White women try to "reclaim power" through #vanillagirl and #cleangirl beauty posts??

[Anonymous]

I was listening to NPR yesterday while doing chores, and the "It's Been a Minute" segment came on.

They interviewed a Buzzfeed reporter, Steffi Cao, who has written that white women feel they've lost some of their political/power/beauty influence, and these #cleangirl and #vanillagirl trends are an attempt to reclaim some of that.

To kick it off, host Brittany Luse chats with Buzzfeed News internet reporter Steffi Cao about her essay, "white women want their power back: on bbls and balletcore, and the entropy of aesthetic." After scrolling on Instagram Reels, Steffi noticed that the clean girl, coastal grandmother and – most importantly – the vanilla girl trends are all ushering in a very specific aesthetic. Brittany and Steffi talk beauty as soft power and the rebrand of white womanhood.
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/28/1166458384/the-vanilla-girl-trend-shows-that-beauty-is-power

I just sat listening, incredulous, to the entire interview. It was the most bizarre thing I have ever listened to on NPR.

For context, I'm in my mid 50s, white, and have always liked minimalist everything. Minimal makeup, minimal manicure, etc. Other than perhaps my age, I'm everything she is talking about.

Having said that, since there has been a consistent push against cultural appropriation (which she touches on with the Kardashians and Miley Cyrus), I find it puzzling that she finds negative intent[b] in just being stereotypically white. She may find it boring, but I'm not sure why she thinks it's an attempt at a power grab.

I'm 100% behind centering women of color without appropriating their innovation and creativity as my own. But that doesn't mean if white women (mostly white, because there are some women of color posting in some of these trends) are posting about oval nails, delicate jewelry, or scandi home decor, it means they are trying to erase the popularity of other great content by women of color.

So, my question to the younger, more with-it crowd here, is this idea completely off its rocker, which is how it seems to me? Or am I missing some more nuanced cultural shift here?

[Anonymous]

Sounds like they posted their April Fool's podcast early.

[Anonymous]

Media exists to sell itself, in the immortal words of a Harry Potter character, OP.

It's a very frequent occurrence in media to identify a trend, then a posteriori ascribe an intent to it, when its individual contributors had no such intent whatsoever. But by doing so, the media CREATES that intent: new members will embrace the trend because it has the political or social overtones that reporters just bestowed on it.

Media: know its influence and power, for good or bad.

[Anonymous]

OP, I agree with you 100%.

It makes no sense because white women have never owned the beauty industry that markets to white women. It's always been controlled by white men. Yes, women sometimes wield soft power through fashion and beauty, but that's traditionally because they were locked out of other avenues of power. It's also largely been a source of power for wealthy white women only. Do people get that most white women are not wealthy? At all?

I think this is missing the forrest for the trees. Women of color have gained some economic power in recent years thanks to the rise of aesthetics that are accessible to women of color as well as several high profile companies owned by women of color (like Fenty beauty). I think if you are thinking of the industry in those terms only, and you see white women posting about coastal grandmother or whatever, you think "oh they are trying to take the aesthetic back."

But they never owned the aesthetic! Fashion and beauty companies have traditionally be run by and owned by white men and a handful of wealthy "chosen" white women, and that small group of extremely privileged people (most of whom are not even women) have dictated beauty standards for all women, including white women. It wasn't empowering, it was confining and limiting, by design.

Like oh my god, imagine thinking that white women have historically wielded real power via an industry that has, for most of its history, sought to make women look smaller, weaker, less capable, and dependent. This is an industry that invented high heels, corsets, 40-step beauty routines, hair styles that can't be slept on, clothing without pockets, and a billion other things that literally handicap women from functioning normally or efficiently. Good lord.

[Anonymous]

Considering the only current household name ballerina is black, associating balletcore with whiteness seems very silly. Anyway. I don’t think any of these aesthetic trends are uniquely white. They are probably uniquely UMC, but obviously it’s not only white people who are wealthy.

[Anonymous]

Less is more. Keep it simple, clean & elegant.

[Anonymous]

This is why I’ve basically stopped both NPR and Instagram. I can’t with all of this.

[Anonymous]

This seems like a dumb 20-24 year old thing (both posting vanilla girl nonsense and also feeling aggrieved by scandi home decor.) I would ignore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Considering the only current household name ballerina is black, associating balletcore with whiteness seems very silly. Anyway. I don’t think any of these aesthetic trends are uniquely white. They are probably uniquely UMC, but obviously it’s not only white people who are wealthy.

Misty Copeland is celebrated because of how incredibly unusual it is for a star ballerina to be black. Ballet is overwhelmingly associated with whiteness and thinness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was listening to NPR yesterday while doing chores, and the "It's Been a Minute" segment came on.

They interviewed a Buzzfeed reporter, Steffi Cao, who has written that white women feel they've lost some of their political/power/beauty influence, and these #cleangirl and #vanillagirl trends are an attempt to reclaim some of that.

To kick it off, host Brittany Luse chats with Buzzfeed News internet reporter Steffi Cao about her essay, "white women want their power back: on bbls and balletcore, and the entropy of aesthetic." After scrolling on Instagram Reels, Steffi noticed that the clean girl, coastal grandmother and – most importantly – the vanilla girl trends are all ushering in a very specific aesthetic. Brittany and Steffi talk beauty as soft power and the rebrand of white womanhood.
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/28/1166458384/the-vanilla-girl-trend-shows-that-beauty-is-power

I just sat listening, incredulous, to the entire interview. It was the most bizarre thing I have ever listened to on NPR.

For context, I'm in my mid 50s, white, and have always liked minimalist everything. Minimal makeup, minimal manicure, etc. Other than perhaps my age, I'm everything she is talking about.

Having said that, since there has been a consistent push against cultural appropriation (which she touches on with the Kardashians and Miley Cyrus), I find it puzzling that she finds negative intent[b] in just being stereotypically white. She may find it boring, but I'm not sure why she thinks it's an attempt at a power grab.

I'm 100% behind centering women of color without appropriating their innovation and creativity as my own. But that doesn't mean if white women (mostly white, because there are some women of color posting in some of these trends) are posting about oval nails, delicate jewelry, or scandi home decor, it means they are trying to erase the popularity of other great content by women of color.

So, my question to the younger, more with-it crowd here, is this idea completely off its rocker, which is how it seems to me? Or am I missing some more nuanced cultural shift here?

What chores were you doing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering the only current household name ballerina is black, associating balletcore with whiteness seems very silly. Anyway. I don’t think any of these aesthetic trends are uniquely white. They are probably uniquely UMC, but obviously it’s not only white people who are wealthy.

Misty Copeland is celebrated because of how incredibly unusual it is for a star ballerina to be black. Ballet is overwhelmingly associated with whiteness and thinness.

Cool, can you come up with a single while ballerina with similar levels of fame?

[Anonymous]

Holy crap, just read the Steffi Cao essay that the piece was predicated on, and... wow.

"The white girl’s soft power is in victimhood. And without it, they are unable to afford the luxuries of committing violence under the guise of it, as they have done for decades."

I, uh, am struggling with my allyship in this moment.

[Anonymous]

Gotta fill air time/create content. That's what this is.

[Anonymous]

It’s supposed to make people anger click and you all are falling for it. Don’t be racist and just go about your business without worrying the about the latest concern trolling article.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was listening to NPR yesterday while doing chores, and the "It's Been a Minute" segment came on.

They interviewed a Buzzfeed reporter, Steffi Cao, who has written that white women feel they've lost some of their political/power/beauty influence, and these #cleangirl and #vanillagirl trends are an attempt to reclaim some of that.

To kick it off, host Brittany Luse chats with Buzzfeed News internet reporter Steffi Cao about her essay, "white women want their power back: on bbls and balletcore, and the entropy of aesthetic." After scrolling on Instagram Reels, Steffi noticed that the clean girl, coastal grandmother and – most importantly – the vanilla girl trends are all ushering in a very specific aesthetic. Brittany and Steffi talk beauty as soft power and the rebrand of white womanhood.
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/28/1166458384/the-vanilla-girl-trend-shows-that-beauty-is-power

I just sat listening, incredulous, to the entire interview. It was the most bizarre thing I have ever listened to on NPR.

For context, I'm in my mid 50s, white, and have always liked minimalist everything. Minimal makeup, minimal manicure, etc. Other than perhaps my age, I'm everything she is talking about.

Having said that, since there has been a consistent push against cultural appropriation (which she touches on with the Kardashians and Miley Cyrus), I find it puzzling that she finds negative intent[b] in just being stereotypically white. She may find it boring, but I'm not sure why she thinks it's an attempt at a power grab.

I'm 100% behind centering women of color without appropriating their innovation and creativity as my own. But that doesn't mean if white women (mostly white, because there are some women of color posting in some of these trends) are posting about oval nails, delicate jewelry, or scandi home decor, it means they are trying to erase the popularity of other great content by women of color.

So, my question to the younger, more with-it crowd here, is this idea completely off its rocker, which is how it seems to me? Or am I missing some more nuanced cultural shift here?

They have. They should stop voting for politicians who hate all women.