The Cycle

By Samiyah

I keep reading the headlines: “Heroin chic is back again,” “Get ready for the grunge revival,” and Tumblr core is here to stay.” These things have one thing in common: the obsession with making women feel inadequate. On the surface, trends come in and out, but what happens when those trends become our bodies? 

The heroin chic tumblr era praised extremely thin, pale women above all as the pinnacle of beauty and desirability. To be frank, I love the style: from the frilly, girly princess core to the grungy New York socialite spin off. But with these styles coming back, it is less about the clothes and makeup and more about the unhealthy lifestyle littered with pro-ana content. I have already started to see the shift on TikTok. What I eat in a day, body checking, and idolized ballerina looking dolls is all the rage again, garnering hundreds of thousands of likes. Is it that women desire to shape shift themselves so much that we underlyingly crave something tangible to push ourselves into altering our own bodies more? Why do we agree to the shifting lens of perspective on the female body? 

I slightly think we do. Especially in our adolescence. We feel conflicted by our changing bodies, our sudden opinions, and aspirational desire. We long for something that gives us structure and for rules to follow. The thing is, when I see these posts I can laugh in a way knowing that they mean nothing. They are individuals preying on insecurity to make themselves feel less hollow. 

But after I laugh, I look back at twelve year old me. One who was too naive, too fragile, and too hard on herself. One who would believe this content and worship it until it hurts. For her, I will continue to press not interested, hit block, and report the accounts. All in a desperate attempt at saving the next 12 year old from a cycle of harmful trends that will never end.