Girlbloggers & mystery
Redefining girlhood
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Spotted: Women, whimsy and the Whitechapel murders. On Instagram, the girlblogger renaissance. Posts about the girlhood spectrum have flooded feeds once again. Hyperfeminine imagery with the most melancholic text ever known to mankind. Some of them, absolutely unhinged. Because tell me what business does āI only dream of tormenting myself because Iād rather it be me than anyone elseā on top of an image from a FASHION CAMPAIGN. šāš»Ā This isnāt a newsletter about the Whitechapel murders, I just wanted a cool alliteration. Okay letās take a deep dive into the morose world of a girlbloggers and figure this mystery out together because why do we love suffering and why do we romanticise it so much (itās so real, I canāt even complain).
What is a girlblogger?
If you look it up on Google, the first article describes the coquette aesthetic to describe what a girlblogger is. Which is partly true; girlbloggers blog about being a girl and hyperfemininity is a massive part of the genre, but thereās also different kinds of girlbloggers focusing on different parts of girlhood.
Thereās obviously the original girlbloggers from last year ā the Whisper girlies. Weāve talked about them in depth in one of our older issues, so definitely check that out, but the gist of it is that they would use the Whisper app to make posts that were modelled after AND poking fun at the Greek Alphabet men posts. Nobody wants to see a sigma on their timelines, so these absolute goddesses make sure they give them a taste of their own medicine and run them out of the village.
The second kind of girlblogger blogs about the struggles of girlhood. Do you get the sense that maybe youāre unloveable because of the insanely unrealistic beauty standards and the increasing misogyny in the world? Yeah, theyāve got a post about that. Theyāve also got a post about WHY being a girl is the best thing ever despite everything. They talk about the smallest experiences of girlhood like complimenting a stranger in a club bathroom while youāre both hammered. Itās beautiful. They also talk about mental illness.
Thereās a third kind of girlblogger on the rise, and itās the mystery girlblogger. Their defining trait is that their posts are cryptic and their feed makes zero sense, yet it is extremely relatable. A lot of it is hinged on mysticism and spirituality. An improved self-concept is also a part of it. Posts with seemingly random images and text on top talking about spiritual cleanses and self-concepts and other spiritual stuff. Sometimes itās just an assortment of random images that make no sense to the physical eye but you can feel them in the deepest crevices of your soul. Thatās girlhood. Theyāre all super, duper smart. Theyāre usually well versed in literature and pop culture and constantly reference them in their posts. 90s supermodels, Kafka and animal illustrations from childrenās books are a common reoccurrence.
Redefining girlhood
From Whisper girlbloggers to coquette girlbloggers and every girlblogger in between, the one thing thatās common across the board is the girlās girl phenomenon. They all back each other up and thereās never any competition. They embrace being girly, they value feminine friendships and theyāre highly spiritual ā almost redefining the experience of being a girl to something spiritual.
We have the opposite side of the spectrum being represented too. The not so pretty sides of being a girl. Sometimes, weāre not all organised with a huge friend group to fall back on. Sometime weāre just rotting in a room longing for a love that once was while watching true crime because why not add to the pain of existence? Anyway, Iām not speaking from personal experience or anything, pfft.
So yes moving on from that, girlbloggers are redefining girlhood in a way; they have brought our experiences to the forefront and have at least made some people take us seriously. I thank them for their service.
The mystery of girlblogging
GIRLBLOGGERS ARE HOT AND MYSTERIOUS AND I WANT TO BE THAT. Now that, thatās established. Yes, they are mysterious. Thatās a part of their allure and I love it. Nobody knows who they are. They overshare, yes, but still so mysterious. Itās what keeps us hooked to them. Because girlhood IS mystery so girlbloggers have to be mysterious. We are attracted to mystery, hence the success of girlblogs.
Because I also want to be hot and mysterious and smart, I started doing a little something called thinking and while I was brainstorming this newsletter, my thought process went a little like: girlblogger ā mystery ā mystery = true crime ā girls love true crime ā whatās the connection between girlhood and mysteries? Because why do we want to be so difficult to decode and not be perceived? I may have the answer, turns out all I had to do was think.
Girlhood and mystery
So girlhood and mystery are closely linked and a lot of it comes from wanting to perceived as more than just flesh. We have complex thoughts because weāre humans with layers. Maybe it wasnāt the primary goal of these blogs but a big part of it was showing women as complex beings. Girlhood, in my opinion, is one thing you canāt exactly describe. You just know; but these girlblogs came the closest to explaining to the world what it is.
A part of wanting to be mysterious also stems from wanting to claim/reclaim power. We want to be known, yes, but we also donāt want to be perceived. Please do not perceive me, I do not exist. Iām kidding, I want to be a content creator, please perceive me and my content. In all seriousness, it seems like a very understudied topic so if thereās any psych students reading this, yāall got explanations?
So to conclude, girlbloggers are hot and mysterious. They are a core part of pop culture and literature because of their reach on social media. They are the embodiment of girlhood and the closest anyone will get to explaining the experience of being a woman. Their posts will absolutely give you a boost in self worth and self concept while also making you dread existing but the very next second theyāll make you love being a woman. Girlbloggers are also a part of the girl trends and like any other girl trends, a lot of it is satire and shouldnāt be taken seriously.
Any questions/suggestions as to what we should cover next? Reach out to us and weāre always here to chat!
ā Written by Shaurya, Trends Reporter at The Z Link
Connect with Shaurya on Instagram where she shares great content and lives her best influencer life as a fashion student in London. And she writes all of these great issues too. What canāt she do??? š§ Thank you for reading!