The It Girl Downfall
The concept of the It girl has always been under scrutiny. Full of sex appeal, class and modern beauty, It girls carry themselves in a way that makes everyone’s hearts flutter while simultaneously filling with envy.
Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and Zendaya—just to name a few—are some of the hottest names in entertainment discourse and current beauty trends. These fashionable socialites appear flawless in every aspect.
With all of this in mind, it can’t help but make us wonder why one of their own rejects the powerful title. Emma Chamberlain, a beauty and lifestyle influencer who grew in popularity by reaching out to the Gen Z audience, compared it to high school language.
“To me, it gets a little toxic,” Chamberlain said in a March interview with Byrdie. “I’m not saying I don’t like the concept of an It girl, or the actual It girls, but there is something a little exclusionary about it to me that I don’t like. We’re adults!”
Maybe Emma has a point—the entire concept of an It girl is a tad bit exclusive. The idea of one person standing out much more than others can make us regular girls feel less than desirable. It’s amazing to see women uplifting other women, but not by pinning us against each other.
I’d argue that the term even feeds off of our insecurities. The only way to be seen as a symbol of beauty and power must be to emulate the women the internet holds as the most beautiful of our time, forgo all previous individuality we presented. What Emma said is important. Even if we aspire to be It girls ourselves, those beauty and social standards are impossible to reach.
The It girls of our time are powerful and attractive, but how we compare them with ourselves and others should be looked at through a more critical lens—perhaps by appreciating their beauty and desiring our own.
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