E-Girl

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E-girl, an abbreviation of "electronic girl", is a type of feminine alternative aesthetic that often appears very similar to Nu-Goth or Soft Grunge.

History

The term E-Girl has been around since the late 2000s, but has evolved to have a different meaning over the years. While it was originally a derogatory label for girls who engage in online gaming, it now describes an entire subculture. The meaning of the term started to change with an increase in social media platforms dominated by a female userbase interested in gaming, notably Tumblr and later on TikTok. Due to the proximity to gaming, many E-Girls have also become known through the Twitch streaming platform, some even earn their living with it.

The first entry for "egirl" on Urban Dictionary was posted in June 2009 and was originally defined as "A guy who pretends to be a girl on online communities or games for humor or sexual meetings. Mainly 50-year-old perverts who still live with their parents."^[1] The definition of E-Girl described young girls in unfavorable ways from 2013 through 2016.^[2]

The current definition of E-Girl became more prevalent during 2019, with the definition of e-girl being changed to "Girls [that] are usually teenagers and think they’re edgy. They wear long sleeves, undef short sleeves, and sometimes their outfits don’t match [...] they usually wear vans, beanies, chains etc."^[3] The E-Girl aesthetic and subculture became more popular in 2019, corresponding with this change, and the aesthetic has become incredibly popular on TikTok.

Visuals

kawaii characters
check patterns
eyeliner shapes
chains
kanji
neon lights
desaturation
ahegao

Fashion

The fashion worn by E-Girls is stylistically very similar to the various darker alternative fashions. Predominantly are printed tops in black, pleated skirts, chain accessories, and platform shoes. The make-up consists of heavy eyeliner, blush across the nose, and little symbols drawn near the eyes. E-girls will often style their hair into various and trendy hairstyles such as pigtails/twintails, space buns, straight bangs or having dyed hair/streaks; accessories like hairclips can be added. In addition, just as much value is placed on individuality.

Another part of the fashion can be attributed to the high presence of Japanese pop culture on the internet. Outfits inspired by anime characters are also very common among E-Girls.

Media

This section describes the media that E-Girls interact with, rather than there being this type of aesthetic within the media.

Characters

D.Va (Overwatch)
Harley Quinn (Suicide Squad)
Hatsune Miku (Vocaloid)
Junko Enoshima (Danganronpa)
Ramona Flowers (Scott Pilgrim)
Raven (Teen Titans)
Ryuko Matoi (Kill la Kill)
Sabrina Spellman (The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina)
Toga Himiko (MHA)
Zero Two (Darling in the Franxx)
Cat, bunny or maid girls

YouTubers and Streamers

Belle Delphine
Emma Langevin
Eve Frsr
Hannah OwO
Light Collins
Maya Zaya
Nava Rose
Neekolul
Pokimane
Rary Kari
Runabyte
Xpher Wolf

Music

Artists engaging in the E-Girl aesthetic include:

Ashnikko
Billie Eilish
Doja Cat
E-girls
Grimes

Songs about E-Girl/ Used by E-Girls:

Corpse - E-Girls are ruining my life!
lilbubblegum ft. letoa - e-girl
SyKo - #BrooklynBloodPop!
Daoko ft. TeddyLoid - Me!Me!Me!
Pháo – 2 Phút Hơn (KAIZ Remix)
Anime openings or meme songs

Activities

E-girls often cosplay for conventions and outings. They also generally drink "Monster", a popular energy drink. They tend to stay with each other and may not hang out with people of other styles. They might like to watch anime and read manga. A lot of e-girls are also gamers and may be streamers on Twitch or YouTube.

Criticism

This section is under construction.

The subculture is often described as girls who only exist on the internet in the form of a fake internet persona. Another common point of criticism is the hyper-sexualization of teenage girls that occurs in the form of viral memes like the Me!Me!Me! dance that was popular among E-Girls. Due to the popularity of East-Asian popculture within the aesthetic, there also has been an issue with "asian fishing", meaning changing one's facial features with the help of make-up in order to "look more asian" (for example, making eyes appear more slanted with the help of eyeliner), which fuels stereotypes.