The Deeper Meaning Behind the ‘Frazzled English Woman’ Trope

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Nottingham chapter.

Watching Bridget Jones was an life-altering experience for me. Seeing her carefree, relaxed attitude inspired me to reflect on my own anxious, overly rigid personality, and whether I needed to take a page from her book.

But laying there in bed with my three-day old hair and ratty t-shirt did not have the same appearance of effortlessness as it did on Bridget Jones.

The ‘frazzled English woman’ trope is a specially curated woman that has perfectly messy hair tumbling over colourful scarfs and quirky handbags with a hundred different trinkets attached. She is effortlessly pretty and ever the hopeless romantic, yet still funny with her self-deprecating jokes. She makes failure and messiness look desirable.

Yet, this trope never translates to women of colour. Being frazzled and quirky as a WOC is instead interpreted as being unkempt or unclean. POC women are held to far higher beauty standards than other women, a stifling expectation I’ve often felt myself. The feeling appears on the mornings when I don’t have the energy to wear makeup or wear my cute clothes, but forcing myself to when I’m reminded that being low-effort is never the same look on me as it is for others.

Instead, it’s the Taylor Russel’s of the world that are applauded as POC women. That sort of quiet elegance and soft-spoken nature is entirely contradictory to the ‘frazzled English woman’ trope, but that is the sort of standard that women of colour are held to. Too often have I felt forced to straighten my naturally wavy hair so I can try to mimic the delicate nature that Taylor Russell has. It reinforces the subtle belief that there is no ‘frazzled English woman’ trope for women of colour; instead, there is straightened hair, freshly done-up nails and impeccable makeup. There is no room for mistakes and messiness.

There isn’t only an ethnic barrier to the ‘frazzled English woman’ trope; there is also a class barrier. I’ve often noticed that it tends to be middle-class or upper-class women that like to participate in this trend, always finding the best pieces at charity shops. There’s a definite danger of crossing the line of what is classy and chic when you’re rich, but trashy when you’re poor.

Regardless of the criticism of the ‘frazzled English woman’ trope, I don’t think this should restrict anyone from discovering their personal taste in fashion. Some part of me admires the effortless messiness of the ‘frazzled English woman’, inspiring me to not care as much about what I do or what I wear. I can wear my ugly, oversized sweaters with my messy hair and chipped nail polish and not care about what it may look like. To some extent, this trope is freeing since there are no strict rules about what to wear, and it has definitely allowed girls to explore their own personal taste separate from the male gaze.

Yet ultimately, there will always be a glass ceiling that limits the extent of which POC women can participate in this trend. It is integral that we recognise the subtle limitations of this trend even though we all may participate in it to some extent.