Many people believe that there are four waves of feminism, and that the fourth wave takes place in present day as a result of the #MeToo movement. Others believe that in modern times it is just a continuation of the third wave of feminism, which encompassed inclusivity and intersectionality, as well as “rebellion instead of reform” as according to Sarah Pruitt in “What Are the Four Waves of Feminism?”  

Despite these contradictions, there may be a new wave of feminism that is in our midst, and it may be due to TikTok and “girl” trends, such as “girl dinner,” “girl bedroom,” and “girl math.” 

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir is a critical piece of feminist theory, where de Beauvoir accounts for all the inequalities that women face not only during her time period, but throughout history as well.  

“[T]he whole of feminine history has been man-made. Just as in America there is no Negro problem, but rather a white problem; just as anti-Semitism is not a Jewish problem, it is our problem; so the woman problem has always been a man problem,” said de Beauvoir. 

She draws the comparison of women to other oppressed groups, such as Black people in America or the Jewish in Europe, pointing out that while these groups are oppressed just as women are, they are a minority and women are not. Because of this, men and women need each other to coexist.  

Furthermore, while women have had waves of feminism in order to speak out and fight against their inequality within society, de Beauvoir’s writing points out that African Americans and the Jewish are able to unify because of this discrimination and oppression. This means they are able to connect within their culture and unify as a stronger group to fight for their cause.  

Because women are not in this minority and instead are made up of such intersectionality, i.e. there are Jewish women, Black women, white women, etc., they do not have an overarching culture to connect and unify them as a group.  

However, TikTok influencer Madison Wild, @madisonxwild, discusses in a video with over half a million views how she believes women are now able to unify in a way that they were not able to before.  

“We realize that the whole, like ‘girl dinner’ trend, ‘girl bag,’ ‘girl fucking bathroom,’ ‘girl driving’… girl is being used as an adjective instead of a noun. And girl is completely different from feminine. We’ve developed an entirely new sense of identity for ourselves that is outside the framework of what is meant to be feminine,” said Wild.  

Wild also mentions de Beauvoir and women’s past inability to unify as an oppressed group.  

“The fact that “girl” has so much information behind it in your brain of what it means says so much about this huge identity that we’ve created for ourselves,” said Wild, and continues later, “[De Beauvoir writes that] Women have had no identity of their own. We’re an oppressed group that doesn’t have an identity or a culture or a religion to tie us together.” 

I’ve seen a video on my TikTok before with no words, only short clips, of a girl’s disheveled bedroom entitled “girl bedroom” in the caption, and I was able to relate to that video. My bedroom is in a constant state of what I call “controlled chaos,” and it gave me a sense of belonging, and I felt like I was seen as I looked through the comments and seeing hundreds of thousands of other girls saying they could relate as well.  

Many people think that these “girl” trends are sexist—that “girl math” is a way to justify bad financial decisions under the excuse of “oops, I’m just a girl.” However, as I see it, women are able to unify and identify with each other under these experiences that they describe as “girl.” While social media is shrouded with the picture-perfect ideal of an influencer, TikTok pushes “normal” girls onto our pages and helps build the narrative that women no longer need to seek this man-made ideal of femininity, and rather build our own. 

Women don’t have to be delicate or put together to be a “woman,” they can be messy, they can make bad financial decisions, or good ones. They can have a messy bedroom and have too many clothes. They can cut their own bangs in their bathroom or dye their hair red because they’re upset. They can show us the ten different lip glosses that are in their bag for no reason, and know that there is another girl out there that can relate to her. They can have a diet coke and a cheese stick and call that “girl dinner.” Or, a girl can post a picture of a celebrity, such as Ryan Reynolds, and call that “girl dinner,” and know that girls are going to be able relate to both under the definition of “girl dinner.” 

“Girl” is now a way for women to identify with each other because of something they created, rather than the oppressive stereotypes and ideals that were created for them by men. And because of this unification of women under their own identity, we just might see a new wave of feminism arise.