SMALL TALK: Why Do We Yearn So Much For Girlhood? With Sophie Gilbert

This week we’re joined by Sophie Gilbert — writer, critic for The Atlantic, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of Girl on Girl. We dive into the rise of “girlhood” as an online identity — why it resonated so deeply, how it became a brand, and what it says about how women are seen (and see themselves). From the internet’s obsession with returning to girlhood to our protectiveness around Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter’s star power, and the lasting imprint of 90s and 2000s pop culture, we unpack how nostalgia, femininity, hyper sexualisation and marketing collided to shape a generation. Sophie Gilbert appears in Sydney on 16 October presented by Sydney Writers Festival, in Canberra on 17 October presented by Canberra Writers Festival and in Melbourne at The Wheeler Centre on Tuesday 21 October.