Summer 2023 has hit us, which marks the beginning of 'hot girl summer.' But are all women comfortable in their own skin...or weight? Women who have been hibernating through the winters, keeping themselves warm with food, may have earned a few extra kilos. And the bikini from last summer wouldn't fit either. 

Content creator, @lolaokola, has the perfect solution to this. She posted a video on her TikTok account on June 5, 2023, persuading women to 'embrace rodent energy.' So drop all your inhibitions to look 'hot' and be a 'rat' this summer. Say what? But how does that work, you must be wondering. In the words of Natasha Bedingfield, the upcoming summer months are "Unwritten," and you can choose to be who you want to be. To put it simply, no need to 'fit in' the hot summer concept and be a 'Rat Girl Summer' instead, courtesy of Lola.

Ok, so why a rodent out of all the creatures from the animal kingdom? The summer season is fun, carefree, and hot (pun intended) but a rat symbolizes none of these. In fact, rodents are mucky, rummage through bins eating rotten food and take multiple trips to the sewers. Ew!! But hold on. This summer, change your lens and witness the flip side of being a rodent. Lola, who coined the term 'Rat Girl Summer,' explained in the video, "We're scurrying around the streets, we're nibbling our little snacks and generally finding ourselves in places we have no business being in."

Now will you be a rat this summer? We understand it doesn't sound appealing. On the contrary, it's more yucky but the poor rodents do have some fun qualities, to be fair. After all, who doesn't want to snack to their heart's content, be nosey, mischievous and an unapologetically self-indulgent lazy bone? 

If you ask us, we would prefer being a rat for the whole year, not exclusively for summers. In a subsequent video, Lola explained the rules for being the ultimate 'Rat Girl' this season. "You have to go outside." She repeated the sentence to emphasize. "You cannot scurry on a bed, cannot scurry on your couch and leave your home." In short, no Goblin mode. Cool, next. She allotted two days a week for the couch potatoes for binge-watching and just being a complete rotten mess. The second rule entails nibbling on our favorite snacks. Lola elaborated, "We're eating and enjoying eating. Starving yourself to be skinny for summer is out." It's cooler than being "hot." LMAO! 

She added, "We're eating nourishing meals so we can make mischief and cause mayhem, meaning devouring pasta and potato salad at picnics and barbeques." WOW!! Oh yeah, the rule also has ice cream after dinner. Yummy in my tummy. The third rule? "We're killing the cringe." Whatever makes you feel embarrassed doing it, do that instead. Follow your drive." Be bold, spontaneous, and DGAF to what others think. And that's rule number four – "Do not overthink. Do you think a rat thinks twice before stealing a slice of pizza and scurrying across the subway platform? No. We're going with our gut. We're going with our intuition." 

Netizens jumped at the opportunity and showed their excitement. A TikTok user, @hoseokgirlsummer said, "Empty head full stomach all scurrying no brakes." Another user, @thebrazenent agreed, "About to thrive in my rat girl summer." A third, @jacefacexx, joked, "2D a week allotted for decaying. Tysm for that line."