Have you noticed that recently girls are trying so hard to be different, by mismatching outfit pieces, saying quirky things, and trying to have niche interests? It seems to be mainly 14-year-olds and above. As a 17-year-old, I’ve been doing it too.

This interesting phenomenon is popular on TikTok, where it has gained the name “weird girl aesthetic”. It’s a kind of rewrapped version of the “manic pixie dream girl” trope of the 2000s. The original refers to so-called “different” girls in film and TV, such as Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter, Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World or Phoebe Buffay from Friends.

This “weird girl” trend has appeared along with the resurfacing of a 2020 movie, Dinner in America. This coming-of-age dark comedy tells us the story of a neurodivergent girl Patty falling in love with her favourite punk rock musician Simon.

In the movie, Patty and Simon write a song called ‘Watermelon’ about their love for each other, and she later sings it to him. The song is catchy and easy to remember, which made it go viral on TikTok in Europe – thousands of girls filmed videos to this song, most stating in which ways they are a part of the “weird girl community”. Some also found the fact that being a “weird girl” is now popular amusing and bizarre, because they were bullied in their childhoods for being different.

One of the main reasons for this trend happening is teenage and young adult girls responding to the era of minimalism and beige culture, as well as the fact that people look more similar to one another due to everyone following the same beauty standards.

Girls are striving to have something that would make them stand out, and make them more admired by their peers. Undoubtedly, the young generation is as keen to challenge the norms as those before them were.

Who is this weird girl?

Her name is most certainly Amy (she tells everyone that it’s spelled “Aimee”, but it’s not). She buys all her clothes, like bright pink ripped tights and coats with absurd prints, from secondhand shops.

Her conservative parents won’t leave her and her colourful hair alone, even though they have already given up on lecturing her. She’s a reader and enjoys such feminist but also mysterious literature as Her Body and Other Parties and The Locked Tomb series.

After going for a few manipulative men, she realised her self-worth and is now more feminist. She tends to forget to think before she speaks, which has landed her in a few precarious situations before – however, it mostly gets a heartfelt giggle out of everyone.

She likes to spend time in her room, blasting either underground electro music, or hits of the 2000s. Aimee has a handful of posters on the walls, representing her niche interests, such as anime series that came out in the 1990s or equally old pixellated video games. Oh, did I mention that she cuts her own hair in the most bizarre way, too?

Nonetheless, we support Aimee. She can do whatever her heart desires, as we, women, should not take for granted the rights that we fought so vigorously for in the past. It took our society an enormous period of time to start seeing women as identities of their own rather than as just a man’s accessory, and now there are political forces that want to take that away from us.

The young women of our generation sense a feeling of uncertainty looking in the future – what if we lose our rights again?

The female gaze

Consequently, “weird girl” trend attunes with the female gaze, where women dress and behave not for men, but for themselves and other women. While the male gaze mainly objectifies women, the female one focuses on their true personality and complexes.

Overall, the “weird girl” trend is about young women trying to find their own identity in this busy world, separate from men’s opinion. Many “weird girls” either decide that it’s not for them or grow out of it, which is fine as they do not owe us anything, especially regarding the way they feel comfortable to behave in.

Society often shames so-called “weird girls” for many reasons – it’s either “you’re behaving that way just to seem unique”, “you’re trying too hard”, or even when these girls realise that this life is not for them, it’s “so it was all just a facade? If you’re like that, at least stick to it.”

We should let girls explore their personalities without judging them on every step of the way. We don’t need them to be palatable – we need them to be powerful.