The last several summers have all been characterized by some title in one way or another, like “Hot Girl Summer,” “Healing Girl Summer…” the list goes on. What about “Girl Summer” for Summer 2023? The summer of Barbie, the Eras Tour, The Summer I Turned Pretty… the summer of girlhood. But this summer wasn’t just for the girls. It was for anyone looking to embrace their femininity, and embrace it we did. From screaming “All Too Well” at the top of our lungs to crying with our moms and sisters at the Barbie movie, to running along the beach to “August,” femininity was a focal point of this summer.
When I was little, my favorite colors were purple and pink. I’d spend all afternoon having tea parties with pink cups, dancing around barefoot in my purple sequin top, and listening to Hannah Montana. When I got older, somewhere around middle school, I told people my favorite color was green. I can’t pinpoint it exactly but somewhere along the way, I started to think being a girl wasn’t something I should flaunt — that “girly” was an insult and that pink wasn’t a color that was taken seriously. But this summer was pink. This summer was pink toenails, waiting every Friday for a new episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty, staying up until 3 a.m. to hear The Eras Tour’s surprise songs because Taylor Swift was playing on the West Coast, and texting your friends when she played your favorite one. It was letting your friend do your makeup, holding your mom’s hand, and playing dolls with the girl you babysit. I don’t think it was just me that felt like this summer we gained back something that we’d lost for a while.
At The Eras Tour, girls traded bracelets with complete strangers, laughed with the people in the seats next to them, and raved about all the pretty outfits they saw. They bonded over crying to the same lyrics and expressing shock over that night’s surprise songs with girls they’ll probably never run into again. Many people said they felt similar environments at Barbie as they did at those concerts. Insider described it as “collective joy. The unironic celebration of femininity. The permission to be earnest and giddy and fully ourselves.”
But the appreciation of girlhood we experienced this summer wasn’t just about wearing pink; it was about being raw and talking about the ugly things and sharing how we feel with the people in our lives who just get it. I think that my main takeaway from this summer is that this community exists. There are billions of women around the world who feel the exact same way you feel, cry about the same things you do, and are experiencing things that are so uniquely a part of womanhood — and none of that is supposed to make you feel any less powerful. As Insider put it, we are “inspiring a movement to reclaim girlhood without rescinding power.”
So even though this summer is over and fall is right around the corner, nothing has to change. Drink and eat everything pumpkin spice, listen to your records with fairy lights lighting up your room, watch Gossip Girl, and take “Which Upper East Side character are you?” quizzes. Embrace your femininity in whatever way makes you feel empowered. It doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else but you.
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