Not So Pretty in Pink? Taking an Honest Look Behind the Bow of Coquette Aesthetics
What’s going on behind this troubling aesthetic trend?
We are nothing if not a species that loves our aesthetic trends. As long as there have been humans on this planet, there have been attempts to shift and alter the way we look on the outside. In Neolithic Britain and France, women of high esteem braided shells into their hair and dyed it red with clay. In medieval Europe, women plucked their hairlines into recession and (in some cases) completely removed their eyebrows.
There is nothing new about changing aesthetic trends. To students of history, our changing looks and approach towards appearance are merely the hands of fate doing what they do best.
In recent years, however, there’s been a noticeable shift in some of these aesthetic trends. Far from being only a way of dress or appearance, these new fads focus on shifting an entire lifestyle while also (subtly) supporting specific social and political ideologies.
We see this clearly in the explosion of the “coquette aesthetic”. Far from being just a work of hyper-feminine girliness, this new fad for women pushes some deeply harmful ideologies and ideals for those who get pulled into its social media chokehold.
