From poster girl Taylor Swift to Barbiemania and fashion’s bow obsession, girl culture is everywhere. But is this reclamation of girlhood a cause for celebration — or is modern life so hostile to adult women that they’re escaping into a fantasy version of their youth?
Girl culture is at its peak
The girls are girling. They’re eating girl dinner, doing girl math, going on hot girl walks and documenting their ‘tomato girl’ or ‘clean girl’ or ‘rat girl’ lifestyles on TikTok. They’re dolling themselves up in puffy party frocks and Mary-Janes with frilly ankle socks. They’re swapping friendship bracelets at Taylor Swift concerts and, after making Barbie the biggest success in Irish box office history, they’re rooting for the pink-powered film to take home the gold at next month’s Oscars.
We are in a boom time of girl culture, as adult women are revisiting real and fantasy versions of their youth — now with their own disposable income.
