#Hotgirlsummer Trend: ‘Handle Me? Who Gon’ Handle Me?’
- Victoria Bishop-Smith
- Nov 23, 2019
- 4 min read
Megan Thee Stallion hopped onto the scene, starting a wildfire of “hot girls,” in summer, 2018. The female rap artist, who in May released her first full-length album, “Fever,” blossomed into a role model quickly. Referring to herself as “Hot Girl Meg” or “Thee Hot Girl” while also being a student, has caused young women to flock to her, eventually creating the hashtag #hotgirlsummer, which has generated over 800,000 tags on Instagram.
Being unapologetically you is her whole persona, which is why everyone seemed to pick up on the Hot Girl Summer trend. Her song, “Cash Shit,” where in the intro she raps “Real hot girl shit,” hyped up the trend even more. And when the “Hot Girl Summer” anthem finally dropped in August 2019, the caption on everyone’s photos was lifted straight from the track: “Handle me? Who gon’ handle me?”
Meg had an interview with Root in June to talk about the trend: “It’s just basically about women — and men — just being unapologetically them, just having a good-ass time, hyping up your friends, doing you, not giving a damn about what nobody got to say about it. You definitely have to be a person that can be the life of the party, and, y’know, just a bad bitch.”
But the trend isn’t just about being a hot girl or a ‘lit’ person-- it’s also about being academically successful.
Meg, who is a college student herself, encourages her fans to not only be themselves, but to also be on top of everything by being someone who can embrace who you are while also taking responsibility for what you have to do.
On August 30 2019, Meg posted a video on Twitter of her in a hotel room on her laptop typing with the caption, “Finishing my homework before my after party #hotgirlsemester,” which generated almost 5 million views.
Toyibat Osho, a sophomore at Saint Peter’s, says that this is typical for Meg who is known as being “young, fun and goofy while also being a college student.” She says the hot girl semester trend picked up easily because a lot of influencers do not share the same background with their fans, and it makes Meg more relatable.
Darryl Dunnell, a junior at Saint Peter’s, says Meg is a role model for women because of her ability to be a hot girl, but also focus on setting goals, self care and “living in your own truth.”
“It is a form of empowerment. Young ladies are learning how to be productive and learning how to be independent,” said Dunnell. “The movement encourages women to make their own money, be happy and most of all just have fun.”
Qua’janae James, a junior at Saint Peter’s University, says the hot girl semester trend gives women more of a reason to celebrate each other and push each other to do better.
“It empowers women (and men #hotboysemester) to push themselves in school so they can party without regrets,” said James.
In a poll of 30 people, when asked if the hot girl summer trend served as a form of empowerment, two-thirds said “duh,” while the others were “not really” wowed by the trend.
Greta Ahern, a junior at Montclair State University, says the trend means nothing to her.
“[The trend] is bullshit. All these [girls] are using it as an excuse to post these slutty Instagram photos and it disgusts me,” said Ahern.
Even so, Meg continues to influence many young women.
Jordan Green, a junior at Stockton University, says the trend helped her break out of her shell and means you can be whoever you want without the fear of others judging you.
“It gave me motivation to better myself,” said Green.
She also says the trend made her more open-minded.
But the same can not be said about a similar trend that hit the surface around the same time as hot girl summer. The #citygirl or #cityboy trend also focuses on the aspect of being yourself and not caring about what others think, but some say it takes on a different connotation.
Originally created from the female rap group, the City Girls, this trend did not get as much airtime as Meg’s trend. Many say that this trend does not serve the same purpose as Meg’s because it’s more about finessing others to get to the top and taking advantage of people.
“The city boys/girls trend isn’t a form of empowerment people are just trying to get fast money and doing people wrong at all costs,” said Dunnell.
According to James, a city girl is “a girl making her paper, finessing these dudes and turning up,” which does not fit the description of the hot girl summer trend.
Considering their most popular songs are ‘Take Your Man,’ and ‘Act Up,’ it doesn’t come as a surprise. The songs spew lyrics like, “If your ass a broke n***a, hell nah, I can’t date ya..If your ass a rich n***a, I’ma f**k you till you ain’t one.”
And now that the “Hot Girl” trend has made it to mainstream, some competition has surfaced. Following the original #citygirl and #cityboy trend, there came #cityboyz, a trend that is trying to push out the hot girls.
According to The Daily Dot, this trend does not serve a playful purpose at all. The idea surrounding this trend is being disrespectful to women and is “about guys being jerks and congratulating themselves.”
Much like the original city girl trend, it surrounds finessing people, lying and cheating to get to the top, which not many people can get behind, but Hot Girl Meg is here to stay.
“Megan is an upcoming artist who appeals to the younger generation and the fact [that] people can relate to her as an artist and that she is pro female wins her over,” said Dunnell. “When people noticed that she was collaborating with other female artists, it helped her brand. It showed she was different, was not about drama, just wanted to party, make money, and have fun.”
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