From ‘gross girl’ to ‘clean girl’:The merry-go-round of TikTok’s ‘girl’ tropes

Where once the internet was a place for picture-perfect aspirational ideals and flawless influencers,social media users are now shunning Instagram’s stylised sheen of flat lays and filters in favour of TikTok’s latest “girl” trend,namely the “gross girl”.

Michelle Battersby (left) is one of many influencers on the platform celebrating the #grossgirl aesthetic;Bella Procida showing off her #cleangirl morning routine.

Michelle Battersby (left) is one of many influencers on the platform celebrating the #grossgirl aesthetic;Bella Procida showing off her #cleangirl morning routine.TikTok:@michellebattersby_/@bellaprocida

But an overflowing dirty laundry basket and going to sleep with your make-up on is only one of a handful of “girl”trends sweeping TikTok right now. There’s also “that girl” (a continuation of the wellness influencer’s green smoothie and motivational quotes trend),“clean girl” (the no make-up aesthetic) and “party girl” (a messy,Y2K clubbing look),which add to what feels like a never-ending merry-go-round of stereotypes and tropes for women to be siloed into and simplified down to.

According to Dr Crystal Abidin,an Associate Professor at Curtin University and founder of the TikTok Cultures Research Network,this kind of self-identifying content is “super common” but the recent trend status attached to this latest round of iterations comes down to its home.

“The only reason the girl trends seem to proliferate a lot more now is because TikTok is the hot app of the moment,” she says.

Abidin is right,of course. Over the years we’ve seen the manic pixie dream girl,the girl’s girl,the guy’s girl and the good time girl. One of the key differences with the gross girl and “that girl”,though,is how TikTok centres everyday people.

“A lot of the girl trends we used to see were all pretty much visualised through static images of very specific things. With TikTok,though,it’s everyday ordinary users inserting their bodies into these conversations. And where trends like ‘the girls’ girl’ or the ‘guys’ girl’ were about how women are viewed by other people as a potential romantic interest,these girls are showing lifestyles not in relation to a romantic partner,not in relation to a Pinterest ideal,but showing insights into how they live their lives,” Abidin says.

Inher first video using the #grossgirltokhashtag,Michelle Battersby can be seen offering a tour of her home,telling the camera,“Here’s my bed which I’m not going to make… Couch looks gross,don’t care… and here’s the complete chaos on my bathroom basin.”

“Party” and “That girl” are amongst a slew of ‘girl’ trends on TikTok.

“Party” and “That girl” are amongst a slew of ‘girl’ trends on TikTok.@SPRINGGIRLLL_/@ZBARRERA_

The antithesis of unattainable idealism,Battersby,who is the co-founder of content platform Sunroom,says the trend is “about embracing the unpolished side of yourself and highlighting the everyday normal things that are relatable for a lot of people but traditionally haven’t fit within the curated mould.”

The video has since amassed more than 3 million views and Battersby says it’s given her the freedom to share her life in a way she didn’t previously feel comfortable with. “We need different ways and spaces to express ourselves.”

Abidin says that while trends bucking impossibly glossy and unrealistic ideals are,for the most part,a positive,there are drawbacks.

“There are so many similar male trends (think comedy lip syncs and choreographed dances) happening that are not amplified in the same way at all.”

She adds,“I do think that in general,women on social media are overpoliced,often by each other. And when you have an app like TikTok that gives you the opportunity to have windows into the worlds of a rich diversity of women and girls around the world we still see all of these things being policed.”

Any expansion to female expression,whether it’s to a person’s individual tastes or not,is a good thing. But a quick look into the top videos of these trends shows that being a gross girl (and party girl or that girl) is still a privilege reserved predominantly for young,white,able-bodied,conventionally attractive women.

So are these siloed identifiers truly enriching our lives or are the inbuilt hierarchies of the algorithm just flattening and reducing women once more? To borrow a phrase from the ancient world of Facebook,it’s complicated.

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