The demure origins of the Christian Girl Autumn meme
The Christian Girl Autumn meme is the successor to the "Hot Girl Summer" trend, trading unrestrained sexy fun for sweaters and lattes. The meme started as a one-off joke in a tweet that included a photo of two influencers huddled together in big scarves and stirred up some political and social controversy that eventually pushed the women to respond.
Five years later, people still talk about Christian Girl Autumn and what it means in terms of fashion, aesthetics, and attitude.
What is a Christian Girl Autumn?
In stark contrast to the Hot Girl Summer meme, started by rapper Megan Thee Stallion, Christian Girl Autumn is a somewhat derisive idea of a white woman who sips pumpkin spice lattes in modest but fashionable outfits and poses for staged Instagram photos with her besties.
Twitter users made fun of the original photo, calling the vibe "basic," though some embraced the idea of a wholesome and cozy season of simple pleasures like overpriced coffee drinks, wool blankets, and Uggs.
Who started the Christian Girl Autumn meme?
Christian Girl Autumn was originally a joke by social media user Natasha, who went by Blizzy McGuire on TikTok. According to a BuzzFeed interview, McGuire came up with the idea on August 9, 2019, and wanted to punctuate it with a look that fit the title. So she searched for a couple of specific terms.
"I literally googled ‘cute church outfits’ and ‘all scarf outfits’ and started using those pictures as reaction photos for my jokes," said Natasha.
The results spit out a photo of Southern influencers Emily Gemma and Caitlin Covington wearing cardigans, infinity scarves, and skinny jeans while sporting nearly identical long curly hairstyles. She posted this to her account with a simple message:
"Hot Girl Summer is coming to an end, get ready for Christian Girl Autumn."
Gemma and Covington each have fashion and lifestyle blogs and enjoy 1.1 million and 1.3 million followers on Instagram, respectively. The photo was from a shoot three years before the Christian Girl Autumn tweet, and Convington acknowledged that the outfits were outdated by 2019.
"We look so basic in our blanket scarves and holding our Pumpkin Spice Lattes," she said.
Christian Girl Autumn vs. Hot Girl Summer
The Megan Thee Stallion released the song "Hot Girl Summer" on the same day as Natasha's tweet. Speaking to the The Root, the rapper described the idea as being one of authenticity and unapologetic fun.
"It’s just basically about women – and men – just being unapologetically them … You definitely have to be a person that can be the life of the party."
The idea of a Christian Girl Autumn can therefore be defined as something much more subdued and chill, and perhaps a bit staged or fake, much like the polished Instagram photos posted by many aspirational lifestyle influencers.
What is the personality of an 'autumn girl'?
The concept of girls who love autumn predates the Christian Girl Autumn meme by many years. Every year, tired of the heat and sweat and pressure to go out, introverts greet the colder days with excitement, yearning for the comfort of a sweater and a hot coffee.
Autumn girls enjoy the crisp air that encourages them to go back inside, cuddle up under a blanket, and watch TV alone. They look forward to the artistic vibe of the changing leaves, orange and red outfits, and of course, Halloween.
But as Gemma noted, once you start to get to know autumn girls instead of stereotyping them, you'll find that they're not all the same.
"I think people realized that not all white girls who love fall fashion and pumpkin spice are what we’re all categorized to look like," she told BuzzFeed.
‘Christian Girl Autumn’ influencer donates to trans meme creator who made her famous
Covington hit back at assumptions that her Christianity also makes her anti-LGBTQ. She has said she has both gay and trans friends and accepts them for who they are.
She proved her allyship by donating to the original creator of the Christian Girl Autumn meme, real name Natasha, when she began her transition journey in 2020. After the jokester posted her GoFundMe page for transition costs that September, Covington donated some of the money she'd made from the sudden influx of followers thanks to the meme. She gave $500 to the campaign and signal boosted it with a message on Twitter.
"FYI this is the creator of the Christian Girl Autumn meme," she wrote. "Please help and donate to the Go Fund Me if you can!"
The fundraiser was successful, netting Natasha $8,235.
Meme examples
Related memes:
- How the summer of 2019 became known as ‘Hot Girl Summer’
- Move over, Hot Girl Summer—it’s time for ‘Thotumn’ now
- ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ meme gets revived for fall
- Perfectly brewed coffee memes
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