What Type of Pretty Are You?

Scrolling through TikTok mindlessly reveals a troubling trend for young women. Photo from cottonbro studio via Pexels.

The internet is full of different types of content. Opening an app can be a gamble, one in which you never know what to expect. Recipes, outfit inspiration, celebrity gossip and now, which type of “pretty” you fit into. 

Deer pretty, squirrel pretty, frog pretty, fox pretty, clean girl, coastal grandma, or grunge girl, are just a few of the “Are you _ pretty?” categories, and to fit into any of these, it all depends on your face and body shape, makeup routine, the clothes you wear and even something as far of a stretch as what kind of car you drive. 

And now, the trend of categorizing the type of pretty or beauty category someone belongs to has flooded feeds on TikTok. The app's algorithm seems to crave these kinds of trends, even ones that can affect how we view ourselves inside and out. After seeing these videos, it's tempting to view yourself a little cock-eyed until you decide what category you fit into.  

For example, let's describe a girl who is “fox pretty.” To be qualified for this aesthetic, she would have to have, without exception, sharp facial features, black eyeliner and slim-build with long nails. If this person fits this sort of image, viewers on TikTok would immediately stick her in that box.

When diving deeper into the trend, it begs the question: Why must a woman’s beauty be categorized? Women go through enough in their daily lives, already trying their best to look and be their best, as America Ferrera so aptly summarized. The pressure women go through to fit in and stay with trends is exhausting. We go to social media for an escape, but all there seems to be is yet another place they need to try their best to now fit into a pointless category. 

Movements around body positivity and self-confidence are something that social media encourages, and companies like Victoria's Secret and Nike have even started taking action. But the same audience that encouraged this is also encouraging the microtrend of fitting into aesthetics. 

Insecurity is something everyone experiences, no matter the severity. Social media has, without a doubt, opened the doors for new insecurities that didn’t even occur to people until now. The underlying toxicity of this simple trend can change people’s outlook on themselves and go to extreme lengths to achieve the goal of a type of pretty. 

Now, it is easier than ever for someone to try their best to fit into a certain box. There has been an uproar of pre-teens pushing to fit into the “clean girl” aesthetic, buying adult face products and emptying the shelves at Sephora. It’s unfortunate that little kids now are trying so hard to grow up faster, and the evolution of how pre-teens act now because of these trends online is exhausting to witness. 

With microtrends like these, it's easy to assume that it will be gone by the time the snow melts and another trend will arise. Trends on TikTok come and go, and the next one will be unpredictable and forgettable just like this one.