On this episode of The Federalist Radio Hour, Assistant Editor Elle Reynolds joins Culture Editor Emily Jashinsky to break down her essay “The Cottagecore Aesthetic Is Giving Gen Z Girls A Rendezvous With Femininity” and what the trend says about the youngest generation’s relationship to modernity.
“I think it’s reactionary,” Reynolds said. “I think it’s a reaction, especially among Gen Z, to kind of this narrative that femininity isn’t a definable thing and it’s just kind of fluid and not really there.”
What may have started as an “ode to simple pastoral living” during government-mandated lockdowns quickly turned into a fashion trend that pushes back against the left’s woke messaging about gender and oddly embraces a balance of femininity.
“That’s the golden nugget of feminine fashion,” Reynolds said. “It’s not hiding your femininity and the fact that you’re a woman, but it’s also not putting it all on display either. It’s a tasteful balance of leaving something to the imagination, but not like covering yourself.”
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