Influenced: the Younger Sister Effect
I’ll come right out and say it: I am influenced. I buy things that celebrities “link in bio” and try new skin care products with TikTok creators’ discount codes. I feel seen in the glorious online shopping baskets that populate multiple tabs on my laptop. And I’m no stranger to the Amazon storefronts of multiple influencers (ehem ehem, Eli Rallo).
When I see something in a store that an influencer I love includes in their videos frequently (again, ehem, Eli Rallo’s wrist weights), it feels like an “as seen on TV” moment and before I know it, I’m at the checkout handing over my credit card for a 70 dollar pair of wrist weights at a clothing store. Except, the funny and very much new-media moment is the fact that I didn’t see any of this on TV. Instead, I found a new facial sunscreen after seeing multiple influencers wear the brand, following a few videos of dermatologist creators emphasizing the importance of a daily sunblock. I bought those damn nearly-hundred dollar wrist weights after seeing my favorite influencer wear them on multiple hot girl walks.
Hence, we see the brilliance of Aritzia’s new clothing line and campaign collaboration with Emma Chamberlain. I’ve seen the little Aritzia bags in the clutches of tourists and East Village renters alike. Other than the hopes of having someone ask where I got a snug romper to pair with a blazer, before this collaboration I found no reason to buy anything other than the Aritzia dupe and save myself at least half the cost. But, of course, now I poured myself a cup of this Chamberlain Kool Aid to sip on as I figure out what Y2K-esque cardigan or chunky sweater I should spend a fat slice of my paycheck on this month.
I sometimes wish I was one of these influencer’s little sister so I could pick through their pile of old clothes and stock my own closet before they haul the stack off to the thrift store. I mean, I’m already a step closer to younger sisterhood by religiously listening to their podcasts and following their advice like it’s the law. Eli Rallo says to plan our dates for Thursday night? Okay, I guess I’m rescheduling my Friday night date. I don’t make the rules!
This little sister effect doesn't work universally, however. Seeing Neil Patrick Harris holding a green box of vegetables doesn’t exactly make me want to shell out seventy-five bucks per month for some groceries. What about How I Met Your Mother or Doogie Houser, M.D. makes me want to buy groceries? It just doesn’t make sense. But, perhaps more pertinently, I don’t have any sort of personal connection to Neil Patrick Harris—I didn’t grow up watching him on TV (including shows like Doogie Houser, M.D.) and I’m not a gay man. I don’t connect with him as a celebrity, so it's not surprising that he wouldn’t be able to speak to me in any meaningful sense in a commercial.
On the other hand, influencers I obsess over, like Eli Rallo and Emma Chamberlain, all look and act the same—and I can relate to all of them in one way or another. They’re all thin, white, financially comfortable women living in a big city, navigating their early twenties, which usually consists of prolific social lives, shopping trips, and creative hobbies. Of course I look up to them as older sisters; they’re all glamorized, conventionally attractive versions of myself—versions of myself I often wish I could be.
In therapy, I will definitely deconstruct the racist and misogynistic reasons that make me desire to be like the white, skinny, rich girls with cult followings, but for now I will say their lives seem so glamorous, and most of all, easy. Part of me envies how they get to live on their own schedules, open up gift packages from clothing and skincare companies, and revel in the love and adoration from their fans. I know there’s more to the story of their lives—yes, they also experience hate online, which is obviously undeserved—but even without knowing the full picture, I frequently find myself desiring to walk through the world in their shoes, just as a little sister might look up to their older sister as if her lifestyle is the goal.
Perhaps this desire is why I absolutely eat up whatever product they promote on the silly little clock app. I take their words to heart and, if I’m being honest with myself, I want their approval more than anything—even if it’s not in a literal sense but instead a nonexistent but theoretically-totally-realistic kind of way. But who knows? Maybe the image these influencers promote is too good to be true. Maybe the little sister effect will be simply that—the older sister’s lifestyle will always be out of reach.