Girlmaxxing and the Rise of Wonyoungism

These are strange times. TikTok has given rise to a faster-than-ever trend cycle, and one of the latest is a religion-coded motivational philosophy centered around a K-pop idol. Wonyoungism borrows its name from popstar Wonyoung of the Korean girl group Ive.

But why Wonyoung? K-pop is chock full of enviable starlets. Her choice seems arbitrary until you examine TikTok’s cultural digestion and regurgitation of viral content. In addition to being tall, beautiful, thin, talented, and born to a wealthy family, a sound on the platform featured her proclaiming to haters, “I don’t care. You are you, I am me!”

A statement like that may seem benign to Western sensibilities. After all, our popstars sometimes openly curse paparazzi and share anecdotes about potentially criminal history (we’re looking at you, Cardi B). But K-pop idols are expected to maintain high standards of behavior, acting polite and preserving their image in every scenario. It’s historically rare to hear one even suggest defying others’ expectations. However, with other vocal breakouts like Jennie of Blackpink representing themselves more openly, the times may be changing.

There are many reasons to idolize Wonyoung – her legs are long, her face is gorgeous, her style is impeccable and she seems to have the perfect life. But this sound was the tipping point. Wonyoungism was born, and embodies a mentality where young girls intend to optimize their lives in all ways. The ways in focus, though, tend to include the following:

Wonyoungism content subjects

• Skincare, haircare, general beauty and hygiene routines
• School and studying habits
• Exercise, health and fitness regimen
• Dietary rules
• Style and fashion tips and clothing recommendations
• Etiquette, behavior and politeness advice

I would classify this type of content as “girlmaxxing”. Long have the most subversive elements of male online spaces espoused some kind of “maxxing” – presumably derived from minmaxing, the gaming-related concept of maximizing gains and minimizing losses in decision making. Essentially, it’s a gamification of life. Where podcast bros post about ice showers and creatine, these girlmaxxing influencers advocate for a healthier life, where health tends to equal maximum scores in all of the above areas. Here, quotes over Peaky Blinders images are replaced with pastel pink “Lucky Girl Syndrome”.

However, you’d have trouble calling the influence of Wonyoungism toxic. The posts tend to advise being kind to others, drinking lots of water, keeping your body clean, and overall habits we’d all identify as good advice for anyone. The Wonyoungism community is sometimes criticized as promoting eating disorders, but I’ve never personally seen a Wonyoungism post actually advise disordered eating. Many explicitly state that you should healthily nourish your body. It’s possible this criticism comes from the hushed whispers of disordered eating running rampant in K-pop, with tiny performers abound and past stars having admitted to some incredibly restrictive diets.

Related, it’s worth noting that some Wonyoungism acolytes are worryingly young. You don’t have to get far into this space for TikToks of eleven year olds doing skincare routines with more products than the number of years they’ve been alive. The inclusion of “school/studying” as such a focal point in the above list illustrates this – but also, don’t we want the youth focusing on their studies? I know none of my tween obsessions led me to do MORE homework, but it would have been better if they had.

Consumerism and products in Wonyoungism

One criticism you’d probably be justified in levying is that Wonyoungism is rife with consumerism. After all, you need products to support that glow-up, and some have gone absolutely viral and are considered must-buys for Wonyoungists. But anything that reaches this level of popularity on TikTok tends to share this trait. And some of the products are objectively… well, good.

Here are just a few of the products Wonyoungism devotees swear by:

• Strawberry Milk Body Lotion: Okay, I bought it. It does smell pretty great.
• Innisfree’s Green Tea Seed Hyaluronic Serum: if you’ve heard Wonyoung’s viral “plump, glowing, hydration, boost!” sound, you’ll know it’s from the ad campaign she did for this Innisfree product.
• Innisfree Retinol Cica line: Wonyoung also proclaimed this would “break your skin’s trouble algorithm”, something I’m not sure I’ve ever considered.
• & honey Japanese Shampoo and Conditioner: super softening and the scent is divine!

What do you think of Wonyoungism? Is it good for young girls to follow these kinds of regimens?