If you have any type of social media, you’ve likely seen the new trend of “that girl” circulating around your feed. In case you haven’t come across it, let me walk you through what her morning usually looks like. She wakes up at a reasonable 5 a.m. and immediately drinks the cup of water that she set out on her nightstand last night. She quickly puts on a matching workout set and runs to the gym to get in an early morning walk. After coming back feeling refreshed, she takes a shower and does her skincare routine. Before starting on her breakfast, she does a ten-minute meditation and completes her five-minute journal of gratitude. Then breakfast consists of avocado toast, a smoothie, and of course a matcha latte. And she somehow has all of this miraculously done before 9 am, which is usually when I’m rolling out of bed.
Now don’t get me wrong, I want to be “that girl” too. And for a long time, I didn’t think there was anything bad about the culture surrounding it. It seemed like people were just prioritizing their mental and physical health. Meditation, exercise, and healthy food can’t be bad for anyone… right? It wasn’t until one of my favorite food creators on TikTok made a video about being “that girl” that I realized despite the positive intentions behind this trend, some of the implications surrounding it can be challenging for people.
Let me be clear: if you’re able to wake up and do all those things while going to class or work and still having a social life, more power to you! I would bet that most of us aren’t able to do those things every day. And that’s ok! Because if the whole idea behind being “that girl” is for you to prioritize your mental and physical health, why does it look the same on all these creators? Sure, it’s more visually pleasing for us when they wear matching sets and their avocado looks like it is perfectly ripe, but that’s putting a lot of pressure on the general population. Not to mention that most of these “that girl” creators that have become popular are skinny and white. So, it gets down to a deeper question at the root of are we really glorifying a healthy lifestyle, or do we want it to look aesthetically pleasing and fit the beauty standard?
I struggled with wanting to be “that girl” too because, at the core of it, I liked the ideas that they have. But I felt pressure to always look my best at the gym, and make sure I was waking up on time to get my stuff done early in the morning, rather than in the afternoon. But then I realized, it’s ok to wear Nike shorts and an old high school t-shirt to the gym, or wake up half an hour later and do your workout in the afternoon. And it’s even ok to stop and get chicken minis on your way to class instead of a green juice. Life is all about choices, and there’s no need to put unnecessary pressure on ourselves to meet some unrealistic societal standard of something that they can’t even come up with a better name for than “that girl”. So, enjoy your mornings sleeping in because that matters for your mental health too.