New trend encourages women to embrace their 'rodent energy' this summer: 'You have to go outside'

TikTok is known for spawning one viral trend one after another. One of the recent rises in lifestyle trends popularizing under the hashtag #RatGirlSummer is getting a lot of love and support from the community. Sure enough, the 'Hot Girl Summer' trend that came before it might be fun but it required a lot of planning, getting the perfect outfits and having elaborate skincare routines just to snap a single picture or film a video for social media. Compared to the 'Hot Girl Summer' trend, a TikTok creator Lola Kolade—who goes by @lolaokola on TikTok—has popularized a budget and time-efficient trend for women to enjoy their summer without worrying about perfection.

To follow this trend, all you need to do is be a little more carefree and step outside your bubble to live life to the fullest. The hashtag which has over 300 million views as of now, was coined by Lola who firmly believes in enjoying her summer much like a rodent does. "I came up with rat girl summer as I was thinking about how I wanted to spend my own summer. I kept coming back to the word scurry, which I just happen to think is kind of funny—but also communicates a playfulness and spontaneity that I wanted to experience," Lola told Bustle in an interview.

In her words, this uplifting trend is all about releasing all your pressure to look perfect for social media and do what you want to do without being afraid of getting judged, somewhat like a rat. "In my opinion, the best nights out and the ones that make for the best stories rarely look good on camera. Those two ideas brought me to the idea of being a rat girl for the summer: chasing the fun, not the aesthetics. You’re still confident and carefree but with just a touch more feral energy," she told the outlet. Lola has made a series of videos about having a fun 'Rat Girl Summer' where she tells people to indulge in shenanigans and 'embrace the rodent energy' while scurrying around and nibbling their snacks.

However, in one of her videos, Lola has laid down some rules for people if they want to follow the "Rat Girl Summer" trend properly. "No. 1: You have to go outside. You cannot scurry in your bed. You cannot scurry on your couch. You need to leave your home," she advised people in her video which has received over 1 million views so far. "You have two days a week allotted for decaying. Do all your scrolling, do all your binge-watching, do all your rotting in bed those two days." She jokingly threatens her audience that she with "pull up to beat everyone's a** if she finds anyone rotting in bed for more than two days a week." 

In another popular video of Lola, she checks to see if everyone is having a proper 'Rat Girl Summer' or not. "Have you engaged in any shenanigans this week?" she asks. "July is here so step up your game." @karleskitchen enthusiastically wrote under this video which got Lola over 3 million more views: "I’m so invested in rat girl summer hollering it from the rooftops daily." @heatherb93 joked: "I will have you know I have been scurrying around and eating snacks while avoiding work."

@sharavinaaa added: "I’ve been a scampering rat since the beginning of June and this week I’m taking a break." With all the positive responses from TikTok and other social media communities, it seems Lola's idea of having a 'Rat Girl Summer' while inspiring people to live their life to the fullest, has been a massive success.