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Origins of the It Girl
Origins of the It Girl
The term "It Girl" has a surprising beginning. In 1904, popular author Rudyard Kipling coined the quality of "It" as a form of charisma, something that gives women the power to stay in a man's memory. (From its inception, the concept of It and an It Girl is tied to the male gaze!). In 1927, writer Elinor Glyn redefined "It" in one of her novels as a magnetic, attracting quality; however, she limits her definition of "It" to heterosexual attraction only, a limitation we will see on "It Girls" for the rest of their existence in popular culture. Glyn was later tasked with adapting her novel into a 1927 romcom, It, starring Clara Bow. The silent film was a hit, and Clara Bow skyrocketed to fame, known as the "It" girl. Adopted quickly by popular culture, Bow became the first in a long list of women to be defined by the media as having "It," that undeniable, unexplainable charisma.
Pictured below from left to right: Rudyard Kipling, Elinor Glyn, Clara Bow
Definition of an It Girl
Definition of an It Girl
The career patterns of It Girls reveal defining characteristics.
The It Girl is a woman who is attractive and desirable to men. Kipling's definition cements the It Girl as a patriarchal construction. (It was a concept created by a man to fit men's desires.) This means that...
The It Girl is also an example of what the ideal woman should look and act like in order to appeal to the male gaze. She must be inspiring and influential to the common woman. The male gaze has many restrictions on this ideal because...
The It Girl is presented as* straight, is commonly white and thin, and is always beautiful. The media often presents the ideal woman as one who is sexy and skinny. These traits obviously exclude many women, who we discuss below. (*Some women defined as It Girls in our research chose to keep their authentic identities private from the public so as to protect themselves from backlash and hate.)
Finally, the It Girl becomes a product, meant to push beauty standards on the average woman. These women are commodified to sell clothes, purses, hairstyles, makeup, etc. (The term commodified in this case means that an It Girl herself is created into a product that can be sold.)
As a whole, the It Girl is an image put upon celebrities as a way to hold power over the average woman, while parading as a celebration of beauty and female empowerment.
Who's Excluded?
Who's Excluded?
The above definition of an It Girl is essentially a woman who is seen as desirable and "sellable" to men and the media. So, who does not fit into that definition? Women of color, queer women, women that are not exceedingly thin, and women who speak out against the patriarchy are often excluded in media.
Throughout history, women of color are not really seen in media on the same level as white, female celebrities. While women like Beyoncé and Halle Berry came up in our research at least once, their media coverage is very limited compared to other contemporary starlets like Britney Spears or Paris Hilton. Other sensational women of color that do not fit into the It Girl definition include Lucy Liu, Janet Jackson, Dorothy Dandridge, Anna May Wong, and Ella Fitzgerald, among countless others.
Queer women are often excluded when it comes to media attention and "desirability". (We use the word "queer" on this page as an academic umbrella term to describe characteristics that do not fit into traditional/historical expectations of gender, sexuality, and sex.) Women who aren't straight, are considered unattainable to men and therefore have less appeal. The same can be said about women who present as both masculine and feminine or as more masculine; they are not considered to have the same sex appeal as an overtly-feminine woman. Queer women that do not fit into the It Girl definition include Marlene Dietrich, Josephine Baker, Drew Barrymore, and Joan Crawford.
Of course, women who don't fit into the beauty standards and desired body type of their time also receive little to no acknowledgment from the media. While beauty standards change over time, the men that continue to declare what is desirable in a woman do not change. There are also famous women who speak out against the patriarchy or do not allow the media to center their images around men. Famous icons like Cher and Eartha Kitt are prime examples of women that do not base their image on how desirable they are to men. While they still found great success, they do not fit under the definition of an It Girl.
(We still included some of these women in our Iconic It Girls list despite not being mentioned in our research because they fit into the majority of the definition of an It Girl, and we wish to diversify our portfolio.)
Pictured above from top to bottom: Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe
Pictured above from top to bottom: Ella Fitzgerald, Marlene Dietrich
Eras of It Girls
Eras of It Girls
While the general societal expectations of an It Girl have remained relatively the same in history, the characteristics, beauty expectations, and goals of It Girls have adapted to their times. No official "eras" exist, but many It Girls of the same time periods showed aligning traits.
As time progressed, the beauty standards and defining characteristics of It Girls evolved. In the "Original Era" of the 1920s-1930s, women like Clara Bow and Jean Harlow personified all the things an It Girl should be: promiscuous, expressive, bubbly, and socially ambitious. Their beauty image revolved around dramatized features such as thin, tall eyebrows, pale skin, and dark lips. Women of this era were expected to have traditionally thin, almost shapeless silhouettes.
However, as the 1940s approached and expectations of women became more restricted than during the Roaring 20s and the Great Depression, the characteristics of an It Girl became more classical. During the "Golden Age" of the 1940s-1950s, women like Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, and Ava Gardner mastered the thin in-between of ladylike mystery and an (intentionally) unintentional sexuality. These women promoted more natural, traditionally feminine beauty traits such as voluminous hair, sun-kissed skin, and makeup to accentuate the eyes. Additionally, the hourglass figure became increasingly popular with more form-fitting dresses to accentuate traditionally feminine features. We also see the pool of It Girls expand beyond just actresses to include musicians and models, showing a growth in the focus of mainstream media.
Origins Era
Origins Era
1920s-1930s
Promiscuous; expressive;
dramatized beauty
Golden Age
Golden Age
1940s-1950s
ladylike; mysterious;
classically feminine beauty
New Age
New Age
1960s-1980s
subtle; artistic;
abstract, inclusive beauty
Party Girls
Party Girls
1990s-2010s
Energetic; carefree;
youthful beauty
As the 1960s ushered in social change of all forms, the It Girl changed too. Women who would not have fit the conventional beauty standards of the previous era but had "It" nevertheless found their spotlight in the "New Age." Women like Barbra Streisand, Princess Diana, and Liza Minnelli emphasized the abstract, artistic beauty image that relied on features unique to the woman. Fashion of this era emphasized a more tomboy-ish shape as women's clothes accentuated masculine features like the shoulders. They were women who commanded a space with only their subtle allure. During this era, there is also a return of the campy energy of the Original Era, creating a mix of allowed personalities in this era of It Girls. The New Age It Girls also grew to include many socialites and political figures as media forms and focuses became even more diversified.
The acceptance of individuality and the trickling freedom of expression among New Age It Girls led to an explosion of a new It Girl era in the 1990s and 2000s. "Party Girls" like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan thrived on youthful, fun beauty standards like colorful makeup, funky hairstyles, and carefree looks. The body image standards returned to the traditional expectation of thin, but did not leave behind the form-fitting standard of the Golden Age. In fact, this era sees a dramatic change by essentially making promiscuous clothes the dress code for It Girls. In terms of reasons for fame, this era introduces the "famous for nothing" concept, where media exposure in tabloids and gossip alone is enough to sensationalize a woman's image in the public eye.
Another notable difference in older It Girls and newer It Girls is how the media describes their intentions with men. Older It Girls are often described, especially when single, as damsels in distress or princesses in search of princes. They are longing and vulnerable, in need of a male partner to protect and respect them. They are portrayed as love-seeking. Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana are model examples of this side of the binary. More modern It Girls are described as women who want men for fun over companionship, often depicted more derogatively for this by the media. They may want a man, but they do not need one, and may move quickly from one to the next in the media's eyes. Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Lindsay Lohan were all seen as notorious partiers and were often labeled "bimbos" by tabloids. These It Girls are pleasure-seeking.
These eras, while not fixed, paint a picture of how the famous woman appeals to her time period, and how the concept of the It Girl survived to the present day.
Patterns of Fame
Patterns of Fame
While It Girls have existed in a variety of environments with drastically different societal expectations, their careers may share some eerie similarities. Take time to consider the implications of each parallel:
Many It Girls have started out as child stars, including Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and Judy Garland. What does this suggest about the Hollywood culture in terms of the safety of young celebrities?
Many It Girls were considered to end the peak of their careers with a sex scandal, including Clara Bow, Marilyn Monroe, and Pamela Anderson. What does this suggest about Hollywood, and the general public's views of sex, women, and purity? How do sex scandals go against the definition of an It Girl? (What does Kim Kardashian's sudden fame after her sex tape scandal say about a change in Hollywood culture?)
Many It Girls experience serious mental health issues after their "fall from grace," leading them to recoil from the spotlight, or more tragically, to be put into an intensive, monitored lifestyle by their closest circle of influences. Clara Bow was put into an mental institution after news of her sex scandal broke, and Britney Spears was restricted by a conservatorship after she shaved her head and started lashing out at paparazzi. In November 2021, Britney Spears' was finally released from her conservatorship and put back in control of her life and assets. What do these kinds of responses from close circles say about their intentions in an It Girl's life? What does the acceptance of those responses by the public and by Hollywood say about societal views on mental health?
Many It Girls are notorious victims of drug and alcohol abuse after the peak of their career, including Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, and Lindsay Lohan. What does this say about the pressures of fame, and the "perfect persona" that It Girls have in the media?
Selling a Product
Selling a Product
The It Girl image has been consumed by the public in many forms of media throughout history. Regardless of the form--print, pictures, videos, social media--this consumable media has had two consistent purposes:
The media wants to give you personal information about the It Girl in order to create a connection between the audience and the celebrity. This one-sided relationship between fans--who put in all the energy, interest and time--and It Girls--who are essentially unaware of the fans' existence, would be called a parasocial relationship.
The media wants to use your connection with the celebrity to sell and advertise products and behaviors. Whether they want you to buy the clothes she is wearing, follow the trend she is starting, go to a gym like she does, or gawk at how "bad" she looks when she leaves the house without makeup, every piece of media about an It Girl is telling you to do or don't do something.
Over time, the medium through which these goals are presented has changed. In the Original Era and the Golden Age, people consumed most of their celebrity media through fan magazines and newspapers. Fans could buy a magazine all about Clara Bow, read about what specific shade of red she was dying her hair, and get information on where to purchase the same dye. Clara's shade of red was in notoriously high demand across the country during the peak of her fame. Newspapers did more of the heavy lifting at this time with reporting on the personal lives of celebrities.
The popularity of tabloids picked up near the end of the Golden Age and the beginning of the New Age, documenting both personal information and products at the same time in extensive detail. The era of the paparazzi descended on Hollywood, with Jackie Kennedy being the first It Girl in our list to be photographed in such a way. The paparazzi's entrance into the world of media also unfortunately meant that much of the following media was published without celebrities' consent. As the Party Girl era began, tabloids transitioned online, allowing gossip, trends, and scandal to spread faster than ever before. It increased the feeling that celebrities were "just like us," because their lives could be shared more quickly and in more detail.
As the internet grew in popularity and accessibility, the videotaping of celebrities became more commonplace. The introduction of TMZ, a tabloid-like site meant purely for videos, increased the already-heavy presence of paparazzi, and allowed for regular people to be a part of the frenzy, as they could send in videos of celebrities caught out in public. During this era, many It Girls were filmed walking about their day, or going in and out of clubs and events. This era of media commodified It Girls' behavior on a higher level than ever before.
With the introduction of smartphones, social media became the number one source of celebrity media consumption. The "just like us" feeling has been increasing more than ever before as anyone can look into the personal life of their favorite celebrity, and hear directly from celebrities about what's trendy. This puts it back into the hands of the woman because they can be in charge of what they share. However, this also gives more power to fans who also have the ability to post anything they want about a celebrity without having to go through a tabloid or TMZ.
Selling a Scandal
Selling a Scandal
The consumer's need to feel like they relate to celebrities has been an inherent feature of the media since its beginning. It has been warped in recent decades by excessive media presence that preys on celebrity scandal, sensationalizing it in order to make a judgment instead of presenting it as a problem to empathize with. This has only been made worse by the clickbait-prone tabloids and blogs of the 2000s that quickly hurled insults and derogatory nicknames at celebrities in snappy headlines.
See some of the most notorious covers below.
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