#rosiewaterland

[loopistyle]

Sometimes you meet people who just get you #rosiewaterland #theanticoolgirl #avidreader #loopistyle #wetsherself #shoplocaldontbeadick (at Avid Reader Bookshop and Cafe)

[behindawarningnoteisawtfstory]

Goddamn, what a satisfying read. ☺️#anticoolgirl #rosiewaterland

[negoverlays]

Touché @rosiewaterland I too can where a fine looking bird on my head! #theanticoolgirl #booksrule #rosiewaterland (at Chez Arthur Street)

[missksays]

The Cool Girl Denial phenomenon

Gone girl. Everyone’s talking about it, either having seen the movie, read the book, or maybe both. I have listed just a couple of countless articles discussing the concept of the ‘Cool Girl’ - the girl we try to be because we think it’s who he wants us to be.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/annehelenpetersen/gone-girl-no-cool-girl http://www.mamamia.com.au/rogue/what-is-a-cool-girl-rosie-waterland/

Bells started ringing very loudly for a lot of women when reading or hearing about the concept. It’s an immediate reaction of oh I totally know THAT girl/oh shit I did that once/oh shit I did that too which quickly turns into dammit that is actually describing me…. Farrk. Upside being that you are clearly not alone.

The next part is the funny part, where denial starts…

The denial of the fact that you ever tried to be the cool girl, whether consciously or not, is truly the second layer to the ‘cool girl’.

Whether it be because you don’t want to have a parallel drawn between yourself and Amy (no spoilers!), or whether it is because it would be admitting weakness, or even more interestingly, because you might have to admit that you have never actually STOPPED trying to be the cool girl and don’t know who you even are (cue existential crisis) at all, I truly think there will be an interesting fallout to this movie over time.

I have found it interesting to reflect on times throughout my life when I probably was trying to be the cool girl. For a while I was the surfing cool girl, a bit of a fail given that I’m actually crap at surfing. Whilst bar tending I would flirt with some mesh clothing and some tough looking leather wristbands but could never really commit to that look and would subsequently ruin it the next night by wearing a giant flower in my hair.

There was definitely an ex or two benefitting from my efforts to be the cool girl who didn’t care that all conversations were via text not phone (seriously, what the hell) or even that I wasn’t the only girl (cool or otherwise) in the picture.

Even when you are in a happy relationship and no longer need to be anyone but yourself, the cool girl knows no bounds. I often run into ‘Cool Girl’ at the office, and have possibly even been her more than once in a heavily male dominated industry where it can be helpful to be her.

Await next entry - Cool Girl takes the Corner Office.