Pinterest and Girlhood
We’ve all been there, scrolling through Pinterest boards filled with soft lighting, neatly arranged iced coffees, and effortlessly photographed outfits of the day. Maybe you’ve saved an outfit that screams chic cool girl energy or screenshotted a craft that looks like it belongs in a Hallmark movie. Whether it’s dressing in a Parke mockneck for a Saturday morning walk or carefully curating your Instagram dump, Gen Z has turned aesthetic girlhood from a daily performance into one that is equal parts art and exhaustion.
But here’s the thing, we know this.
We’re self-aware about the obsession. We joke about how everything has to be “photo-ready”, from skincare products to the background of our laptops. There’s something almost poetic about how we’ve blurred the line between living life and documenting it. Every oat milk latte and flower market trip becomes content; every outfit is a reflection of how we want to be seen.
And yet, behind the filters and film presets, there’s a quiet cost.
The Performance of Effortless
The irony of aesthetic girlhood is that it’s marketed as effortless. The Pinterest girl “just happens” to have linen pants, a claw clip, and a tote bag full of books she probably hasn’t read yet. But it takes time, money, and energy to appear like you don’t care, especially when trends shift every few months. Suddenly, the coquette style is gone, say hello to frazzled English women, where messy hair and stellar outfits are in.
Consumerism thrives on our need to refresh our identity. The more we buy to fit the aesthetic, the more we feel we belong to something bigger than ourselves. Ultimately, I think it’s a trap. It’s hard to tell where our personality ends and our Pinterest board begins.
Self-Aware, Still Participating
What makes Gen Z different is that we know what’s happening. We make jokes about “main character energy” while simultaneously making our lives look straight out of a 2000s romcom. We call it “romanticizing life,” which, at its core, isn’t bad. There’s power in finding beauty in the mundane, in making your walk to class feel whimsical or turning chores into positive rituals. Maybe it’s how we cope with the chaos of modern life, styling it into something we can control.
When every coffee run feels like a branding opportunity, we risk forgetting how to exist without the lens.
So, is it a Bad Thing?
Not necessarily. The aesthetic obsession reflects our generation’s creativity, the way we build identity through visuals and community. Pinterest, TikTok, and brands like Parke didn’t invent aesthetic girlhood; they just gave it a language.
Maybe the point isn’t to stop romanticizing life, but to do it for us instead of the algorithm. Buy the cute coffee mug because it makes your mornings feel cozy, not because it matches your feed. Buy the Parke mockneck because you like, and forget what people say about it.
In the end, we live in a crazy, chaotic world where these items may create a sense of peace in your life. We all express differently, and perhaps yours is through sharing who you are.
This article is similar to my article if you would like other reading material!