“I’m just a girl” is an ironic catchphrase used as a meme in TikTok videos and elsewhere as a response to “boys will be boys.” Both phrases excuse a type of undesirable behavior, but “I’m just a girl” repurposes a sexist view of women as incompetent, naive, and without full adult-level agency while the other excuses all bad behavior.
The phrase is often accompanied on TikTok by the 1995 single by rock band No Doubt titled “Just a Girl” which lashes out at a culture that treats women as fragile and incapable.
What does ‘I’m literally just a girl’ mean?
Over the last few years, a trend emerged around women appropriating the attitude to get away with performing tasks poorly or refusing to put in any effort.
@houseofmaeli #sadhamster #funny #funnyhamster #hamstergirl #sadhamstermeme #sadhamstercorporate #corporatelife #corporategirlies ♬ Sad Hamster – I Green Screen Things
The phrase has also extended to a general joke that women use to poke fun at themselves, especially in videos where they attempted a task and it didn’t go well.
Why did everyone start saying ‘I’m just a girl?’
This phrase has appeared multiple times over the years in popular media challenging old sexist attitudes. On February 17, 1994, the episode “Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy” from The Simpsons aired and showed the eldest family daughter’s disappointment when her new talking doll had nothing more intelligent to say than “I’m just a girl.”
The following year, on September 21, 1995, No Doubt released “Just a Girl” to the public. In the lyrics, Gwen Stefani complains about a world that treats her like a child, a freak, a burden, and a sex object, sarcastically saying “So don’t let me have any rights.”
‘Cause I’m just a girl, I’d rather not be
‘Cause they won’t let me drive late at night
Oh, I’m just a girl, guess I’m some kind of freak
‘Cause they all sit and stare with their eyes
Oh, I’m just a girl, take a good look at me
Just your typical prototype
The phrase also evokes a Notting Hill quote in which Anna (Julia Roberts) rebukes the idea that she’s too good or famous for her love interest, William (Hugh Grant).
“I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.”
The catchphrase began to become a meme on TikTok around 2022. By the following year, women were making use of a sound containing a clip of the No Doubt song to make ironic videos or make fun of their mistakes. Some users, unfortunately, may be drifting back into the realm of casual sexism by posting footage of other women with this sound.
The ‘I’m just a girl’ mouse
On February 23, 2024, TikTok user @iwasbella combined the catchphrase with the sad hamster meme that appeared on the internet earlier that same month. On the 9th, Twitter user @Doguindolink posted a video consisting of a still image of a small, blurry hamster with giant black eyes staring up at the camera while sad violin music played.
The TikTok video shows this hamster in a pink bow on a bed covered in plushies and holding a video game controller with the caption “When he asks me why I can’t aim (I’m just a girl).”
@iwasbella #violin #hamster #hamstermeme #justagirl #sad #viral ♬ original sound – Bageera
Meme examples
Related memes:
- How Gossip Girl spawned the ‘go piss girl’ meme
- The ‘kombucha girl’ meme, explained
- Taking back the Idiot Nerd Girl meme
- Chrissy Teigen accidentally recreated the ‘disaster girl’ meme with her own kid
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