The Demonization of Hyper-Femininity
In 2022, Nylon magazine published their article, Hyperfemininity Isn’t A Trend — It’s A Movement, where author and fellow girly girl Caroline Reilly discusses the comeback of hyper-femininity and how its reemergence is a powerful feat for women who want to express their femme side. The ’90s and 2000s were the golden age of all things glittery, pink, and Hello Kitty. Brands like Juicy Couture, Victoria's Secret, and Limited Too were thriving and celebrities like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie were admired for their femininity.
For decades, mass media, culture, and society have demonized hyper-femininity and have created negative stereotypes and tropes, such as “not like other girls,” “pick me girls,” the “mean girl,” and “dumb blonde” or “bimbo.” Movies like Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, The House Bunny, and Clueless have perpetuated or worked to disprove those negative stereotypes.
Some say the demonization of the girly girl was partly the result of second-wave feminism. Second-wave feminism challenged traditional expectations and questioned roles that were placed on women. The media and societal pressures that objectified women or promoted unattainable beauty standards were criticized by feminists. They sought to eliminate preconceived notions that a woman's value was determined by how she looked. This movement presented many positive changes, but the girly girls were left behind. In this context, being hyper-feminine meant holding women back. Unfortunately, women felt they had to relinquish femininity in order to be taken seriously or treated as equals.
Thanks to Hollywood, girly girls or hyper-feminine women are seen as mean girls, airheads, and the background noise to the “not like other girls” protagonist. Femininity is a wide spectrum and, at times, Hollywood associates girly girls with a Barbie doll aesthetic. Other times, hyper-femininity and villainess are often linked, making the girly girl appear one dimensional as she only cares about makeup, bubblegum pop, shopping, the color pink, and is seen with no real substance. Women can love makeup, care about their appearance, the color pink, and fashion, while also being intelligent, kind-hearted, and hardworking.
Movies like Mean Girls and Clueless send the message that women aren’t allowed to take an interest in their appearance and be charismatic, because it can be an indicator of her meanness. They are often viewed as dumb or ditsy and are expected to undergo a transformation to be viewed in a positive light worthy of respect.
Filmmakers are known for giving female leads stereotypically unfeminine interests and hobbies in order to make them look like the main characters that we can all relate to and take seriously. The protagonist who the writer wants the audience to have an emotional connection to is often coupled with girly girls as accessories or background noise. The girly girl is used to draw your eyes away from any flaws the female protagonist may have. For example, in New Moon, Jessica Stanley (Anna Kendrick) is often in the background talking about prom and boys, while Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is depressed due to her codependency on Edward Cullen (Robert Patterson).
It makes it seem like the girly girl’s priorities are unimportant and shallow, making them automatically discounted. A girl’s girliness makes it seem like there's something wrong with them that makes them less than. Legally Blonde and High School Musical’s protagonists Sharpay Evans and Elle Woods are perfect examples that you can embrace your girliness and also be intelligent and a hard worker.
As a 90s kid who grew up in the 2000s, I was obsessed with the color pink, glitter, Hello Kitty, Juicy Couture, basically all things girly. However, growing up as a teenager in the 2010s, I very quickly saw how people demonized hyper-feminine women. Being a young teenage girly girl, many people viewed me as shallow and vain without taking the time to have conversations and get to know me.
It was hard to have joy in your femininity because you had media and peers who weren’t “girly” basically poke fun at you for it, or you were seen as materialistic, selfish, and vain. For women who want to embrace their girliness or femininity, they are caught denying themselves the pleasure of being girly and wearing pink for the sake of being taken seriously. However, due to the pandemic, the girly girl and hyper-femininity had a rise in 2020 again, since people stayed at home all the time and it was seen as a form of escapism. Once again, women are embracing hyper-femininity and what it means to be a girly girl. Whether you love to dress in all pink and embrace your inner Sharpay Evans or love wearing darker colors, true power comes from embracing who you are unapologetically.
