Here is something to spike your imagination. Lauren Burch is a Canadian social media star and a style icon @laurenxburch

Anyone can tell -- Lauren Burch is one of those female influencers, the type you expect on try-on hauls, a viral tiktok trends, or just an actress doing some teen show! Yeah! But also no.

Lauren Burch is some of that, but a lot more than that.

I don't want to butter the wrong bread here, so I will flip the other side of the coin- she looks like one of those all-too-perfect social media attention seekers with weird beauty standards, some fashion your Babushka won't approve of and definitely you can’t understand why your teenage daughter or siblings is so much obsessed with her!

Like her or love her, Lauren Burch is certain  to be part of modern pop culture, and many more like her are about to emerge. I don't want you to hate them any less than you already do or like her any less than you do. I want to dig deep and take us both through the journey of understanding:

Who Lauren Burch is, what is the culture around her style and if she is worth the time of her generation.

That makes the words of the day to be e-girl and e-boys. Heard of that yet? Maybe not, but you may find a few of them right in your neighborhood.

What Is An E-Girl Or E-Boy?

Not to take a side, but for efficiency here, I would like to use e-kid to refer to all the genders associated with this culture. There is a variety of characteristics that can be listed to describe the term e-kid. But the simplest definition can maybe be drawn for the name itself; "e" for electronic, which means electronic kids. It sounds archaic and blunt, but that is the simplest it can be. Essentially, e-kids have a heavy online presence and have leveraged the growth and popularity of social media platforms to form a subculture that a lot of Gen Zs resonate with. And we can all acknowledge that Gen Zs are currently the majority of the world population; they run social media, and there is no amount of filtering your Facebook feeds that will make you escape seeing some gen-z kinds of stuff. That is why I concur it would be better to understand this culture that might not sit well with a reasonable portion of the population. I mean, just because I don't approve of the tiktok challenges, will it be worth quarreling with my teenage daughter, who seems to very much idolize her favorite influencer? You got it!

See More: Lauren Burch exclusive content

Origin And Evolution Of E-Kids

During the 1960s-1980s, there was a subculture mainly dominated by the youths who displayed rather sophisticated fashion and counterculture values. They had their own type of music and language, and in some instances, they were associated with heavy drug usage. There was this derogatory term used to refer to this sub-culture-the hippies. Mention that to any folk from the old days, and they will spit on your face.

Honestly, the hippies were never liked, even today- the drug abuse part overrides everything else that was to admire about the culture. Nonetheless, they were popular and quite loved by the teens and youthful population. I like to think the hatred overshadowed the adoration by society largely because they were not understood.

But what has this to do with e-kids or Lauren Burch, for that matter?

Mods were kind of proto-e-kids, but carry with them a few lessons to learn considering how far we have come with this culture.

The modern e-kid culture, more so the e-girl term, was not a good thing to call someone back in the 2000s. Then, it was a pejorative term used for online women who constantly seek male attention, and they were common on Tumblr. But some common trends that today's e-girl culture borrows from are the emo type music and scene culture associated with the youths. Another culture that modern e-girl culture borrows from is Tokyo street fashion (Harajuku prefecture), characterized by anime and Lolita fashion.

 

Still on fashion, other notable trends are mall goth fashion and cosplay costumes. I notice many of these fashions are inspired by some Asian cultures, the most recent being the K-pop culture that is heavily South Korean. I believe fashion, above anything, is the centre of the definition of the modern e-kid culture, where they draw their inspiration and how they inspire their fandom to evolve around their fashion. Yes, fashion! Have a look at what I run to while looking up these fashion trends.

The Mall Goth style is not entirely everything that is to it when it comes to fashion. However, I can describe the fashion trend as a cocktail of styles that are by far different to what would be considered a traditional sense. Take a look at this style as portrayed in K-pop culture

Their girlie-pinkish, rather different to the mall Goth style, I would say friendly to the eyes. But wait for it.

Scary! No, I would say creative and different. This fashion style is very common, and it portrays the overtly sexual part of e-girls culture. Essentially, e-girls like Lauren Burch would combine the cosplay aspects, the anime-like appearances and a bit of K-pop culture to come up with something like this.

Nonetheless, that is not all; there is not enough description that can be put across to exhaust all the fashion styles portrayed in e-girl culture. So far, I have over-emphasized the e-girl parts let's take a look at how the e-boys have refined the modern culture.

The earliest, perhaps, the most known pioneer of modern e-boys is Lil Peep. His approach to fashion was contradictory to what is traditionally masculine. Like their female counterparts, they embrace the elements of mall goth and emo culture. The e-boys are known to leverage soft boy aesthetics, bringing out the beautiful, sensitive and vulnerable features in males. Commonly known are the BTS band from South Korea. If there was a wester member of BTS, Lauren Burch would fit right in.

The e-boys are challenging the traditional expectation of male attractiveness to embrace shyness, emotional vulnerability, and androgyny.

The Rise in Popularity Of E-Kids

First, we must clarify this: the word popularity is relative, and for some, it is a time when e-culture has become such a big thing worth embracing. For others, it was the new cringe they could not get rid of. One platform that can be given the most credit for its mainstream popularity is TikTok. When TikTok became thin in  2018, a new generation of influencers emerged who challenged the traditional polished and edited media shown in Instagram and VSCO girls. Unlike Instagram, Tiktok offered equal opportunities for all content creators to share their raw and unedited content with no professional videography. Around this time, especially during the pandemic, K-pop groups gained more interest, and their fashion attracted many youths. Soon, there was a trend where boys and girls made content to show how they were transforming into e-girls and e-boys. The subculture gained prominence even more with participation by celebrities like Doja Cat, who is known for the e-girl makeup style. Soon enough the e-girl culture featured in the top trend fashion terms. I can't count how many times thus far, even renown artists and musicians have adopted e-kids choreography in their music videos. But it is something that is common.

Today, the e-girl culture has extended to platforms like Twitch, Snapchat, Twitch, Instagram and X (Twitter). Lauren Burch has dominated each platform and created a fandom in each of these social media circles.

Laurel Burch As an Ideal E-Girl Sensation

So far, we know what an e-girl is. It is a culture, and as someone who strongly resonates with the e-girl culture, Lauren Burch is a jill of all trades. She is a content creator who has amassed popularity from her tiktok and Instagram accounts.

Lauren began by posting dance, cosplay, and lip-sync videos, and currently, she has a fandom that is closing at 8 million. Note that the 23-year-old Canadian only rose to fame after posting TikTok videos in 2019 and cultivating her own style, and since then, her fame has grown exponentially.

As an e-girl, it is not difficult to quantify her successes in the social media space.

One of her achievements, together with her sister Julia Burch, is the confounders of the Gloom e-girl platform. The platform has brought together a group of girls who collectively create and grow virtual content that aims to represent and support women in the gaming community. Laren also has a successful YouTube channel under her name, where she makes try-on haul videos. The YouTube channel has so far accumulated close to 500,000.

Lauren Burch On YouTube

In her YouTube channel, Lauren aces her try-on hauls. She has leveraged her looks and gorgeous body to major in swimwear, hot rave, body suits, bikinis, lingerie, underwear, sexy tight dresses, mini dresses, streetwear and so on. Actually, Lauren's content on YouTube is all about self-expression and the carefree spirit that her fans would find adorable. She is a trendsetter to the kink and bedroom attires. What I particularly like about her try-on videos is the way she is organized and takes a podcast approach. She takes her time to talk to the audience, review the attire, give her personal views, and, most importantly, show them.

Lauren has very good consistency in terms of her theme colors; hers is anime pink, with a touch of purple and black. She has this makeup that makes her look like anime, and that resonates perfectly with what a modern e-girl has.

Lauren Burch on Twitch

The Twitch version of Lauren is the perfect e-girl replica; here, she hypes her collaborative brand Gloom-E-Girl.

Her content on Twitch is versatile, but it mostly consists of livestreams of video games like Fortnight. She is very talkative and engaging, and this is where she actively interacts with other gamers and her fans. Other than livestreaming video games, Lauren also showcases her Pokémon collection and other fluffy anime-like dolls. If there is a place where she is in her most anime form, that has to be twice, and there are a lot of fans who are there for just that.

Lauren Burch on TikTok

So far, I can tell Lauren Burch's tiktok account is the most explorative in terms of fashion. Her tiktok persona has the makeup, the pink dyed hair, and all the doll's looks. Lauren is a dancer, and she uses collabs with many others to show her unique and outstanding fashion styles.

  

Lauren Burch on X (Twitter)

Lauren Burch's Twitter activity is not pronounced as the first three social media platforms. The contents she shared there are majorly photos redirecting her fans to her other social media accounts. Nonetheless, her vibe is still the same: flirtatious, playful, doll-like and pinkish.

Everything nice to say about E-girls, but…

Here comes the hard pill to swallow: the e-girl culture is a good thing, and Gen Z has embraced it. Certainly, there is no point in fighting them out of it, but we have to agree that there are places of concern that can justify not liking the culture. Keep in mind that these issues paint the e-kids as both the victims and the perpetrators.

Epic beauty standards

Let us face it: only men and women who are fair-looking make it to the point of being influencers; they gather big fandom and have our teens looking up to them and idolizing them. Not everyone has the body type of a model or a member of the BTS. The attention these models get makes their beauty standards a must-have thing, and most people struggle to reconcile with the fact that an ordinary person is nowhere near perfect. I was watching Lauren's videos, and by all means, she has made it as far as having a good setup for streaming her videos. It is undeniable that this is also the pressure her fans and social media, in general, put on her. As much as she wants to look natural and be the basic self, the pressure to keep up with the beauty standards makes her reinforce her authenticity. I like to think of this as often the source of depression for the influencers themselves and their followers. The feeling of not being enough and struggling to accept oneself does more harm than good to both the audience and the content creators.

Lauren Burch is unique, without question.

Consumerism Culture

Everyone wants to keep up with the latest fashion trends, but I have seen most of Lauren Burch's try-on hauls are products from renowned brands. I will root for her that brand promotion is one of the ways to have her pay her bills, but it comes at a cost. You see, I am sure Lauren has so many sets of bikinis that she can't track their count; I am certain she has enough clothing attire to last her three lifetimes. But there is pressure to endorse one more trend. You can just imagine how much clothes she has stocked this far. This cannot agree with the sustainability and responsible consumption she believes in; it is a conflict of interests she does not get to choose. Besides, the audience is definitely not rich enough to afford designer clothes. The pressure to keep up with the ever-changing fashion trends would push them to unfavorable consumerism. Furthermore, not being able to afford what is being marketed sends a message of failure to the fans as they cannot be on par with their idols.

Lauren Burch Exclusive Content

In this age, there is high demand for exclusive content. The influencers and content creators themselves have leveraged that to find an avenue to add to their income sources, but then it poses moral questions. Not everyone approves of the culture of sharing sexually explicit content or monetizing it. This brings moral friction and possibly explains why the vast majority of people who do not approve of the e-girl culture have a stereotypical image of men and women who showcase sexually explicit content. The moral question also arises when people groom young boys and males and force them to make sexually provocative content for monetization purposes. We can not sweep under the rug the fact that society is divided on whether it is okay to have ladies showing off and being proud of their bodies. It is something of a lengthy discussion and like I said, not in my place to butter the wrong bread!

Lauren Burch Has Style

The e-girl culture, as portrayed by Lauren Burch, is something that has attracted mixed feelings; it is not in my place to convince the varying sentiments to cross over to either side, but all I can say is there is always room for understanding the deeper nuances. On one hand, I can say the e-girl culture is a revolutionary approach to art, socialization, fashion and entertainment. It is with us, and we cannot rule out all the good aspects it brings to society. But at the same time, I acknowledge the existence of the grey areas that do not attract any approval and should not be covered or assumed. We like our entertainment and content creators for the fun they bring us, so why not get into their shoes and understand their world from their point of view once in a while?

Lauren Burch is a world-famous Canadian model/influencer. We're pretty sure she finally bought that Chevy Camaro

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