GVery romantic, the “Tumblr girl” is this lost soul who likes to tell her story by mixing the tragic and the lyrical. She photographs herself writing, painting with sensuality… often in an artistic fever. Because yes, the Tumblr girl – which takes its name from the microblogging platform created in 2007 – likes that her suffering is not in vain! Sometimes, she shows herself crying, with vintage effects to enhance the moment. T-shirt with the image of a rock group, Dr. Martens on the feet, black nail polish, leggings with a galactic effect: its style mixed with grunge gives it a rebellious side. Less wise than “ sad girl”, her big sister from the early 2000s, she is thus further shaking up the codes.
Its leader? American singer Lana Del Rey, 38, who plays on retro aesthetics. In her songs, she addresses passionate love, suffering, sadness. Sometimes his words were shocking, as in Ultraviolence when she whispers “He hit me and it felt like a kiss” (“He hit me and it felt like a kiss”). The one who is an aficionada of the 1950s and 1960s continues to influence an entire generation of women, with her flower crowns, her cat’s eyes drawn with eyeliner and vintage clothing pieces.
A young woman, mostly white, slender, with a sad expression, the Tumblr girl exploded on social networks in 2014. That year, the platform was in vogue, used secretly by many middle and high school students across the world. All post, under pseudonyms, their adolescent spleen. During the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns, the phenomenon is relaunched. On TikTok, this time, where the #tumblrgirl now has nearly 625 million views.
Antigone of modern times
In the 2010s, Tumblr allows you to share photomontages, music, quotes and book pages as you wish. Young people also find a space to discuss rather taboo themes: homosexuality, drug use, eating disorders, depressive disorders, suicidal thoughts. Certain themes, although serious, are even excessively glamorized – such as a photo of a wrist bloodied by a razor blade.
In this vein, the phenomenon of the Tumblr girl finds another leading figure in “Effy” Stonem, the character played by Kaya Scodelario in the British series for teenagers Skins (2007-2013), where we follow the daily struggles of young people in complete disillusionment. With a very pale complexion, a jaded look, black-rimmed eyes, a cigarette in her mouth, this pyromaniac heroine is ruining herself and burning away her life. Over the seasons, we observe to what extent all the male characters are seduced by this modern-day Antigone. Everyone is fighting to conquer it and want to come to its aid. But this young woman suffers from psychotic episodes and develops depression. After a suicide attempt, she is interned in the psychiatric hospital and falls under the control of a malicious doctor, also seduced by the distress of “Effy”.
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