I first discovered Molly Margaret through a friend. The specific details are fuzzy, but I remember her asking me if I followed this girl. She showed me Molly Margaret’s Instagram, and I found myself scrolling through goofy smiles on the beach, messages of self-love, selfies in her apartment, stories of romance and of hookups. I was immediately drawn towards the energy Molly radiates, even through an Instagram profile. Her profile is full of photos that are unapologetically beautiful, with equally captivating captions. I followed her profile that afternoon and have since been immensely grateful and happy that I did.
Who is she?
Molly Margaret Johnson, @whatswrongwithmollymargaret on Instagram, is a twenty-six-year-old woman from Minnesota. She currently lives in New York City. She used to be a temp in the city with a mundane 9-5 job. Her morning stories used to consist of reminding her followers to eat breakfast as she walked to work. Recently, however, she stopped working at the office to pursue what she loves. On her Instagram account, Molly Margaret provides advice on any kind of love you can think of; romantic love, platonic love, self-love. Although she isn’t a doctor or a therapist, she also provides a plethora of advice. Just a few examples: sexual health and sex advice, what to do when you feel unsafe during a date or hookup, the buddy system of texting a friend when you go on a date, and even takes her followers along on Planned Parenthood appointments. Being what could be the big sister you’ve never had, Molly frequently does Instagram live chats where she talks about a specific topic she’s been asked about, reads her wonderfully nostalgic poetry, and so much more. Molly Margaret reminds her followers that they are the prize, and they should treat themselves as such.
Why is her work important?
In a time when women’s sexuality is supposed to be repressed, or a secret, or shameful, or inexistent (when hasn’t it been, really?), it’s immensely difficult to have accurate information and education on sexual health. Sure, they sat us down in elementary, middle, and high school and gave us a health class, but sex education isn’t really for the girls. We’re raised on the idea that women aren’t supposed to be sexual, or be empowered in sexuality. So, where do we go for our education? Where do we get to learn about our bodies, our health, our sexuality? How do we break out of what’s been considered normal, and get the chance to live our lives as empowered human beings?
For most women, they were too scared to ask their parents when they were younger. Women are in their late teens or their twenties still can’t discuss such things with their parents. So naturally, as most things are now, information is obtained from the internet. Molly Margaret’s tagline on Instagram is, “for when WebMD fails”, and she’s not kidding. She provides information on her stories, which she puts into highlights on her profile. These highlights range from how to take “selfies”, to questions about how to keep your body healthy, to what she could be able to do if she wasn’t worried about being attractive, etc. She also gives her followers excellent resources in these highlights, including one for trauma recovery.
Molly Margaret is a wonderful person and an unconventional resource for the things you might feel ashamed about asking someone you know. In the same sense, though, Molly Margaret teaches her followers that there isn’t anything to be ashamed of.
You can find Molly Margaret at @whatswrongwithmollymargaret on Instagram and on Twitter. I highly encourage that you do so.
*all photos credited to Molly Margaret from Instagram