Last winter of 2023/24 women worldwide were cosplaying Slavic girls. Slavic Girl Trend emerged on TikTok – women were filming themselves dancing to the song by Katya Lel Мой мармеладный (My gummy bear / My sweetness). Currently, more than 1 million videos are posted online with this song’s audio.
Before analysing the trend, it is worth mentioning that the word Slavic is attributed to people from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, etc. However, it is a common and very general pattern to associate Slavic identity solely with Russia and Russian people. The trend highlights this through the use of the Russian song and symbolism.
Both Slavic girls and women from other cultural backgrounds were reinforcing the stereotypes of what it is like to be a Slavic woman by wearing fur coats, hats, scarves, leather, red lips, heavy makeup, and other accessories associated with Eastern Europe. Women were aiming to achieve these high and unrealistic standards of beauty and luxury while also being overly feminine, and soft but at the same time strong, cold, and ignorant (because of course no one smiles in Russia). The Internet was flooded with videos on How to be a Slavic doll; How to date a Slavic woman; How to dress like a Russian Bimbo; etc. Moreover, other platforms like Pinterest also experienced their moment of the Slavic Aesthetic.
Despite that this trend promotes anti-feminist ideas, fetishisation and sexualisation of women from non-West, generalisation and stereotyping of women from one particular region, dangerously unhealthy beauty standards, and cruelty to animals (because of the use of fur), this trend flourished. The reason might be that people who identify themselves as Slavs felt like Eastern Europe is cool again. After long decades of being on the periphery of the West, being slightly ignored culturally and politically, and often seen as poor and less educated Slavs supported the trend to finally feel like they were equal and worth being trendy and followed by others despite negative aspects. On the other side, the West and the rest of the World were following the trend because it was something different, fetishistic, more traditional, and at the same time sexual and beautiful. So here we see the win-win situation – the East is finally under the spotlight, while the rest of the world is amazed by this almost exotic culture.
Moreover, the Slavic Girl Trend brought back and enhanced the narrative of Slavic girls being perfect wives. There is a whole discourse of how loyal, submissive, family-orientated, hard-working, friendly, smart, beautiful, and sexual they are. There are even articles about the characteristics of Russian women. Most often these girls are imagined as being poor and in need of being saved by a foreign man. Nonetheless, these stereotypes are not fully a lie but there are always two sides of a coin. Females from the Eastern European region often grew up and continue living in extremely patriarchal societies, where they experience domestic violence which is decriminalised in Russia. Statistics show because of the objectification of Slavic women and the region’s economic state, they more frequently become victims of human trafficking. In the 1990s, 80% of women trafficked in Europe came from Eastern Europe. The Slavic Girl Trend promotes idealised stereotypes but overlooks the realities of patriarchy, violence, and exploitation faced by many Eastern European women.
Content creators also romanticised and idealised Eastern Europe in its post-soviet period in the 1990s-2000s – its fashion which was inspired by Russian models’ boom in the West at that time, brutal architecture, tacky interiors, etc. However, the reality of people who lived at that time in post-soviet countries was almost tragic. The crisis of the 90s brought high rates of suicide, violence, poverty, unemployment, and alcoholism. The trend indicates social media users’ ignorance and most often lack of knowledge of what is behind popular trends. What is now considered beautiful, 30 years ago was a part of someone’s struggle.
As I mentioned before, people most often think that Slavic and Russian are the same. Having this pattern of thinking in mind it is crazy to think that this trend propagating Russian culture emerged during the war in Eastern Europe which started in 2022 because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Of course, someone would say that the trend supports all the Slavic cultures which is debatable since the majority of videos deal with Russian culture. The trend again diminishes the tragic events, deaths of people, and losses. The political and social background in which this trend and aesthetic developed makes me question if it unintentionally became a tool of propaganda.
Being Slavic nowadays is cool and trendy but at what cost? This innocent and fun trend reinforces the stereotypes and encourages people to follow Slavic aesthetics and ignore the complex issues behind it. It raises many questions – Why do people ignore all the problems mentioned before? Is it a lack of knowledge or it is just ignorance? Why do young generations tend to idealise and romanticise the negative past? Is beauty, aesthetics, and pleasure more important than morality and values?
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