Forget ‘Hot Girl Summer’ — We’re Here For ‘Anguished Woman Autumn’
Photo by Yan Krukov from Pexels
If you’ve been on TikTok, Instagram, or any social media app where women are talking about style, you’ve definitely heard about something called, “Hot Girl Summer”. This phrase has been the war cry of many a young woman over the course of the last season as they garb themselves in tiny outfits and take “thirst trap” pictures while doing “hot girl” things, usually having to do with going to random clubs, partying until the wee hours of the morning with guys they met that night, and other unhealthy behavioral patterns that are described as “fun”.
While supposedly designed to empower women, many of us felt this motto didn’t describe something we were, or even wanted to be. Aside from the obvious problems with the phrase, diluting women to their looks, and encouraging and excusing dangerous behavior, isn’t something we can get behind. Many of us longed for our own seasonal rally cry, but one that had more to do with the kind of women we are and want to be.
In a now-viral tongue-in-cheek tweet that was originally posted on Tumblr by a user named LadyNephtyss writes.
Anguished Woman Autumn, while a joke, seems to us a better and more fitting deception for many of the women we know. Why? Well first:
Anguished.
While perhaps a bit hyperbolically depressing, ‘anguished’ is also something said about many of our favorite literary characters, and something we all have felt; it’s an emotion of depth rooted in experience and the reality of a sad world.
When acknowledged as a part of who we are, it can bring us to a greater inner reflection and push us to voice our desires for wholeness. ‘Anguish’ is a much deeper and more interesting adjective to ascribe to us, as it has to do with who we are and what stories we’re telling, not just a narrow and excluding definition of how we look.
Woman.
‘Woman’ in comparison to ‘girl’ immediately grasps the maturity and strength we can all possess, and it calls us to a higher and more full definition of ourselves that has us act in a context of strength and will, instead of the infantilizing language that sees us as children and justifies adolescent behavior.
Autumn.
Because as nice as summer is, fall is the time of colors as deep and rich as our souls, crisp air, and the shedding of yesterday like we all so long for.
So here’s exactly what you’ll need to embrace the season and fully live into your ‘Anguished Woman Autumn’ side.
So many candles.
There is nothing more autumnal in the world than a candle (or two… or three). Spend your days or evenings doused in the comforting, peaceful, moody, golden glow of candlelight, breathing in the scents of the season.
A cozy blanket for evenings spent at home.
The cooler weather outside is our best excuse for staying in and curling up with a good book, new or old. But to make it extra-Anguished-Woman-Autumn, wrap yourself up in a beautiful new blanket.
A carefully-curated playlist.
Music sets the tone of our days and nights like nothing else, so it’s important to have a playlist that matches your mood, whether you’re out and about as you explore the aisles of a bookstore, or safely tucked away at home.
Journals to pour your soul into.
Anguished Woman Autumn is all about peering into your soul, and feeling all the feelings. You’ll need a journal to write your deep, wise thoughts down in, and maybe even draft a poem or two.
Along with a regal pen to do so.
Throw yourself into the aesthetic — gift yourself with a gorgeous pen that you won’t want to put down as your scribble your thoughts and ponderings on the page.
A new mug for your many cups of tea.
Autumn is the perfect time to branch out and try out new tea brands and blends so you can wistfully stare out the window with a hot cup of tea in your hands, plotting your next novel and dreaming of what’s to come — why not get yourself a brand new, wonderfully-autumnal mug to do so?
Obviously, lots of tea.
Prepare for the many mornings spent waking up with a hot cuppa, the afternoons through which you survive because of a midday cup of tea, and the evenings when you’ll look forward to climbing into bed with a nighttime blend by stocking up on all the teas.
