You’ve seen them throughout your feed—#CleanGirl routines with dewy pores and skin, slicked-back buns, minimalist aesthetics, and pastel loungewear. Or #HotGirlWalks, the place girls movie themselves power-walking in cute athleisure whereas listening to affirmations or self-help podcasts. On the floor, all of it appears empowering, even healthful. Who doesn’t need to really feel polished and mentally sturdy?
However dig a bit deeper, and a few individuals are beginning to ask: are these traits actually about well being and self-care, or simply one other approach to promote us the identical previous weight loss program tradition in a contemporary, Instagrammable package deal? As a result of, for all their aspirational vibes, the “clear” woman and “sizzling” woman aesthetics nonetheless heart a selected sort of physique, self-discipline, and life-style. So the query isn’t simply what these traits appear to be, however what they actually imply.
The Wellness Glow-Up…or One other Disguise?
Wellness tradition has turn into the brand new face of what was once referred to as weight-reduction plan. As an alternative of low-fat yogurt and calorie-counting, we get matcha lattes, intuitive motion, and “intestine well being.” It feels extra inclusive. It sounds extra conscious. However the core message typically hasn’t modified: smaller, prettier, extra managed.
The “Clear Woman” aesthetic is commonly described as pure, easy magnificence. However what’s not often stated out loud is how a lot effort (and cash) it truly takes. Serums, skincare instruments, particular outfits, and the sort of facial symmetry that’s typically praised solely when it aligns with white, skinny magnificence requirements. It’s much less about being “clear” in any literal sense and extra about showing polished, calm, and, let’s be trustworthy, socially acceptable.
Then there’s the “Sizzling Woman Stroll,” which positions motion as a psychological well being software. That’s nice in concept. However like many wellness traits, it rapidly morphs into one other aesthetic: toned legs, each day progress updates, and refined strain to carry out “well being” for an internet viewers. Instantly, it’s not nearly feeling good. It’s about wanting good whereas doing it.
If It’s About Well being, Why Does It Look So Homogeneous?
Some of the telling indicators that one thing’s rooted in weight loss program tradition? It excludes. Not deliberately, perhaps, however persistently. The ladies praised as “clear” or “sizzling” in these traits typically look remarkably comparable: skinny, white or light-skinned, conventionally enticing, able-bodied, and financially snug.
The place are the ladies with pimples, messy hair, seen disabilities, or full-time jobs that don’t enable for gradual morning routines and aesthetic walks at golden hour? The place are the individuals who dwell in our bodies that don’t match the mildew and by no means will?
Wellness that solely seems to be a sure manner isn’t wellness. It’s branding. And like all branding rooted in physique picture, it comes with a facet of disgrace for many who don’t, or can’t, purchase in.
Empowerment…or Management?
There’s nothing inherently incorrect with eager to really feel good in your physique. Motion could be therapeutic. Skincare could be enjoyable. Rituals can provide construction in a chaotic world. However when traits begin policing what “good” seems to be like, they begin feeling much less empowering and extra like previous guidelines in new garments.
Clear consuming grew to become intuitive consuming, which grew to become intestine therapeutic. Exercise plans grew to become “joyful motion.” Thinness grew to become “toned.” The language shifts, however the obsession with management, optimization, and visible perfection typically stays.
It’s the identical internalized strain, simply rebranded in mushy lighting and TikTok voiceovers. And for those who’re continually questioning whether or not you’re doing it “proper,” for those who really feel like you have to purchase extra, eat much less, or carry out higher, then perhaps it’s not about wellness in any respect.
The Bother with Aesthetic Wellness
Aesthetic-based wellness makes individuals really feel like well being is one thing you may see. However actual well-being is commonly invisible. It’s messy. It doesn’t all the time appear to be clear pores and skin, matching units, or a curated playlist. And it’s completely different for everybody.
After we tie our self-worth to how we seem—whether or not we name it “sizzling,” “clear,” or “nicely”—we danger decreasing advanced experiences into marketable checklists. And that’s when empowerment turns into efficiency. What’s particularly irritating is how these traits typically declare to be “for everybody,” when clearly, they’re not. They create a hierarchy of what’s thought of wholesome, fascinating, or disciplined, and disgrace creeps in for many who can’t or don’t conform.
Can We Reclaim These Developments?
Not all is misplaced. You may get pleasure from a sizzling woman stroll with out shopping for into perfectionism. You may love skincare with out subscribing to Eurocentric magnificence beliefs. The secret is consciousness—understanding the place the messaging crosses the road from assist to disgrace.
Ask your self: Is that this making me really feel higher in my physique, or worse? Am I doing this as a result of I like myself, or as a result of I’m making an attempt to repair myself? Would I nonetheless do that if nobody else noticed it?
When the reply is rooted in self-kindness, pleasure, or real care, you’re in all probability on the appropriate path. But when it’s about efficiency, management, or becoming into another person’s aesthetic, you will have each proper to push again.
Do you assume traits like “clear woman” and “sizzling woman walks” are useful types of self-care, or simply one other model of weight loss program tradition in disguise?
Learn Extra:
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Riley is an Arizona native with over 9 years of writing expertise. From private finance to journey to digital advertising to popular culture, she’s written about every part underneath the solar. When she’s not writing, she’s spending her time outdoors, studying, or cuddling along with her two corgis.
