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Why do we love girl scammers?

It seems as though every week there is a new docuseries on the girl-scammer of the month. Some popular examples include fake heiress Anna Delvey, self-proclaimed Internet scammer Caroline Calloway, and Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. After living through the decade of the #girlboss, the term coming from NastyGal founder Sophia Amuroso’s book on how to empower yourself by outsourcing the production of polyester crop tops to girls in the global south, many women, particularly Gen Z, don’t want to pander to corporations under the guise of empowerment. Young women do not want to play a game that they will never win, so they decide to cheat instead. I believe the smoke that the girlscammer inferno was approaching was the parodying of the once hailed #girlboss, with memes such as “gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss” becoming popular on Twitter and TikTok. The shtick got old fast, but the attitude towards the corporate appropriation of feminism did not. Scammers have been a subject of fascination for years, such as white frat boys’ concerning idolization of Jordan Belfort. However when watching the Wolf of Wall Street, many young women find it difficult to cheer on the protagonist? because his consolation prize is women’s bodies.  With girl scammers, however, women are able to cheer on and perhaps even see a bit of themselves in those positions. There is a current trend on TikTok called the #femalemanipulator in which women teach each other how to manipulate men for power, money, and adoration. They often use many of the tactics that men have been using on women, and add a feminine twist. An example of this is making him insecure about your loyalty, or making it seem as though you could have him “replaced” easily. Obviously, this is not a healthy reaction to women’s resentment towards contemporary relationship dynamics. However, it is clear that young women on social media are retaliating against patriarchy in both the economy and society by breathing men at their own game.

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Christian Girl Autumn and the good-for-you Politics of Social Media

In 2022 a Twitter user posted a photo of Vermont-based influencer Caitlin Covington and her friend Emma Gemma donning chunky sweaters, skinny jeans, and boots in a warm-toned autumn wonderland with the caption “Christian Girl Autumn”, a play on the then viral trend of hot girl summer (the name came from a Meg Thee Stallion song). Quickly, Twitter users pounced. First, there was vitriol: claims that these were the types of girls who bullied them as children, who were homophobic, racist, fatphobic, etc., who peaked in high school, who were stuck in suburbia married with kids at 25. However, the narrative began to twist into a contrived “good for them” mentality in which Twitter users claimed that they wished they could be as happy and carefree as these women. Unlike other Internet aesthetics I have covered in these posts, Christian Girl Autumn is more of an anthropological definition of a past-phenomenon (like twee and inside-sleaze), rather than an identification for a clan of people who identify with similar aesthetic sensibilities. On Twitter and TikTok, most of the people who use the term “Christian Girl Autumn” post the same photos of Caitlin Covington and her friends. The characteristics of the aesthetic include oversized knitwear, infinity scarfs, knit hats (bonus points for pom pom), knee-high suede boots, skinny jeans, flat-brim hats, the Celine luggage tote, neutral colors, warm tones, and loud autumn scenery. Instead of adopting these visuals, users either comment on Caitlin’s photos or parody her in a spiteful way. I’m not so much interested in this aesthetic, but rather the “good for you” attitude of those who repost Christian Girl Autumn photos. The whole “I wish I could be this carefree”, “They seem so happy”, “They are so pure and I am so unhinged” mentality surrounding the discourse is incredibly passive aggressive. If the users really meant this, they would be trying to incorporate Christian Girl Autumn into their own lives like they do with other aesthetics. Explicit snobbery has become uncool in self-proclaimed alt communities, so they have to feign their disdain by claiming envy for lifestyles they detest. 

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Latina girl core/ Mexican fairy core/ Catholic core

As the title of this post suggests, what I will be describing is more of a trending aesthetic sensibility than a clearly identifiable hashtag such as #cottagecore or #darkacademia. I noticed the influence of Latin American Catholicism first in fashion in brands such as Mirror Palais and Willy Chavaria: both designers are latino and their Spring/Summer 2023 show took place in a Catholic church. On TikTok, the stylings associated with the above aesthetics often include long ruffled low-rise skirts paired with dainty crop tops, rosaries on neck or waist, white, cotton, two-piece maxi skirt ensembles, gold jewelry (particularly hoop earrings), and scarves and flowers as hair accessories. The visuals include catholic churches, crosses as wall decoration, white lace, warm-tones, and hair ribbons. Evidence for consolidating the tree aesthetics is the fact that these visuals appear when searching for either, hence if there is little to no aesthetic distinction between aesthetics what makes them different? I say not much. I was expecting to find a lot of controversy and accusations of cultural appropriation under the #latinacore and #mexicanfairycore, however most of the people who used them were latina. Most of the accusations of appropriation were made by non-latina white people under #catholicore. Oh the irony of catholics being angry about cultural appropriation when it's been the church’s favorite conversion tactic for centuries. I find the catholic angle of the aestheticization of latinamerican imagery very interesting since TikToks hashtagged #catholiccore use latinamerican cultural catholicism instead of a European catholicism. For example, in addition to Selmya Hayek and Danelia Garza, another ubiquitous latina in the aesthetic is the Virgin of Guadalupe. According to a legend written in Nahuatl, the image of the Virgin Mary appeared in 1531 to a Mexican man named Juan Diego and spoke to him in Nahuatl. The legend helped popularize catholicism amongst a resistant ethnically Aztec and Mayan Mexican population. I believe that Mexican catholicism is so aesthetically appealing because it is a mixture of indigenous and European catholic influences, hence it has the grandeur gothic European churches and the rich colors of Mexican life such as bright marigolds and painted skulls. Additionally, Gen Z is the least religious generation yet, and the visuals of Mexican catholicism offer the visual splendor of religion without the conservatism and shame.

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Meg Superstar Princess

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A woman who’s persona is the rejection of contemporary aesthetic sensibilities, Meg Superstar Princess (Meg) is a 24 year old living in Manhattan with a large following on Instagram and TikTok. Every aspect of her aesthetic contrasts with the mainstream: messy side-parted hair, racoon-like eyeliner, heavy cigarette consumption, mis-matched, unflattering ensembles (her staples include low-waist denim shorts, fur coats, ballet flats, flat-brim snapbacks, and Chanel purses), and seemingly unedited, low-effort, low-quality images and videos. She films her TikToks on a pay-by-the-month Android she purchases from Best Buy (she claims she has gone through over 20). In her TikToks she appears manically vain, posing and dancing around various locations or hovering the camera above her head to contort her face. The charm of such videos is not only the rejection of trying to show off your face and body incognito-style (clothing try-ons, lip-synching, etc), but also their grainy and blurry quality. In an age when people film apology videos with the beauty filter on, it's a breath of fresh air to watch Meg contort her unattractively thin body on double speed inside her smoky, grimy, and dark Lower East Side studio. Another interesting aspect of her aesthetic is how she incorporates early 2010s Internet blogger sensibilities into her look. As mentioned previously, she loves to carry a Chanel flap bag, trots around town in ballet flats, adores Audrey Hepburn (she views her as a source of inspiration), and peppers her post with French (she does not speak French). What I love about her is how she does not fall neatly into a category. Some may argue that her look is heavily inspired by indie-sleaze, but I disagree. Indie-sleaze, in addition to Y2K, are not truly the revival of a former style, but rather another flavor of what we already know and like. People will label a makeup-look indie-sleaze by virtue of a smokey eye on a baked-countured-liquid-lip-falsies beat. Meg’s look feels true because she is not inspired by a simulacrum of the early 2010s, but rather the actual figures of the time such as Kate Moss, Cory Kennedy, and Sky Ferreira.

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Russian/Slavic Bimbo Core

The Russian/Slavic Bimbo is an aesthetic trend that became popular on TikTok in 2022 and 2023. The visual markers include: heavy furs, ushankas, neutral colors (particularly whites and creams), snow boots, grainy images, and eerie backgrounds. As the name suggests, this aesthetic is heavily associated with former Soviet countries in Eastern Europe, or rather an American fantasy of these nations. This aesthetic follows a growing American fascination with Eastern Europe within the past few years. In 2019, A$AP Rocky released “Babushka Boi'' and donned a floral head scarf tied below the chin in the traditional style of a slavic grandmother. In fashion, designers such as Demna Gvasalia, Gosha Rubchinskiy, and Lotta Volkova have incorporated their slavic heritage into their designs. However, the Russian Bimbo harkens back to a bygone era of furry fashion that has largely disappeared. The aesthetic combines y2k bimbo sensibilities (such as micro-mini skirts and chunky boots) and a fantasy of a Soviet princess. Interestingly, the aesthetic is embraced by slavic girls as well, but they tend to take a more authentic approach and use their mothers’ and grandmothers’ clothing to achieve the look. Non-slavic American girls are more likely to emphasize the bimbo over the Russian and pair a micro two piece skirt set with a acrylic ushanka. In addition to the y2k bimbo trend, the Russian Bimbo also plays on the sugar baby glorification on TikTok. There exists a stereotype of Russian women as transactional when it comes to romance and sex, which provides them with a luxurious lifestyle. Similar mentalities exist within trends such as “female manipulator” and “tradwife”. It seems as though young women have rejected the “girlboss” narrative and have decided that if they are going to be sexualized anyways, might as well lean into it and get a fur coat out of it. Of course, this is an oversimplification of a far more complex gender dynamic that exists in Eastern Europe, but the romanization of this stereotype certainly plays a role in the popularity of the aesthetic. Lastly, a theory I have about the appeal of European ethnic cultures such as Scandi-chic, French girl and this Slavic Bimbo is an ability to pull influence from other cultures without the fear of being accused of cultural appropriation. In the 2010s when cultural appropriation became a buzz-word, the accused included Selena Gomez for Indian-inspired performances, bindi-wearing Coachella girls, a teenage girl who wore a qi-pao to her prom, and many more. People have looked to other cultures for inspiration for millennia, and there exists no “pure culture” that has not incorporated aspects from many others. I believe the Russian bimbo aesthetic is so appealing because it offers the satisfaction of the exotic without the fear of being called a racist.