Girl Summer (definition) (one definition of many): Summer 2023, when we dressed up to watch the Barbie movie, traded friendship bracelets at the Eras tour, embraced femininity and healed the little girl inside of us.
Prior to this summer, I found most Valentine’s decor tacky. The pink and red hearts, sparkles, the roses all just seemed so forced. The overdone bow and arrow that had to have glitter just never matched the beige aesthetic I tried so hard to maintain in my spaces. Until this summer, when I remembered that it is okay to find beauty in femininity, or so-called “girly” things.
This summer reminded me of my childhood; I made friendship bracelets with my sisters to trade at a Taylor Swift concert, I bought a specific shirt to wear to the Barbie movie, I bought hair bows for the first time in many years and I remembered how fun it is to be a girly girl.
I rejected the idea of being girly for a long time between early childhood and now. I confused feminism with the need to prove that not all girls like pink, sparkles and hair bows. That is true, not all girls like that, but it certainly is okay to like those things. In fact, it should be celebrated.
I slowly started incorporating pink into my life again for the first time in a long time. I look back to painting over my pink walls in my bedroom with a light grey just after my 15th birthday, I was so relieved to have the pink covered up, but now I would love my pink walls back. I bought a bright green bed frame and a pink desk recently, along with decals in my window that make rainbows in my room, because you can have an aesthetic that brings you joy.
For the first time in a long time, I bought Valentine’s Day decorations this year. A pink and red heart banner, a bright pink pen cup thingy (sophisticated) and even a pink jacket. I have fallen so hard back into love with embracing pink and femininity, that I might not take it down on the 15th, and I am perfectly okay with that. I know if six-year-old me looked at this decor, she would love it, and that is exactly what I needed.