It seems the notion of girlhood is in constant evolution, and in our digital age, social media has facilitated the creation of increasingly niche subcultures. So much so, the very idea of being incomprehensible, or “esoteric”, has become an identity for many young women online. I myself was appealed by this space, filled with traditionally masculine literature, but I could not understand what had changed in the perception of these writers. There was something else I could not put my finger on; in an era where misogyny seems more rife than ever, why do women desire to be seen as a psychological threat?

Upon reflection, I think that this is primarily an attack on historical perceptions of women. Even from the beginnings of the literary canon, you can see the archetype of the evil seductress, like Circe in the Odyssey who turns men into pigs. Another examples, mentioned by the Instagram influencer @joan.of.arca when I interviewed her, are biblical figures such as Salome and Lilith. This demonstrates how deeply rooted into society these one-dimensional portrayals are. This “reclamation of this sort of femininity”, as she says, challenges these narratives, both in published works (such as Madeline Miller’s novel Circe), but also in the casual form of “girlblogger” memes, where women identify with figures such as Lilith.

The extension to other male writers such as Kafka, Nietzsche, and Dostoyevsky, is emblematic of a wider movement to question the masculine literary canon, and push back against stereotypes by hyperbolising them. Another Instagram creator I spoke to @paglianhorror, states “if men will not discuss these things with us, we will discuss it with each other”. This statement resonated with me, as it shows that women do not need to find value though being platformed in male spaces, as they can create it themselves. They can construct a fluid and ambiguous form of identity outside the gender binary. The notion of the “thought daughter” fits in here, as it implies a priority not on who we are, but how we conceptualise the world. In terms of being seen as psychologically terrifying, @joan.of.arca sees it as “the idea of victimizing men, instead of being victimized by them”. In this way, references to biblically-accurate angels or the “maneater” trope allow women to be seen without regarding the male gaze.

But if these ideas are dependent on mass production through informal memes, do they have any longevity? For @rosabellediary, the final person I interviewed, the answer is clear: absolutely. She states that the “consumers [of this trend] evolve and change constantly”, and this is certainly true, with the notion of girlhood being passed down and adapted through generations of daughters. Ultimately, while girlhood may take different forms in the future, I believe it will shift away from being a response to maledominated society and begin to craft its own space. Women do not want to be accepted by men. In fact, they are not concerned by them at all. Women are becoming unknowable because when men cannot understand them, their identity can finally be their own.