I hate the cool girl aesthetic.

If you’ve ever spent any time scrolling on the world of Tik Tok you’ve probably come across an excruciating amount of those “day in my life” videos. And if your FYP looks anything like mine, that content is far from relatable.

This morning I watched a “day in my life” Tik Tok in which the creator woke up at 5 am, got a facial, made a smoothie with bee pollen (I didn’t know you could eat that), and did some light reading while I was simultaneously brushing my teeth into the garbage bin in my dorm room.  

I know, those videos don’t claim to be relatable. They’re very clearly only showing a snapshot into a single individual’s life. I understand that.

My problem is with the idea that this type of content is supposedly turning social media casual. There’s some narrative that unfiltered Instagram pics or Tik Tok “day in my life” vlogs are honest and authentic representations of life. 

Personally, I don’t buy it. The movement to make Instagram casual doesn’t actually alleviate any of the social pressures that come along with existing in this day and age, especially online. The movement has simply shifted what’s considered “in”. 

You still want to have a good jawline in the purposefully blurry photo you post to your curated profile. Even though you’ve hidden your like count, you’re still going to check how many likes and comments you’ve received…every 5 minutes. It still takes hours to come up with the perfect caption for a photo dump. 

Nothing has really changed. Except, now there’s the expectation that it takes no effort, time, or money to live a life so perfectly candid. 

Society and social media still like successful, wealthy, conventionally attractive people. But now in achieving all that, you’re supposed to be effortless. Cool and carefree. 

All of this surrounds the idea of the cool girl aesthetic. I hate to say it, but the “cool girl” isn’t like other girls. 

Unlike other girls, the cool girl doesn’t try. She’s real and authentic. She doesn’t care what other people think. And she just coincidentally lives an awesome and enviable life. 

News flash: she doesn’t exist.

Maybe it’s just that I’m an anxious person, but I think that living a life completely unswayed by societal norms is nearly impossible. Deep down, I think we all care. 

Thus, the cool girl aesthetic is just a front. Think, no make-up makeup looks. A way of presenting yourself as effortlessly acceptable when in all reality you have to try, just like the rest of us. 

The cool girl is a myth made up to comfort people scared of all the emotional, insecure, crazy women roaming this earth. Stay safe out there.

But for real, I think it’s time we stop pretending that life isn’t scary sometimes. Being a person can be awkward, stressful, and straight-up uncool.

And everybody is just trying their best. Unless they’re a cool girl. Because cool girls don’t try at all.