We’ve had Hot Girl Summer (thanks, Megan Thee Stallion) and Hot Vax Summer (thanks, Pfizer and Moderna), but Feral Girl Summer, TikTok’s latest seasonal prediction, might be Gen Z’s favorite yet.
At first glance, this doesn’t sound super appealing — “feral” seems like a word reserved for nature documentaries, not TikTok trends. But you can thank Lorde, at least in part, for starting this trend, according to VICE. The singer announced her Solar Power album in 2021 with a statement reading, “There’s someone I want you to meet. Her feet are bare at all times. She’s sexy, playful, feral, and free. She’s a modern girl in a deadstock bikini, in touch with her past and her future, vibrating at the highest level when summer comes around.” In this context, “feral” takes on another connotation — daringly brave and wild, rather than extremely aggressive.
2021 didn’t see this trend on the rise, so Lorde was a bit ahead of her time, but 2022 didn’t come to play. Since February, TikTokers have been gearing up for the rise of Feral Girl Summer. One user predicts a summer of going down Reddit holes at 4 a.m. and fistfuls of raw pasta as a snack. For another, feral urges are kept to the weekend, when clubbing, shows, and having fun are the priority. In essence, it’s about doing what you want, when you want, whatever that looks like to you — just give in to your feral urge.
You can consider Feral Girl Summer the answer to the “That Girl” trend, which has taken over TikTok in the last year. The “That Girl” trend is predicated upon an aesthetic of put-togetherness and positive vibes only: Do you wake up early and on time every morning? Are your go-to drinks a green smoothie and a latte (with oat milk, duh)? Is morning yoga and a nature walk just so you? You’re That Girl.
But the “That Girl” trend has also been called out as potentially harmful for our mental health, because if we’re not That Girl, then what are we? A failure? This is where Feral Girl Summer comes in — feral girls don’t stick to a routine that doesn’t serve them, or have aspirations beyond what feels good. They become ungovernable.
And speaking of related trends, it would be remiss to examine Feral Girl Summer without mentioning Goblin Mode, a trend that similarly rejects the That Girl philosophy in favor of immediate gratification, comfort, and living like a goblin (which in modern times, seems to mean subsisting on midnight snacks and lounging around the house in pajamas that don’t match). Feral Girl Summer also falls in line with the return of shitposting over the last few years on social media, which itself signifies a desire for a less curated, filtered existence online. It’s a bit ironic in its conception, because if you didn’t meticulously document your Feral Girl Summer on TikTok or Instagram, did you even have one? But the spirit is there.
As all trends are cyclical, Feral Girl Summer may just be a shift back to our 2020 days of sitting around at home in our PJs. Hot Vax Summer saw us wanting to get back out there and put our best foot forward, in person rather than remotely. Feral Girl Summer has transcended this desire to realize that even if you look good, life can still suck — so you might as well do whatever you want.