Does your day consist of sneaking from your bed to the cake cabinet? You may have adopted Goblin mode. This attitude is characterized by the desire to stay at home, eat junk food and cut off relationships with others as much as possible. This attitude, which resembles the fatigue caused by the restrictions caused by the pandemic, is now democratizing on social networks, where it goes against the precepts of fashion and beauty.
The Goblin mode or the pixie trend is taken from goblins, these creatures of Germanic folklore. They are ugly and rarely come out of their den. Proven by the Latin origin of the term goblin, “gobelinus”, which is a derivative of “gobalus” meaning “domestic genius”.
“Goblin mode is like waking up at 2 a.m. and walking into the kitchen wearing only a long t-shirt to make some weird snack, like melted cheese on crackers”, defines the Juniper Twitter user; in the columns of the Guardian.
Against the precepts of beauty
One of the features of this attitude is the lack of aesthetics in clothing style. Pajamas, t-shirt, slippers and most importantly no makeup or haircut. The idea is to be natural, and for some, to take pride in going against the precepts of beauty.
The hashtag GobelinMode has 1.1 million views on TikTok. It is often accompanied by the entry #feralgirlsummer which refers to a perfectly made up woman. In addition, followers in goblin mode indicate in their publication that they are “going into goblin mode”. It would be a one time choice and not a way of life.
But as it is sometimes claimed, this practice can also be suffered, especially by people with disabilities. On the Refinery 29 media, journalist Hannah Turner testifies: “Crip communities often embody goblin mode because there is often no choice but not to. I’m writing this in the same outfit I’ve been wearing since last Sunday, my hair hasn’t been washed in over a week and, seriously, I stink. I’m not telling you this as a badge of honor, to prove how leprechaun I am. It just happens regularly in my life as a disabled person”†
(ETX Daily Up)