Over the last few years, social media has given us many gems in the form of challenges, trends and events. More recently, it gave us two ways to “glow up”, that are complete polar opposites in timing, methodology, and results. But why? and which is better for you?
The Hot Girl Summer trend is a very popular glow-up craze that starts after one of the biggest holidays in the U.S, school ending. It has a mentality that is similar to ‘girls just want to have fun’ but it comes with the caveat that you’re not just having fun, you’re glowing up.
This can happen in many different ways, primarily through exercise, skin and body care, new clothing hauls, and doing anything else you want that makes you improve your body and mind. A lot of it is also staying in the shape you are already in over the course of the summer break and merely evolving into a better version of that person.
Then there is the Winter Arc. This trend involved a complete overhaul of your life from October 1st to January 1st. It can be summarized as a jump start on your New Year’s fitness goals, and similar to Hot Girl Summer, it became popular on social media in the last few years.
“For the Winter Arc, I find that a lot better because it gives time to better yourself for summer, and I also like the aesthetic of it, with [the] snowy, darker weather,” said senior Allie Troiano.
It’s interesting to see how glow-up trends are no longer defined by just their results but also their aesthetics. One fun aspect of living in the modern world is that there are so many options for people to improve themselves these days that you can choose how to grow based on your feelings towards a trend.
The differences between these trends are just as interesting as their similarities. Obviously, one happens in the warm summer months while the other happens as the snow is falling. One is about showing off your glow up, while the other focuses on extreme transformation and overhaul of your life. Summer is not as strongly associated with goal accomplishment as winter is because it’s generally viewed as a time to relax and recover from school, while winter and New Year’s in particular are associated with renewal and change.
“I believe that both Winter Arc and Hot Girl Summer are great ways to set discipline for oneself, but it really depends on the person’s own values and what they want to achieve [for] themselves and how they feel with their own body. It should make them feel confident, the goals they set for themselves is what they want to achieve,” said senior Greta Kurkowski.
“Winter Arc is a great way to set discipline, which helps people be more focused on the goals they have and can inspire determination or to keep going when things get hard, ‘Hot Girl Summer’ anyone can pull it off with enough confidence, for me personally when I lost weight freshman to sophomore year it was because I was able to envision who I wanted to be and how I wanted to look.”
In a Hot Girl Summer, girls share their progress on social media and celebrate everything they do; in contrast, Winter Arc prioritizes staying off social media and focusing on yourself. Compared to pictures taken on a beach with the sun in the back and a drink in hand, people are photographing themselves in the gym or outside with darker skies and showing off their fitness.
“I also like Hot Girl Summer, because it gives (you) time without school to have a morning gym session and have a productive day,” said Troiano.
The photos posted online show us the process and results for both, and like with many trends on social media, it can be very tempting to join in.
“I feel like with both, if one can push themselves to do it and they have a drive for it, achieving goals is based on the belief that one puts in themselves to achieve it, so if Winter Arc and Hot Girl Summer are ways they can feel who they are and be proud for who they are then they should go for it,” said Kurkowski. “If one has enough motivation and wants change, they are the only ones that can do it for themselves, and if having those as their goals, they can achieve anything really.”
All this to say, there is a growing tendency for Gen Z to go outside the box to get things done, and both of these forms of “glow-ups” really demonstrate that. Whether or not you are someone who is a part of Gen Z, someone who works out, or someone who doesn’t right now but wants to, being aware of these opportunities to change yourself for the better can’t hurt. With October first coming up, maybe go check your For You Page and see what you can do.
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