Girl trends on TikTok

Sometime during May 2023, the ‘girl dinner’ trend began - this saw girls/women showcasing the disjointed and unconventional meals they would throw together for an easy dinner. These comfort meals at first included cheese boards, oven baked food such as fried chicken and chips, and multiple variations of pastas, and served as a light-hearted way for women to bond over the completely random foods they were combining to satisfy their evening cravings.

Starting off as a funny and relatable trend for women to share their favourite comfort meals, the trend quickly became toxic and problematic as it was absorbed by diet culture, and some users seemed to worry about what the trend had begun to promote.

Other users shared worry in the substance of girl dinners, as videos of meals only consisting of a pitiful selection of crackers and cheese, or even just a nicotine product (whether vape or cigarette) accompanied with an energy drink began to make repeated appearances on the For You Page. With comments applauding the contents of these ‘dinners’, it fuels the toxic culture of what women should be eating, and the quantity at which they should be eating. With the majority of Tik Tok users being between the ages 18-24, to see meals of such small portions, and little nutritional value being received so well by the internet, restrictive eating is promoted, and the joy and fun that was shared between women participating in this trend is taken away.

Skinny, wealthy, conventionally attractive women have been at the forefront of the clean girl aesthetic, as for them this lifestyle/aesthetic is easily attainable, but for those who don’t fit into any of those categories, it is not quite as easy. Being able to achieve the clean girl aesthetic to Tik Toks’ standard, one must already be in a position of privilege and have the means to afford a nice apartment, expensive clothes, as well as having the time to prioritise self-care/wellness over a fulltime job.

This trend is a double edged sword - it supports women in growing confident in their natural skin/body, but because Tik Tok largely only grants social gratification to a very specific type of woman partaking in this trend paired with the unrealistic elements of the trend, it simultaneously repackages ideological beauty standards for women to work towards.

‘Hot girl summer’ is a trend that started on Tik Tok in 2019 and continues to be popular today. This trend was created as a way to empower women and help them to think of their own happiness during summer. This created an environment on Tik Tok where girls shared their own discoveries and adventures during their ‘hot girl summer’.

This trend then started to take a turn for the worse when the issue of body image was brought into question. With impressionable women looking at these videos, many people began to complain that these are creating a harmful body image to look up to. There have also been cases with people on Tik Tok stating that this trend is causing eating disorders such as Anorexia and Bulimia, which can cause detrimental health issues. 

Different people on Tik Tok are also seeing the trend of ‘hot girl summer’ as a way to slut shame and insult women for enjoying themselves and being free. Especially men on Tik Tok who have voiced their opinion, with this one man saying…

This trend started as a way for women to support others, but has since become problematic.