Thinking Face Emoji

The Hmm

From girl math to men who are babygirl to looksmaxxing incels, online culture has accelerated, and perhaps even changed, how we express our gender identies. In this podcast created by The Hmm in collaboration with The Institute of Network Cultures, we are focusing on online gender expression. The early Internet is often viewed as an emancipatory space where people explored and experimented with identity and gender. Today, this spirit of identity play exists simultaneously alongside a broader trend that leans toward more cisheteronormative gender roles. This podcast series is an extension of The Hmm’s 2025 research topic THIS IS WHO YOU’RE BEING MEAN TO.

Episodes

  1. The Future of Girlhood

    08/15/2025

    The Future of Girlhood

    In the sixth and last episode of the season we delve into the future of girlhood in online culture. Since 2023, the so-called “year of the girl” with trends like girl math, girl dinner, and the Barbie movie’s influence, girlhood has become a widely discussed cultural and theoretical concept. We’ve learned that the figure of the girl has evolved into a digital strategy rather than a fixed identity, one that is shaped by algorithms, aesthetics, and performance. Together with one of the initiators of @everyoneisagirl Ester Freider, Lilian Stolk from The Hmm and Mela Miekus from the Institute of Network Cultures explore how femininity is performed online and the end of identity. Mentioned in this episode: Pinkydoll’s NPC TikTok live “Everyone is a Girl” by Alex Quicho @everyoneisagirl on Instagram Ghosted 1996 on Instagram Sighswoon on Instagram “Networks and Their Discontents“ by William Kherbek referenced in “I’m Like a Pdf But a Girl“ by Ester Freider “Side-eyeing the cyberbaroque“ by Ester Freider “Hallucinating sense in the era of infinity-content“ by Carolina Busta Princess Substack highlights Find The Hmm at: thehmm.nl linkin.bio Find Ester at: Instagram Linktree Thinking Face Emoji is a podcast by The Hmm, in collaboration with The Institute of Network Cultures, and financially supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL. Jingle and sound design by Jochem van der Hoek Editing by Salome Berdzenishvili Cover art by Aspirin

    42 min
  2. Post-Soviet Girl, or the Sad Girl Trope

    08/04/2025

    Post-Soviet Girl, or the Sad Girl Trope

    In the fifth episode of Thinking Face Emoji, Margarita Osipian from The Hmm and Anielek Niemyjski from the Institute of Network Cultures are joined by writer and independent researcher Salome Berdzenishvili, to discuss the online aesthetic of the post-Soviet sad girl. Together they dissect the sad girl industrial complex to explore how this aesthetic emerged, and how it shapes and reflects the visual and emotional archives of Soviet and post-Soviet eras. Mentioned in this episode: Лана Дель Рей - Летняя Печалька - Lana del Ray Summertime Sadness with voiceover Girl Online - Symposihmm playback Preliminary Materials For a Theory of the Young-Girl by Tiqqun Becoming and Unbecoming – Eastern European Girlhood Online by Salome Berdzenishvili Moy Marmeladny trend on TikTok #Slavic Core - TikTok Clean girl in a post soviet country TikTok by Sh.Sayadze How to Become as Intimidating Yet Visually Striking as Brutalist Architecture by Sumayya Bisseret Martinez Mental health walk in Eastern Europe TikTok trend Eastern European girlhood on Instagram, bikini in puddles compilation Find The Hmm at: thehmm.nl linkin.bio Find Salome at: networkcultures.org/blog/author/salome/ Thinking Face Emoji is a podcast by The Hmm, in collaboration with The Institute of Network Cultures, and financially supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL. Jingle and sound design by Jochem van der Hoek. Editing by Salome Berdzenishvili. Cover art by Aspirin.

    47 min
  3. Gigachad, or the Surge of Nu-genics

    06/12/2025

    Gigachad, or the Surge of Nu-genics

    In the third episode of Thinking Face Emoji, Margarita Osipian from The Hmm and researcher Mita Medri, are joined by writer and cultural commentator Ana Sumbo, to discuss the online phenomenon of looksmaxxing. Hunter vs prey eyes, the canthal tilt, siren vs. doe eyes, angel vs witch skull, or a FYP filled with Gigachad jawlines. This is the landscape, or some might say cesspool, of looksmaxxing. With its incel-verse undertones and radical history, we discuss whether this phenomenon is just another glow-up trend or is it signaling a resurgence in eugenics? Mentioned in this episode: “men used to go to war” | TikTok clip from Kareem Shami The Slow Burn Back to Eugenics by Ana Sumbo The Digital Legacy of Eugenics project by Lila Brustad Rage against the machine: how incel culture went mainstream in 2023 by Günseli Yalcinkaya Predatory Data: Eugenics in Big Tech and Our Fight for an Independent Future by Anita Chan I tried all of the most popular looksmaxxing glowup tips! | TikTok clip from Michael Hoover Deathnics thread on looksmax.org Yassified Eugenics by Abha Ahad POV: How the SS officers pulled up to the Nuremberg trials | TikTok clip from Kareem Shafti Are you the hunter or the hunted? | Instagram video from @rawreturned Lard of estrogen | Instagram video from @nickfraserrrrr Find The Hmm at: thehmm.nl linkin.bio Find Ana at: Substack Thinking Face Emoji is a podcast by The Hmm, in collaboration with The Institute of Network Cultures, and financially supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL. Jingle and sound design by Jochem van der Hoek. Editing by Salome Berdzenishvili. Cover art by Aspirin.

    40 min

About

From girl math to men who are babygirl to looksmaxxing incels, online culture has accelerated, and perhaps even changed, how we express our gender identies. In this podcast created by The Hmm in collaboration with The Institute of Network Cultures, we are focusing on online gender expression. The early Internet is often viewed as an emancipatory space where people explored and experimented with identity and gender. Today, this spirit of identity play exists simultaneously alongside a broader trend that leans toward more cisheteronormative gender roles. This podcast series is an extension of The Hmm’s 2025 research topic THIS IS WHO YOU’RE BEING MEAN TO.