The humorous phrase “20-year-old teenage girl” riddled social media for the latter half of 2023; women of all ages used it to joke that they still harbor the mentality of a teenager. While this phenomenon is lighthearted, it does pose the question of, are these women are immature, or are girls conditioned to take on a mature mindset before getting to fully experience their adolescence?
Recently, women have gone to social media to express their concern for the number of young girls seen shopping in Sephora. It’s been said that girls are picking up products containing retinol and other “anti-aging” ingredients, despite them being far from the intended customer age. Women have shared their worry toward these girls, wondering why they feel the need to use such products. Truth be told, this situation is a tale as old as time.
A significant part of girlhood is spent wanting to be older and seen as mature. Girls have always emulated the older women they see, whether it be secretly putting on their mother’s makeup, or even copying the way the hear TV characters speak. With the rise of adolescents with free internet access, exposure to content detailing extensive beauty routines is inevitable for girls. They are seeing women with extensive beauty routines across every social media platform, it is nearly inevitable that they feel the need to follow in suit. The unfortunate truth is that while young girls are attempting to seem more mature, there is a nearly equal number of women who would love to go back to their younger days.
Though girlhood is spent desiring to be an age where you are taken seriously and seen as mature, womanhood is spent longing for the days of carefree youth. For the past year, there have been consistent trends in women’s fashion that incorporate youthful motifs. The brand Sandy Liang is largely responsible for these trends. The brand’s clothes often adorn lace bows, pastel colors and flowy silhouettes. Women on social media share that they are “healing their inner girl” by finally letting themselves enjoy the things they denied their younger selves.
