Hobbies made a huge and welcomed comeback around 2020 when the pandemic led everyone to reconsider what truly sparks joy. The idea was to reclaim the things you do for fun, not money, and prioritize doing that as often as possible. Hobbies are officially back, this time with a twist. ‘Girl hobbies’ are making the rounds and prompting others to consider what the girlies do to have fun.
What To Know About Girl Hobbies
Girl hobbies are described as hobbies that women usually enjoy. The TikTok rebrand of hobbies is all about highlighting how women usually like to spend their free time. The idea is that women who may not feel validated by – or conscious of – their hobbies, will find some shared company in the girl hobbies side of the internet.
Some girl hobbies that tend to make an appearance across social media include:
- Doing hair/makeup
- Skincare/bodycare
- Brunch
- Hot girl walks
- Moodboard
- Journaling
- Getting a coffee/treat
- Social media investigative work
- Hiking
- Running
- Yoga
- Baking/cooking
- Taking pictures
- Rewatching series
- Shopping (in-store or online)
The TikTok Trend
The conversation around girl hobbies first came into sight with a viral video by TikToker Lo Birch. The video, with 4.4M views, states “I don’t just have hobbies, I have girl hobbies!”. Birch explains why girl hobbies are important and lists a few of girl hobbies to inspire ideas. While comments have now been disabled, many have shared their own lists and comments about girl hobbies to continue the trend.
Backlash and Controversy
While some are happy to pick out and list their many girl hobbies, others are highly critical of this trend. In particular, some take issue with the use of the term ‘girl’ instead of ‘woman’.
In a video that amassed over 106K views, one TikToker brings this concern to the forefront using humor. Here, in prettycritical’s video, the TikToker responds to one section of the original content creator saying “ugh sorry we just hit our quota for girls, can I interest you in being a woman?”.
In the comment section, another user agrees, adding that the “feeling of entering adulthood/your 20s lost its magic because we keep trying to convince ourselves we’re teen girls”. The simplification of what it means to be a young woman irritated a few in the comment section. Some have referred to this as the infantilization of womanhood and noted how potentially damaging this is alongside trends such as ‘girl dinner’ and ‘girl math’.
Kim uses her video to debunk the idea of girl hobbies with this same thinking. The video notes that ‘girl hobbies’ and similar videos undo ‘the work of feminism everyday on this app’. The TikToker also mentions that the listed girl hobbies are really just ‘consumerism and labor’ as she walks through the list of hobbies including skincare, shopping, and social media investigative work.
Besides this, the question remains whether hobbies can or should be gendered. The hobbies that feature on the lists may not just be ones that ‘girls’ will enjoy. Some of the hobbies are acts people in general enjoy or simply need to do, such as eat, buy clothes or go on walks. In defense of this, some have commented that the hobbies are a bit of fun and offer a sweet way of reengaging with things that make them happy. A user comments under one video, saying “my friends and I have taken to saying, “I’m just a girl” for most activities, including these,” to demonstrate how fun life with girl hobbies can be.