We live in a minimum-effort world, and it’s good out here. Are you with me? Is this what August in 2023 means? You are either on vacation or looking for a career change in August. How many of us want to work remotely and on our own time as long as we finish the job?
Lazy Girl Jobs
@chachanyc Style Cartel Monthly Horoscopes for August 2023, by Claudia Vannini. A month with 22 days. It’s what August promises. 22 active and busy days until the 23rd, when the rhythm slows. After that, everything slows down. Knowing this, make the best of the first 22 days, and after that, maintain the situation. Go follow the blog ✈️ www.stylecartel #fypシ゚viral #horoscopes #tiktokastrology
The popularity of girl dinners, lazy girl jobs and bed rotting suggest an antiwork shift; we investigate why?
It’s a sunny Saturday, or better yet, a Wednesday afternoon, and you’re lying in bed watching reruns of your favourite Housewives or Queen Charlotte, dreaming of a life of leisure. The bedside table holds an assortment of snacks – a Snickers bar, cheese crackers and a jar of peanut M&M’s. Your laptop is perched on the far corner of the bed, just close enough to spot a Slack notification and check in occasionally while you slack off safely from home. You’re contemplating squeezing in a nap before officially logging off for the day, maybe even heading to Soho House and tanning for a bit?
It is a lovely day, and if you live on TikTok, you’d know that you’re not the only one having a day exactly like this one. You’ve successfully ticked off three trends: bed rotting, lazy girl jobs and girl dinners, all online movements that reflect an IRL shift towards finding happiness by barely getting by. I have planned all the girl dinners; it’s someone else’s turn.
What does it all mean for girl dinners, lazy girl jobs, and bed rotting?
Let’s catch you up on the terms. First, bed rotting refers to the blissful act of doing nothing and staying comfortable in bed, so the phrase is famous and has 9.5 million views on TikTok. On the other hand, lazy girl jobs may sound like an oxymoron because how does one stay lazy and still work a job? Well, TikToker Gabrielle Judge introduced the term (which now has 17.1 million views on the platform) as part of her antiwork content, encouraging people to think about how to grab a holistic work-life balance for themselves.
Judge urges people to work in low-lift jobs that are typically remote, undemanding and stress-free, letting you sneak in endless little breaks. “After the pandemic and economic recessions, Gen Z reached a point of analysis paralysis,” I relate because the stress made me so sick, not from covid. That I landed in the hospital in a coma. “I have decided to opt out of hustle culture and romanticise my life more.”
This TikTok trend asks you to stay in bed and chill, here’s what you need to succeed
Unlike fleeting TikTok trends that change by the minute, lazy girl jobs are here to stay. Previously, a 9-5 work day allowed employees to gain generational wealth; social security, pensions and company loyalty existed. That’s rare today, so instead of climbing the corporate ladder, we are job-hopping and spending more time outside work and at private members’ clubs.
This resistance to the norm also shapes the era of girl dinners, a trend where women eat attractive bits and bobs off snack plates instead of cooking elaborate meals. The food is low thought, low effort and optionally low cal. However, depends on the clique and drinks that might be flowing.
Antiwork Shift Life Trend
This habit has resonated with countless people. The hashtag #GirlDinner has over 30 million views on TikTok, featuring thousands of videos of users showing off their colourful snack plates. With the cost of living increasing, I suggest having more little girl dinners. We fashion girls have been doing it for years; girls got to eat and look fab on a budget!
After an eight-hour workday, I just want a simple snack plate. It’s highly satisfying to put cheese, crackers, some olives and bread on a plate and call it dinner. We French do this often in summer.
Gen Z and the antiwork movement
Unlike past generations, Gen Z appears less attached to their jobs. Work is no longer the be-all and end-all of their lives. Instead of staying late at the office to (hopefully) get a promotion a few years later, they would invest in a post-work hobby or develop a weekly card games night with the family. As per a 2023 survey conducted by Deloitte, only 49% of Gen Z believe that work is central to their identity compared to 62% of millennials. Moreover, half of Gen Z stated they would leave a job if it didn’t provide them with hybrid working conditions.
Things are tough for Gen Z: mass layoffs, a cost of living crisis and escalating property prices. But instead of anxiously seething (which they would totally have the right to do), young people are taking control by changing the narrative. In an economic landscape where chasing after traditional career or life milestones feels fruitless, they’ve set their sights on little treats for dinner and maintaining boundaries at work and with friends.
If this sounds like the bare minimum, it’s because it is. But Gen Z is intent on proving there’s no shame in that. As Éloïse Gendry-Hearn, a digital and talent specialist at The Digital Fairy, explains, “Gen Z are looking for loopholes, dupes and cheat-codes to increase their enjoyment and decrease the effort required. One of our favourite terms is ‘quality of life’, championing the idea that there is no point putting all your effort into work if it leaves you with no time or energy for fun.
Lazy-girl jobs, girl dinner and bed, rotting all tie into this notion.” The timing is also crucial; we were forced to reckon with reality during lockdown. Days were spent baking carrot cake and lazing in bed, while nights were spent pondering the meaning of life, what we really want and scrolling Tiktok. Lucky for us, the new way of doing things requires effort proportional to the amount of happiness. People are open to challenging the everyday; it’s carpe diem with a twist; the goal is to do less, not more. These low-effort trends are an antidote to hustle culture and subsequent burnout. This embracing of sanity, even mediocrity, is far from being lazy; people actively opt to do nothing, and it’s a conscious, dynamic choice.
But after witnessing the rise and fall of the girl boss and multiple economic recessions in the first 25 years of their lives, Gen Z is disillusioned by this pace. “The term slacker has changed over time. In the ’90s and ’00s, we were sold the myth of ‘hard work’ and ‘overachieving’ as a society,” she says. “Whilst we shake off the hangover of hustle culture, doing precisely what you’ve paid for and nothing more is now considered slacking. I don’t feel like a slacker; I just don’t want to put up with pettiness at work and work overtime with no rewards.
Millennials thought the key to success was long hours and competitive hustling. At the same time, boomers integrated themselves as cogs in a machine, showing up to the office day after day and wearing suits to meetings. Now Gen Z is questioning the fabric of work altogether by rejecting the disheartenment around laziness and instead embracing a less is more attitude to the grind. Young people no longer return from holidays anxious to make up for lost time. They prioritise rest and personal well-being over building profits for the company and see breaks as necessary boundaries.
Is minimal effort living more female?
Another essential caveat of these trends is that they skew female. Few people call cis men lazy for skiving or having Huel for dinner. In many ways, the minimal-effort world also rejects archaic gender roles. For years, women have been expected to work full-time jobs outside and inside the house, cooking elaborate meals, making the bed, and doing the laundry.
Instead of being exclusive to women, these trends are acknowledging the gender gap and presenting aesthetic buzzwords to work around it. Anyone can eat snacks for dinner or be quiet, but guilt has historically been feminine. Culturally we’ve had low standards for men regarding grooming, dressing and personal care. Still, it is considered unusual for a woman to indulge in this behaviour.”
At first glance, these trends lack ambition, but it’s far from it. Instead, a lazy girl’s job, or rotting in bed, pushes you to reevaluate your aspirations, and if that’s giving more to your work, then so be it. But if it’s to get off the hamster wheel, even momentarily, to munch on some hummus and flatbread. Basically, minimal effort trends are a less cheugy (and more delectable) way of saying “work smarter, not harder” – and it feels good out here.
We are here for it, so stop scrolling Jobs on LinkedIn. Do what you love; times are changing. Or be like us, start a blog, get on Tiktok & Lemon8. Have fun becoming a digital nomad – craving, wanting, needing more – then TikTok’s new self care trend, bed rotting, is just for you. The rules are simple, get in bed, get comfy and chill. That’s all. There’s no space for guilt or shame or notifs reminding you to reply to that friend from weeks ago. There’s no time limit and especially no scary P words (plans, productivity, pressure ew). In case you “don’t even have a plan”, you’re on the right track.
And you’re hardly alone. The hashtag #InBedRotting has over 4.4 million views on TikTok with thousands of creators vouching for its healing powers. The trend began at the tail end of 2022 when TikTokker @g0bra77y asked “Who tf actually likes rotting away in their bed,” before pointing at herself. This video now has 1.4 million views and a whole wellness movement behind it. For context, if goblin mode was last year’s “don’t care” version of seeking rest, bed rotting is this year’s mindful “do care” iteration.
In case you need some extra shut eye, time to marathon a reality show, doom scroll, read, meditate, journal or just be, go ahead, bed rotters encourage it all.
Follow us on TikTok & stay updated on everything in Fashion & Culture. Check out the best collaborations to add to your rotation this week, follow @stylecartel on Instagram, and sign up for our newsletter for early access to the best drops sent to your inbox.
