The Girlboss is Dead. Long Live the Delulu Era.

There was a time when every woman on the internet wanted to be a girlboss. She rose at 5AM, drank iced coffee out of a mason jar, and posted photos of her laptop, legs crossed, in heels, with the caption “CEO of my own life.” Her to-do list was colour-coded. Her inbox? Zero. Her burnout? Denied.

But somewhere between hustle culture, The Wing shutting down, and the collective trauma of a global pandemic, we realised something: girlbossing was just capitalism with a pink bow.

So now we’re living in the afterglow of her demise - and it’s getting weird. Welcome to the Delulu Era.

💻 Girlboss Culture Walked So Delulu Could Run

At its peak, girlbossing was meant to be empowering. Women reclaiming ambition, chasing the bag, building empires, etc. But it quickly became toxic. Burnout dressed up as empowerment. Productivity as personality.

Then came the memes. The backlash. The memes about the backlash. Suddenly, being “a girlboss” felt less like liberation and more like a very cute prison cell.

And so, as all things do on the internet, the vibe shifted.

🤯 What Even Is Delulu?

Delulu (short for delusional) started as a K-pop stan term-fans manifesting imaginary relationships with their idols. But now? It’s everywhere.

Delulu isn’t just believing you’re the main character. It’s knowing you have no proof things will work out, and proceeding as if they already have. It’s:

• Calling yourself a “future bestselling author” with 3 pages written

• Applying for jobs you’re underqualified for with full confidence

• Walking into a room like it’s a runway when your life is falling apart

In short: delulu is soft-power delusion with hot girl energy. It’s not denial—it’s aspirational chaos.

🧠 From Hustle to Head-In-the-Clouds

Unlike the girlboss, the delulu queen doesn’t wake up at 5AM. She sleeps through her alarms. She misses deadlines. But she also thinks she’s the reincarnation of Stevie Nicks and that one day she’ll have a Vogue profile called “The Art of Doing Less.”

She’s not chasing validation from LinkedIn. She’s journaling in pink gel pen and ordering iced oat milk lattes on Klarna. She doesn’t grind. She vibes.

Delulu isn’t about not caring. It’s about caring differently.

💅 Why It Actually Makes Sense

• Post-pandemic energy: We saw how quickly everything can fall apart. So why not believe in better—wildly, irrationally, unflinchingly?

• Feminist rebellion: Delulu is refusing to live on a productivity hamster wheel designed by men in Patagonia vests.

• Manifestation with memes: It’s Law of Attraction, but unhinged. And honestly? It works.

Being delulu isn’t dangerous. It’s delightful. It’s coping. It’s rebranding the existential dread into ✨main character energy✨.

🪩 Delulu Is for the Girls, Gays, and Theys

Girlboss culture rewarded stoicism, sleek blazers, and Type A control. Delulu? She celebrates glitter, chaos, and full-sent cringe. There’s no aesthetic—just confidence, delusion, and maybe a Bratz doll phone case.

She’s the one who posts “he blocked me but I know he still loves me” and follows it up with “anyway, I’m starting a podcast.”
She’s living in a flatshare but telling people she’s “bi-coastal.”
She’s reading her birth chart for answers and refusing to open her emails.

And somehow, she’s thriving.

Final Thought: Be Delulu. It’s the Only Way.

In the ruins of girlboss culture, delulu rises like a phoenix in platform boots. She’s unhinged, unserious, and undeniably iconic. The girlboss wanted to change the system. The delulu girl? She’s too busy creating her own.

So print out your fake book tour poster. Write the email like they’ve already said yes. Romanticise your sad little life. Because sometimes, a little delusion is the most honest thing you can do.

Long live the delulus. May your coffee be overpriced and your dreams irrational.