I Will Never Be The ‘Cool Girl’: Myths and Magic of People Who Do Not Exist
With the popularity of the book-turned-movie “Gone Girl” (2014), the Cool Girl trope has been on an impressive publicity scheme, when she usually just lurks in the shadows. Gillian Flynn, author of “Gone Girl,” claims that this gendered role doesn’t exist — she is merely a fantasy that takes different forms in the minds of men, while tormenting women as she laughs and flips her hair. She never demands attention, never intimidates and never threatens. She simply reaps the benefits of being seen as feminine-looking and masculine-minded, but with zero self-acknowledgment of either. “Sexy? Who me? I’m just one of the guys,” she proclaims. Girls want to be her. Boys want to be with her. They wait for the day to come when a girl will just prance into their man cave, eat day-old chicken wings and drink Keystone while beating them at “Call of Duty.” He will know has found the one. And if he hasn’t found her yet, it’s just a matter of time until she appears with a glowing rim of light surrounding her — most likely at a beer-league slow-pitch softball game, a Bruins autograph signing, Comic-Con or a street meat hot dog stand in Alphabet City.