Why the ‘Cool Girl Aesthetic’ Is Actually Just Capitalism

If you’re a girl, and you’re on TikTok, it’s very likely you’ve seen the ‘Cool girl aesthetic’ circulating.

Whether it be outfits, hairstyles (usually a slick back), drinking matcha, listening to certain

music, purchasing certain items, all material things that somehow make you desirable and

chic. Accompanying this checklist are an abundance of step by step guides of how to

become this ‘cool girl’.

Now, I get the desire to be cool, it’s normal to want people to look up to you, and for your life

to be effortlessly amazing — but is it really effortless if every aspect of your aesthetic is curated?

In a time where individuality is supposed to be celebrated, it seems like our identities are being manufactured for us. Worse so, we’re allowing our identities to become a commodity, something we can purchase, as opposed to develop.

Instead of letting our personalities be shaped by our experiences, and the influence of the people around us, it seems it has become normal to let online spaces such as TikTok decide for us — because of course you can’t be cool if you haven’t brought these new shoes, and that accessory? It’s the last trend cycle!

It’s quite sad to see really, however it’s just another facet of capitalism. Maybe a less alarming result than something like extreme rates of poverty, yet still shockingly normalised.

Capitalism thrives on the idea that everything can be a product, even the things that seem natural to us; it is because of this, that whole lifestyles can be subtly marketed to us, without us even realising.

Most people want to be cool, so if coolness is something you can buy, then it means corporations can make larger profits.

It’s why ads run rampant on apps like Pinterest, why our activity is tracked across platforms, why what seems to be a genuine video, is actually a paid partnership.

We’re not wrong for following it, not intentionally at least, rather a victim of a scheme most of us never realised we were a part of.

Our insecurities are played upon, because wanting to be someone else pays more than

simply being secure in ourselves. Security and individuality is the enemy of capitalism, so instead of indulging in what the internet is telling you to, indulge in what you actually like and enjoy, because the only kind of cool you should strive to be, is what you think is cool.

Written by, La’Keesha Stewart