Over the weekend cowboy boots and glitter filled the Indio desert to commence the iconic Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. One of the headliners for this year’s festival was No Doubt, led by Gwen Stefani, an artist who is mostly recognised for her solo career. Stefani is known for her unapologetic nature and being a strong female musician in a male-dominated field reflected in one of their biggest hits as a band: ‘Just a Girl’, written by Stefani and Tom Dumont. The song soon became a ‘riot girl’ anthem, a genre defined by the frustrations of women being expressed through punk music. However, with the song being nearly 30 years old is the message still relevant today, does it resonate with young girls in the same way, and do we have a duty to younger audiences to keep expressing our values explicitly?

With lyrics such as:

“Oh I’m just a girl, all pretty and petite

So don’t let me have any rights

Oh I’ve had it up to here”

It’s clear Stefani takes a satirical approach and exaggerates stereotypes often associated with women, then snaps out of this caricature of femininity to convey her frustrations towards these stereotypes. The song points out being stared at, not being safe to drive alone at night and how being a girl in a male- dominated society can feel like a burden. The message of this song resonated with a lot of young women of the 90s who were still struggling with societal expectations of femininity and sexism lingering after the 60s and 70s which tackled issues of equal work opportunities and female sexual autonomy. Today, nearly 30 years on, women are still tackling the stereotypes of femininity and objectification propelled by social media platforms that reward viral hate speech. Offline, recent events such as the overturning of Roe vs Wade in the US, and MPs rejecting the amendments to the new crime bill to make misogyny a hate crime in the UK, show a sustained culture of misogyny.

With this in mind, many young girls on social media platforms, especially TikTok, are interpreting this song in their own way. Still sticking with the sarcastic nature of the original meaning, there is an underlying element of sincerity which possibly is a symptom of the frustration with the ongoing issues women are facing. Phrases such as ‘girl math’, ‘girl dinner’, ‘I’m just a girl’ are being used to show an unapologetic lack of understanding or skill in parts of life and shared to bond women together through ‘girlhood’. Men and non-binary people aren’t excluded from this either. Anyone can buy themselves a treat and have it ‘not count’ as spending money because they deserve it, that’s simple ‘girl math’. But isn’t this what we were trying to avoid? Campaigns such as ‘like a girl’ were created with the intention to empower young girls and specifically call out the use of such phrases as sexist. Have we regressed back to using the word ‘girl’ as a synonym for incapable?

‘Boys will be boys’; a phrase that many would have heard growing up, is often said to excuse the misbehaviour or failures of young men, ranging from playing in the dirt to sexual assault. It seemed like a birth-given excuse for any mistakes a young (in a lot of cases not so young) man may make, if they don’t grow or change that's okay! It’s not his fault he’s a boy. This phrase has openly been critiqued recently but the sentiment isn’t something that can be unlearnt overnight. Instead, it appears that young women online have found an alternative, perhaps in retaliation. Many of the examples include women going to the mechanics, working at her first ‘big girl job’ or doing manual labour whilst complaining or not understanding what she’s doing because she’s ‘just a girl’. All these examples, however, are mostly associated with masculinity, and is a direct call out to how the patriarchy has failed women in preparing them for these areas in life. Instead of being ashamed, women are outwardly and unapologetically admitting to being uncomfortable in areas that have previously excluded women because we understand that it is not their fault. The shame should be with the patriarchy for still holding on to outdated standards. If boys will be boys, then girls will be girls.

Is this use of the phrase damaging? With debates surrounding weaponised incompetence in the household, ‘I’m just a girl’ can be seen as yet another double standard caused by generalising gender stereotypes and a justification for them. Alongside generalising stereotypes, these phrases also encourage a binary and heteronormative perspective on gender. However, I would argue that this simply reflects the dominant patriarchal ideologies still present, not a reflection of how women view themselves. It is a way for women to correct the idea that ‘girl’ is synonymous with incapable; in fact, we are merely uncomfortable in male dominated areas that we have historically been excluded from, because a girl is ‘all that you’ll let me be’. Therefore, why not use the stereotypes held against us to our advantage.

The potential issue of using satire to express this point is that there isn’t a guarantee that the audience will have the level of media literacy to understand the nuances of these phrases. Considering the platforms they are typically used on such as TikTok, most audiences will be younger individuals who are more likely to only see the surface level of ‘girl’ = silly or incapable. Therefore, is it ethical to express this way of thinking without full explanation as it can harm previous feminist values when mindlessly shared? Although this is a form of empowerment for young adult women, it may be confusing for younger generations and lead to messages becoming lost. There is an understandable anxiety felt by older feminists about the core values being lost amongst young feminists. That being said, younger generations are some of the main contributors to online content creation and consumption, therefore have significant knowledge on how attitudes are spread on online platforms. Trust is needed for younger generations to take a lead on discourse specifically around social media influence in feminism and attitudes towards women as they are the primary users.

The original meaning of the song has not been lost but adapted to fit the new attitudes of young women online. Starting a career or fixing a car are difficult things for everyone, but even more so for people who have been restrained by society in these areas, and they have every right to express this. Ideally in the next 30 years, areas of life won’t be restricted by gender or sex and society will stop categorising and generalising people. Until then, women are born with an innate responsibility to break glass ceilings built against them by the patriarchy and it’s exhausting, we’re allowed to express frustrations about that in whichever way we decide.

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