If there’s a person out there who isn’t intrigued by the idea of a “Hot Girl Summer,” they can stay inside with the air conditioning on.
The steamiest months of 2019 belong to the women living without limits, inspired by Megan Thee Stallion, a breakout rapper who has staked a claim in Houston and well beyond. Her debut mixtape, Fever, arrived in May to become the soundtrack of the season, and brought with it the “Hot Girl Summer” theme, courtesy of the track “Cash Shit,” which begins with this declaration: “Real hot girl shit / Yeah, I’m in my bag, but I’m in his too.” Fans took care of the rest, it seems.
Megan thee Stallion’s effortless/unintentional branding is really a case study in itself! “Drive the boat” “hot girl summer” etc. like these catchphrases are fucking everywhere, Megan is EVERYWHERE!!!
— Shelton Griffith (@flyrebel) July 8, 2019
hot girl summer don’t mean we out here thottin GOOFYS ? we just living our best life’s & not giving af about no ones corny ass son
— llaurenaa? (@llaurenaaaa) July 7, 2019
Hotgirl shit all summer ?
— HOT GIRL MEG (@theestallion) May 25, 2019
The beauty of Hot Girl Summer, as with so many of the internet’s ephemeral ~moods~, is that it’s never been just one thing: Vice asked women in attendance for Megan (aka Hot Girl Meg) at Wireless Festival in London what the phrase meant to them, and the definitions were personal, yet universal. “Enjoying yourself and not caring is the key!” said one concertgoer. “It’s about doing you, for the benefit of you and you alone, not for a man,” another specified. A third cited role reversal: “Guys always talk about getting girls, and we love Meg because she’s doing exactly what they do unapologetically. We can talk about dick, too.” Exuding power and confidence — that’s the hot girl way.
it's the time of the year when a surplus of women use their body heat to power up the Sun, for some sort of plan. The reason why we have to blow up the sun
— hussein kesvani (@HKesvani) July 9, 2019
If you’re immediately worried that dudes will try to co-opt this celebration, I regret to say that fear is well-founded.
No sooner had Hot Girl Summer blown up social media than we started hearing about “Hot Boy Summer,” a clumsy attempt to masculinize the meme. Trouble is, most of the Hot Boy Summer content stuck to the familiar script of guys being dusty-ass fuccbois — only this time, they’re especially proud of it. Though you’ll find a few of them posting cute, earnest, sunny thirst traps under the auspices of Hot Boy Summer, many others are living up to their worst instincts, or what one young man referred to as “their regularly scheduled ain’t shit activities.” Not a great look.
A King…. hot boy summer continues
— Cloudy Visions??☁️ (@CloudyVisionArt) July 5, 2019
Hot Girl summer was innocent. Hot Boy summer seems to be more about celebrating any L’s a woman takes.
— Alleé ? (@hayyalleee) July 7, 2019
“it’s hot girl summer ☺️”
men who refuse to let women have anything to themselves: “IT’S HOT BOY SUMMER CITY BOY SUMMER WE’RE WINNING YOU HATE TO SEE IT WE’RE UP BY 10”…ok.
— s (@sabrinaahmed) July 7, 2019
Hot girl summer is about women enjoying themselves and having fun, while hot boy summer is niggas continuing their regularly scheduled ain’t shit activities ?
— we real cool (@jdeshawnporter) July 6, 2019
Guys, treat her nice so she brags to her friends about you. Then they will be curious and you can run through the whole friend group with ease. Hot boy summer on three
— Chefette Papi (@lukeyism) July 6, 2019
The harder you look, the harder it is to ignore: Hot Boy Summer is cursed.
Hot boy summer pic.twitter.com/5PopuXH6aM
— lexapro logn / chelseas wh*re (@thelifeoflogn) July 2, 2019
So, is there a decent way to mark Hot Boy Summer? It’s tricky, but with the right vibe and perfect fit, it can be done. No one exemplifies this like Bobby from King of the Hill.
hot boy summer pic.twitter.com/tricP1HF1m
— maitri thee scallion (@SorryMomDotGov) July 8, 2019
You’re also allowed to post about Hot Boy Summer if you are, in essence, a kept man.
Tweeting about living a hot boy summer from the comfort of my girlfriends apartment while she’s at work pic.twitter.com/OqmAJm5Aty
— Discount Fat Thor (@lollcano) July 7, 2019
And, of course, there’s always room in Hot Boy Summer for the sweaty big-dicked bro.
hot boy summer pic.twitter.com/cNWt1c1X4J
— vladimir (@lilxgrape) July 2, 2019
What the other dudes have meanwhile overlooked is that Hot Girl Summer describes a self-actualization, not an invite to compete or return fire. In a way, they’re rehashing the misbelief that feminism as a political idea demands punishment for men instead of equality for women. They’ve taken the glow of Hot Girl Summer as insult to their own egos, and — rather than level up like the Hot Girls — now seek to drag them down. It won’t work, because the sheer positivity of Hot Girl Summer is overwhelming, unconquerable. And Hot Girl Meg isn’t going to see herself eclipsed. Believe this.
I need all the hot girls to get y’all’s head in the game ! ? the summer isn’t over yet !
— HOT GIRL MEG (@theestallion) July 6, 2019
In fact, if you want to understand how badly men have missed the point of Hot Girl Summer, you can listen to Megan explain it herself in an interview with the Root: “So it’s just basically about women — and men — being unapologetically them, just having a good-ass time, hyping up your friends, doing you, not giving a damn about what nobody got to say about it.” The emphasis there isn’t even mine! She went out of her way to include men in the movement. Turns out Hot Girl Summer was always for everyone.
This makes Hot Boy Summer redundant at best, and at worst an expression of male fragility. It’s the holiday for guys too insecure to embrace a fluid gender dynamic, the same who buy “men’s” body wash because a brand with flowers on it is too threatening. And fellas, if you can’t get down with Hot Girl Summer — which does not involve a string of 2 a.m. Instagram messages and subsequent “sorry this week is kinda crazy lol” texts, for the record — then you really don’t deserve a separate version, do you. It would be no better than a “Straight Pride Parade” or “White History Month.” Give it up. But if you think you can hang with the Hot Girls? Then don’t hold back — this is your time, too.
hot girl summer pic.twitter.com/mkrbskvyYT
— Nick Usen (@nickusen) July 8, 2019