Written by Sara Kristine Castor Hulbæk
Today, we get influenced by other people’s fashion choices, ways of being ,and also what others choose to show on their social media. TikTok and Instagram are the two most popular social media today. Especially young people get their inspiration from celebs or influencers that they follow on these platforms. Some get so inspired that they copy their styling or they start using the same products as these people to be like them. ‘Clean Girl Aesthetic’ is a trending hashtag on TikTok and Instagram, where primarily young, white girls post about being ‘Clean Girls’. A ‘Clean Girl’ does her workout or yoga routine every morning, drinks her green juice, is independent and self-reflecting, looks flawless with her ‘no-makeup’ makeup, uses the right skincare products ,and wears expensive clothing. You have to fulfill these criteria to be a real ‘Clean Girl’. Is this trend contributing to the inequality in our society and how can this be seen as cultural appropriation? We’ll have a look at that in this article.
‘Clean Girls’ have expensive taste and requirements. The community of ‘Clean Girl Aesthetic’ posts about specific skincare, makeup ,and clothing brands. When followers watch their posts about these products, they tell between the lines, that to be a ‘Clean Girl’, you have to use these products. Pierre Bourdieu, a French sociologist, explains in his theories, that we can have both economic and cultural capital. To be a ‘Clean Girl’, you have to have both. You need to have specific material goods and the right financial situation to be able to buy what’s required to be a part of the ‘Clean Girl’ community. But you also have to have cultural capital in the form of knowledge about empowerment, gratitude ,and self-reflection. Besides that, you also have to look like the rest of the ‘Clean Girls’ on SoMe. You have to be skinny, white and have the looks of a runway model. These criteria of looks exclude several types of people in our society, which can result in a feeling of not being good enough and not fitting in. Furthermore, the trend invites people to contribute to the consumption of fashion without it being necessary. People will buy certain products and clothing to fit into the 'Clean Girl Aesthetic' and not because of need or necessity.
Chelsea Calderario, a writer for an online magazine, illuminates the issue with ‘Clean Girl Aesthetic’. She questions the name of the trend. If you do not fit into the role of a ‘Clean Girl’, are you then considered ‘dirty’? and what does that even mean? Second, she also emphasizes the criteria for being a ‘Clean Girl’ and that it only speaks to a very specific group of people.
But how is this cultural appropriation? To be a part of ‘Clean Girl Aesthetic’, you have to be a certain way, use specific products and fashion brands and look a certain way. If you do not fit the role, then you cannot be seen as an original ‘Clean Girl’, which is what young girls aim to be. And young girls aim to be a part of the community because they want to be like influencers and other popular people that they follow on SoMe. Therefore you can argue that the trend of ‘Clean Girl Aesthetic’ is a sign of Cultural Appropriation and that it contributes to the feeling of inequality in our society.
Sources:
Bourdieu in Paterson, M. (2006). Consumption and Identity: Manufacturing Choice. In M. Paterson, Consumption and Everyday Life (pp. 36-57). Taylor & Francis.
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