Is ‘Clean Girl Aesthetic’ Just Another Way to Police Women’s Bodies?

She’s glowing. Her hair is slicked back into a claw clip. Her skin is dewy, her nails neutral, and her gold hoops small but tasteful. She drinks matcha, and journals daily, and somehow looks poreless without a scrap of visible foundation. She is the Clean Girl - and she’s everywhere.

The Clean Girl aesthetic exploded on TikTok and Instagram, with influencers and celebrities alike championing the “natural” look that supposedly embraces minimalism and effortless beauty. But for something that’s meant to feel low-maintenance, the Clean Girl vibe can feel like yet another suffocating standard - one that’s whispering, Be polished, but make it look like you woke up this way. So, let’s ask the question: is the Clean Girl aesthetic just another way to police women’s bodies?

The Illusion of Effortlessness

On the surface, the trend seems wholesome. Who doesn’t love a bit of skincare, a tidy bun, and a breathable cotton two-piece? But here’s the catch - the Clean Girl look isn’t truly effortless. It often requires a cocktail of expensive skincare, time-consuming grooming, and a very specific (read: slim, youthful, and usually light-skinned) beauty standard.

It's no accident that many of the faces that define the aesthetic come from a narrow pool of privilege. The kind of “natural beauty” being idolised here often means “conventionally attractive, symmetrical, and smooth-skinned,” with a quiet nod to Eurocentric features. So while it’s framed as minimalist, it's actually deeply curated - and more exclusionary than it lets on.

Clean vs. What, Exactly?

If this is the “Clean Girl,” what does that make everyone else?

The name itself sets up a contrast - if some women are clean, others must be dirty, messy, unkept. It subtly shames those who wear bold makeup, have textured or acne-prone skin, are neurodivergent or chronically ill, don’t have the time or energy to look polished, or simply don’t care to fit the mould.

It’s a revival of the Madonna/Whore complex in 2020s packaging - saintly and understated versus flashy and unruly. The Clean Girl aesthetic doesn’t just suggest how women should look, but how they should behave: quiet, restrained, pleasing.

Whose Aesthetic Gets Erased?

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: race and class.

Black and Brown women have long been scrutinised for wearing protective styles, long nails, bold makeup, or clothing deemed “too much” - things that are now being filtered through a whitewashed lens and rebranded as aspirational. Slicked-back buns, gold jewellery, and laid edges have been part of Black and Latina beauty culture for generations, but when adopted by the Clean Girl archetype, they’re suddenly chic.

There’s also the cost of products, time, and labour, wrapped up in the idea that you should just “look put together.” For working-class women, single mums, carers, or disabled women, the pressure to appear clean, fresh, and glowing on the outside while managing chaos behind the scenes is both unrealistic and unfair.

Wellness or Whitewashing?

The Clean Girl aesthetic borrows from wellness culture too - think green juices, daily yoga, and a 10-step morning routine. But even wellness, when stripped of context and served through an Instagram-friendly lens, becomes another pressure point.

Instead of making space for messy realities and diverse bodies, it often offers the illusion of control: If you just eat clean, journal, do your gua sha routine and drink enough chlorophyll, everything else will fall into place. But life isn’t that neat - and pretending it is only reinforces the idea that your worth is tied to how well you manage to hide the mess.

So, Where Do We Go From Here?

This isn’t a takedown of anyone who loves a glowy base and a slick ponytail. If it makes you feel good, crack on. But let’s not pretend it’s neutral.

We need to ask who is being centred and who is being excluded. Who profits from telling women there’s a “right” way to be natural? And who suffers when our bodies are treated like Pinterest boards to be optimised?

Women’s bodies have always been scrutinised - too hairy, too made up, too tired, too loud. The Clean Girl aesthetic may look soft and minimalist, but the control it demands is anything but.

So whether you’re a Clean Girl, a Hot Mess, a Maximalist Queen or something entirely your own, you’re allowed to take up space, just as you are.

And you don’t need to be “clean” to be seen.

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Hana Ames is a professional content writer with hundreds of pieces of content under her belt. She is a cat and dog mama, a feminist, and a musical theatre fan, who enjoys cooking, playing board games and drinking cocktails. She has been writing professionally since 2018 and has a degree in English. Her website is www.hrawriting.com, and she is always interested in discussing exciting new projects to see how she can help your business grow. Catch her on Twitter @hrawriting, Instagram @hrawriting and Facebook: www.facebook.com/hrawriting