re-defining femcel/girlblogger/etc
Let's be real. as teen girl in a patriarchal society, I absolutely understand and even find comfort in femcel/girlblogger culture. Surviving mental illness through delusion, romanticizing femininity in a world that hates it, feeling insane, lost, and pressured to fit into a mold in this world. Accepting my flaws and finding community (personally, with the hope of self-improvement after identifying such flaws). I like being in a community that discusses how being a woman in a patriarchal, capitalist society can drive you insane and give you mental problems. I am comforted engaging in femcel media where my struggles are seen and/or I can express my anger through watching various characters spiral and/or take control of their life while doing so--or even feel seen and heard as I watch girls loose control of their lives. And sometimes, it's just an aesthetic: lip gloss, lacy clothes, pink, cigarettes, lana del ray, etc. Sometimes I like belonging, it's a basic human need.
I would confidently say I am femcel, personally. I believe the patriarchy is extremely harmful and many of the men my age that are single do not at all meet my high (feminist) standards and thus, despite the fact that I am mostly conventionally attractive and an average amount of guys "like" me at any given point in time, I am celibate because the men around me almost always lack compassion, empathy, and are willfully ignorant. Femcel culture doesn't have to be bad.
However, anything can become toxic. Even femcel culture, a culture centered around women, has become affected by the patriarchy. Transphobia, eating disorders, classism, racism, and more have all been perpetuated through this culture, particularly with the problematic coquette aesthetic. Being a woman, being a compassionate good person, is realizing that while you can live your delusional, mentally ill-tortured main character-manic pixie dream girl-life out on tumblr, there is more to life than just yourself, even if you are in survival mode. There are girls who don't fit the cis, thin, white, rich, coquette "standard" that are just as valid as those who do because at the end of the day, if you are a femcel you are experiencing the same patriarchal problems in society as everyone else. Attaching an aesthetic to an ideology is lovely when it has not been poisoned by the patriarchy. Being a femcel is about rejecting the patriarchy (possibly because it rejected you first, but I digress), not accepting its twisted, white supremacist, transphobic, misogynist values in an all women space. As girlbloggers, we need to do better. We need to educate ourselves and have compassion for others, no matter how truly tortured we may be feeling, that is no excuse to use a community to harm others. The community has far too much good in it to truly be deemed evil to its core, but it certainly has major issues that need to be dealt with.
My interpretation of femcel is rooted in feminism. Acknowledging flaws in yourself and the system, allowing yourself to express your true feelings in this community when the rest of world wants you to shut up and be silent eye candy. Femcel culture should not be rooted in self-hatred, but in gentle love and growth, and fierce advocacy for the equality of women, the height of our standards, and the dismantling of the patriarchy. Sometimes, that means reading silly posts and validating how much you like a certain actor that men might make fun of you for liking, or it's a mournful Lana Del Ray song about the pain of living. Then it's about being better. Doing better. Setting an example for others while using media to point out problems in our society (like Girl, Interrupted).
For me, being a femcel is being a feminist. Being able to call out men (and everyone else) when they are upholding the patriarchy/being toxic, knowing that it will make men dislike/lose interest in me. Being a femcel to me is consuming media that makes me feel seen, media that comments on society, the patriarchy, the way women, teens, and teen girls are viewed.
At least, that's how I perceive the community.