Opinions

Love me or pick me

Allie Caffey, entertainment writer| March 3, 2023

The one thing pick-me girls seek the most is acceptance.

The internet is an amazing place for people to voice their interests, opinions, and everyday lives. , with that, however, comes a platform for people to voice hateful comments that belittle each other. One example is the repulsive term “pick-me girl”, which is used to describe a young woman who constantly tries to prove that she’s “not like other girls” in order to put her female peers down and gain the attention of guys. When girls are criticized for being a pick-me, those who label them are slowly fitting themselves into that category of judgy people on the internet. It sucks becoming your worst enemy, doesn’t it?

Posts about pick-me girls were first seen on Twitter in 2016, with people tweeting to act as if they were “one of the boys” and mocking their need for a man’s approval. The pick-me girls of TikTok emerged in 2021, users clutching their Starbucks cups and speaking in an annoyingly high-pitched voice to re-enact encounters with passive-aggressive girls they see at the mall, school and work.

As of February 2023, the pick-me girl hashtag has 2.5 billion views on the app. According to a TKC poll, 68% of KHS students think criticizing pick-me girls is justified. However, theres more to them than what people see while scrolling through their “For You” page.

Even though they may seem annoying, the reason pick-me girls act the way they they do is because of internalized misogny, sexism projected towards themselves and others. Girls from ages 11 to 14 are more likely to experience, yet most pick-me girls seem to be in their later teenage years.

Pick-me girls tend to stick to the old stereotype that they need a man’s attention to survive. They might not want to fit in with the rest of the girls around her and do things such as wear less popular clothing brands and less makeup. This feels all too familiar with the satire yet harsh social media posts that give people the attention they crave. By mocking pick-me girls, you are feeding their need for approval. You can’t fight fire with fire.

Along with that, being a teenager means shaping yourself into the person you want to be in the future. Learning to stand out is one of the best life lessons someone can ever learn. When you put someone into the pick-me girl category, you crush their budding sense of individualism. Even though taunting pick-me girls might seem fun, it only makes them more insecure. Admit it, you were once as vulnerable as them.