“That Girl” Trend: Major Orthorexia Vibes
This blog post was written by Kate Aragon, current dietetic intern at Saint Louis University. Find more of her work @kateskitchenette on Instagram.
If your TikTok for you page has been anything like mine has been lately, I’m sure you’ve seen your fair share of videos on how to be “That Girl” but is this trend just really a socially acceptable way of disguising orthorexia?
What does it mean to be That Girl? Bustle, an American online magazine, defines it well. They say,
“That girl wakes up and meditates on a yoga mat facing the sun. That girl makes her bed, blends a kale and matcha smoothie to drink with her avocado toast, and follows it up with a well-curated journaling session. That girl is the queen of romanticizing her life — the girl who naturally has all her sh*t together.”
The trend began to inspire other women to be their healthiest, most productive selves (and get likes). If that truly were the case, then that would probably be something that I can get behind. But curating and publicizing a 30-second summarization of only the best, most aesthetically-pleasing parts of your day is misleading and deceitful at best. And that’s my overall problem with the That Girl trend.
But, let’s break it down for a second. Here are four reasons why the “That Girl” trend is providing more harm than good to women online.
#1: It gives me major orthorexia vibes
Cutaway all the dreamy made bed shots, burning candles, skincare routines and you are left with a very similar pattern of food. It includes a lot of egg white omelets, matcha lattes, “clean ingredients”, and low-calorie meals. Of course, this is all under the guise of a lifestyle change and each girl in the video is showing us how we can become “that girl” if we just eat healthier and exercise. Easy right?
Meh, what I see is a glorification of whole foods, no junk, clean ingredients. What a lot of us scrolling through Instagram or Tik Tok don’t stop to think is that these girls likely already had this body shape/size before adopting this lifestyle. Their body size/shape is largely due to genetics; not an iron-clad willpower to only eat clean and do Pilates every day.
While drinking green juice and doing Pilates is by no means harmful, a lifestyle that aims to follow a strict “healthy eating pattern” can be. It could lead to orthorexia, a term that literally means fixation on righteous eating. According to NEDA, “Orthorexia starts out as an innocent attempt to eat more healthfully, but orthorexics become fixated on food quality and purity. They become consumed with what and how much to eat, and how to deal with slip-ups.”
Eventually, food choices become so restrictive, both in variety and calories, that health suffers- an ironic twist for a person so completely dedicated to healthy eating. Orthorexia is not a diagnosable eating disorder and is often one that is socially acceptable. I would encourage you to ask yourself if the relationship with food “that girl” is showing you is one to aspire to.
Learn more about the “grey area” of eating disorders and orthorexia in this blog post.
#2: It continues to praise the thin, white ideal
The “That Girl” trend pushes a unified, one-size-fits-all ideal of what your “best self” should look like. Unfortunately, that image comes from a very narrow and privileged perspective.
Achieving one’s goals and being one’s most-productive self is applicable for everyone, and yet, many demographics are excluded from that ideal. Mothers are not represented as That Girl; students in the middle of finals are not represented as That Girl; women outside of a specific socioeconomic bracket are not represented as That Girl.
This is because creators are aware of what type of content gets views, likes, and attention. They know what type of content has the potential to go viral — thin, white, middle- to upper-class women.
Furthermore, I would argue that the trend pushes the narrative that disordered eating habits are accepted in society. These videos mostly showcase what That Girl eats, and how/how much That Girl exercises. By doing this, these creators are implicitly saying that in order to be accepted into society, you must only eat healthy, aesthetically-pleasing “whole” foods, exercise every day, and live in a small, privileged body. The goal then no longer becomes to increase your productivity but to look good and appear “healthy”, which has the potential to fuel orthorexic tendencies.
#3: It can raise feelings of guilt and inadequacy
Creators are aware that building good habits will look different for everyone. We all have different goals in life, and (more importantly) we are all in different stages in life. Therefore, achieving those said goals will appear differently for everyone.
A 30 second TikTok looses the the nuance of individuality. As a consequence, the videos of being That Girl then become a staged copy-and-pasted formula to gain likes; waking up early, drinking a green smoothie, yoga, etcetera etcetera.
Want to be That Girl? You must be able to do XYZ. Fall out of that description, and you’re out.
Girls and women find their peers on social media, and content like this perpetuates a clear route for comparison. Science tells us that prolonged comparison over social media can impact self-esteem, and increase the damage of anxiety, depression, and stress. And they say this content is supposed to be “inspirational”?!
I urge you to continue your morning workout routine if it brings you joy and helps you feel confident to take on the work/school day ahead. However, I want to validate the people out there who don’t have that kind of time/money/flexibility.
This overly-simplified idea of how to live life completely ignores the stresses and problems that millions of people go through; and you shouldn’t feel ashamed for not fitting into that romanticized idea. You don’t need to change anything if you don’t want to or if it doesn’t help you in your mental health journey. You are not failing just because your life doesn’t look like That Girl’s.
#4: It’s unrealistic
Okay, maybe it’s just me, but waking up at 5am everyday to do yoga seems a little utopian. Some of us are morning people, and some of us aren’t. One isn’t “better” than the other — it’s just one of the many characteristics that make us unique.
Plus, life happens! There are countless reasons why I may stay up later than usual. I would much rather get a full night’s worth of sleep, than force myself to wake up before the sun rises just to make an elaborate breakfast.
This is why keeping convenience foods at home is key. LIFE HAPPENS. That Girl might like to say that she has time to make an avocado toast every morning. But (just like everyone else) the time will come when That Girl will press snooze one too many times. And then what? Rather than skipping breakfast altogether, she could quickly put together a breakfast with toaster waffles with peanut butter.
But That Girl will never show you that day in her life! Trust me, those days happen to everyone, but those videos won’t go viral. Social media is nothing but a highlight reel of someone’s life. Creators won’t let you know when they’re taking a break from their That Girl routine.
So is “that girl” a socially acceptable way to engage in orthorexia?
The bottom line is: Being That Girl is subjective. Make it your own! Self-improvement appears differently for all of us, and most of the time it’s not glamorous. Everyday can feel special without the load of self-comparison, guilt, and anxiety weighing you down.
Of course not every girl posting these videos is struggling with orthorexia but I think it’s toxic in it’s own way for everyone watching. And it has the potential to push someone who is already in a vulnerable spot with food and exercise that way.
If you, or someone you know is struggling with anxiety around food, self-image, or body comparison/body checking, or orthorexia I advise you to seek out the help of a licensed healthcare professional.
