics, That Girl basically is someone who, according to an article by Lydia Venn in The Tab, “ ... gets up early to work out, drinks green juices, fills out gratitude journals, drinks two liters of water and has an all [a] round calming presence”. A lifestyle filled, up to the brim, with perfection, neatness, and organization; basically, someone who has their life together, all the time.
Doesn’t sound too bad, does it? Having a healthy lifestyle, following a proper routine, avoiding bad habits, and indulging in self-actualization, on a daily basis, is really what any average person desires. The That Girl trend promotes a ‘fake it till you make it’ mentality, and that truly proves to be more a boon than a curse. Take it from me, I’m all for romanticizing one’s life and making it look as beautiful as one may want; that’s literally what I post about on a daily basis. However, I do believe that the That Girl trend does take it a notch too far.
It should be acknowledged that although living an altogether organized life is great, it isn’t always achievable for everyone at every point in time, and that is what this trend fails to acknowledge, which sure is a slippery slope heading toward diet culture. If an average teenage girl is exposed to compilations of such videos on a daily basis, “fake it ‘til you make it” will soon transform into “pretend to be That Girl until you succeed or burn out”. That’s not exactly what we want to be preaching across the internet, now is it?
There is no denying that this trend is not inherently bad, nor does it preach unhealthy notions. The intention behind such videos would surely have been a good one, or at least just to seem aesthetic and put together. Having said that, the origin of the problem comes back to the same one with all lifestyles that are portrayed online — the appearance of perfection. The way all of these viral trends show humans to be absolutely perfect and how it’s completely normal to be that way. This trend, in particular, shows girls being productive and healthy 24/7, every day. The whole story is never presented.
Life is a journey of ups and downs, and although cheesy, it is a truth worth acknowledging. Instagram and TikTok trends only show the upside of life, and so does #ThatGirl. Young girls simply see others their age being perfectly healthy, fit, and put together, without realizing that those girls are just like them and have their fair share of bad days too. Social media is popular for never showing the imperfections of life, and this trend only takes that forward. A peek into the comment section of such videos shows that they do tend to harm the mental health of many. This is because of the instinctual guilt that women feel when they see those girls, setting off insecurities of not being able to meet the set standard of health and productivity. The mere fact that it is okay to not be That Girl is the only thing that fails to reach across to the audience.
Currently, if you are That Girl, then that’s amazing; you’re awesome. But, if you’re someone who has a late start to the day and get your work done after a lot of contemplation and thinking (sounds like I’m describing myself, touché), then that is awesome too! If you’re unproductive most of the days but get yourself together in the last two days of the week because you’re going through a tough time right now, you’re still just as amazing. Being That Girl is great, but not being That Girl is just as great too, which is the only message that is worth being a disclaimer for this trend.
We often feel a plethora of different emotions, and go through so many stages in our life. It is unfair to expect our mind and body to display the same level of strength, persistence, and power at every single one of those stages. I mean, even the weather has its own phases; it rains for days on end, and yet we give it time to clear out and patiently wait for the sun to shine with its brilliance. The sun of our productivity will shine too, sooner or later. It is absolutely unnecessary to put a timer on it and expect it to happen right when we want. Flowers too, bloom, in their own time. I hope that’s not too many nature-related metaphors.
So, the next time you see a That Girl video, I hope you think about two things: one thing being, of course, that she is so amazing to be doing this and for having her life together, and two, ask yourself if you want to be that way too. If yes, what changes can you make in the current state of your life that will allow you to gradually embrace that lifestyle? We’re placing no blames on ourselves here; simply pushing for a better lifestyle because there’s always room for improvement. That Girl is simply just a state of mind.
Soak the summertime sun and keep drinking lemonade, readers!
