In the cultural moment of Taylor Swift, Derry Girls, and Megan Thee Stallion’s Hot Girl Summer, girlhood is coming into focus, uplifting femininity rather than hiding it in an attempt to escape its constraints. At uni, where you’re thrust into new social situations with new people, there is a desire to be seen as approachable and ‘nice’. Simultaneously, you’re on nights out, hitting milestones, tumbling through relationships, and having experiences you’ve never had before. It is only natural to desire and develop close friendships, and these are people you become fiercely protective of.
It is only natural to desire and develop close friendships, and these are people you become fiercely protective of.
But the girls’ girl is fiercely protective of not just her friends, but of strangers, and even of girls she doesn’t get on with; she’s a feminist, she’s honest, and she rejects jealousy wholeheartedly. Late at night, she’d make sure you got home safely, she’d tell you if she saw your boyfriend with someone else, and she uplifts her friendships with girls no matter what.
The ‘girls’ girl’ was born of hyperfeminine trends; some find it reductive to use ‘girl’ as a prefix for daily activities - think ‘maths, dinner, walk,’ - with some trends (like Amoruso’s ‘girlboss’) becoming synonymous with the stereotypes they aimed to dispel. But identifying as a ‘girl’s girl’ is also a reaction to the seemingly hopeless world we live in, as women face spiking, debates about abortion rights, and Ozempic; perhaps a community-focused identity like the ‘girl’s girl’ will call for women to stick together and protect one another. Perhaps it will help the world feel a little more united.
Perhaps a community-focused identity like the ‘girl’s girl’ will call for women to stick together and protect one another