Beauty and fashion influencer Erim Kaur has everyone talking, or should I say vibing and relating, with her Instagram remix of the viral TikTok song ‘Looking for a Guy in Finance‘.
Kaur’s version of the catchy tune features snappy lyrics on supposedly desirable dating attributes in brown women. “Looking for a girl with long hair, low iron, brown eyes, and attitude,” it goes. Innocent, right? Well, not exactly if a bunch of GenZ Indian girls start identifying with it.
The original reel, posted by Kaur on Instagram and captioned, “The original brown girl anthem for summer 2024”, has racked up almost 3.5 million views. It has also spawned 4,000 Instagram reels with the same audio since Kaur uploaded it last month.
First, let’s unpack the meaning of “low iron” in this context. It’s supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, an inside joke about what guys supposedly find attractive. But come on, low iron? That’s not exactly a quality we want to romanticise or even joke about.
Iron deficiency, or anaemia, is a serious health issue, especially for women. It can leave you feeling tired all the time, not to mention the long-term health risks. So, when you’ve got a remix casually tossing around “low iron” as if it’s some quirky trait, it’s sending the wrong message. Is this the sanitised version of the 1990s’ heroin chic, characterised by an emaciated appearance with pale skin and dark circles?
It brings to mind the ‘girl dinner’ trend, which started off with women light-heartedly showing off their low-effort meals—a thumb in the nose to the domestic goddess archetype. But soon enough, it morphed into something far more sinister. It’s become this weird symbol of not eating enough, of skimping out on food because apparently, that’s what’s cool now. I mean, seriously? Not eating seems to be trending again. Remember the infamous quote popularised by Kate Moss back in 2009: Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.
The last time I checked, dinner was about enjoying good food and company, not about competing to see who can eat the least.
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Not ‘just a joke’
What really gets me is how trends like ‘girl dinner’ and Kaur’s ‘looking for a girl’ start off as jokes with a seemingly feminist twist, but end up glorifying unhealthy habits.
It’s like we’re stuck in this loop where unhealthy behaviour gets dressed up as something fun and desirable. And who’s buying into all this? Mostly us, the girls and women. We obviously don’t have enough impossible aesthetic and beauty standards to keep up with.
Sure, Erim Kaur and other influencers might not mean any harm. They’re just doing their thing, making content that gets people talking. The more shares the better. Virality is the Holy Grail.
But, to take off from our friendly neighbourhood Spiderman: ‘With great influence comes great responsibility. When a person has thousands or even millions of followers online, what they say and do matters. It shapes how people see themselves and each other. So, maybe instead of making “low iron” sound like the latest must-have accessory, influencers could use their platform to promote stuff that’s actually important, like authenticity or self-esteem.
Social media is all about trends and being in the moment. But that should not come at the cost of our health and self-esteem. It’s about time we start calling out this nonsense for what it is: harmful. Because while dancing to a catchy beat is fun and all, let’s stop pretending that “low iron” is something to aspire to. And let’s definitely stop pretending that skipping meals is cool. It’s okay to be yourself, flaws and all. In fact, it’s more than okay—it’s what makes you, you.
Let’s shake off these silly, malignant trends and embrace what truly matters: health, happiness, and being real. As for Erim Kaur and her remix? Maybe next time, she could think twice about the messages she’s putting out there. Because in a world where influencers have so much power, a little mindfulness can go a long way.
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(Edited by Asavari Singh)