Emma Chamberlain began her YouTube journey at 16 years old with a style advice video, and since then, Chamberlain has amassed over 11 million followers and consistently posted weekly content for her dedicated fans. However, Chamberlain recently announced she is taking an undefined break from the platform, and with the pressures placed on her, this pause is unsurprising.
Chamberlain became popular for producing casual video blogs where she documented her experiences and feelings as a young girl. Viewers quickly grew to feel attached to Chamberlain and the relatable thoughts she shared in her videos.
Throughout her time on YouTube, fans have watched Chamberlain gain and lose friends, change fashion styles and grow into adulthood. Her content is based solely on her life and opinions that often mirror those of her mainly teen to young adult audience.
Sophomore Madison Cox is a follower of Chamberlain’s and had thoughts on the reasoning behind her appeal. “Many of her fans follow her to fulfill the idea of a best friend or sister,” she expressed.
Furthermore, Chamberlain has gained the title of “trend-starter” because of her in-the-moment fashion decisions’ tendency to catch on. She can be accredited for the popularization of scrunchies, “teddy-bear” coats and most of the “VSCO girl” trend. More recently, her decision to bring back Ugg boots and flare yoga pants became a new fashion phenomenon.
Cox conveyed the opinion of most young girls regarding Chamberlain’s fashion, “I think she has a stellar sense of style and love seeing what new things she wears.”
However, despite the fame and recognition YouTube has brought her, Chamberlain recently decided to take a long break from making videos.
In an episode of her podcast “Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain” posted on Feb. 24, she discussed her reasoning for the hiatus. “I started to feel really stressed out that this is my job. I don’t understand how I ended up here in the first place. So I don’t know how I’m supposed to continue it successfully because I don’t even know how I got here,” she said.
Chamberlain gained her notoriety when she was just 16 years old and messing around on a popular platform, but now she is 20 years old and feels trapped in the mold her younger self created for her.
The burden Chamberlain admitted to experiencing is a common trope for young girls in the entertainment industry. When a girl gains celebrity status at a young age, she is categorized and expected to remain in that category despite aging. The pressure sets in when young stars realize they need to hold their spot in their assigned category, but simultaneously prevail as entertaining to their audiences.
Singer Taylor Swift became famous at 15 years old, and after surviving 15 years in the entertainment industry, she summarized her observations of the profession in her documentary “Miss Americana”, “The female artists that I know of have re-invented themselves 20 times more than the male artists.”
In Chamberlain’s case, the expectation set for her was to share all facets of her personality and humorous experiences in her videos. Meeting this standard was simple for Chamberlain in the early stages of her career, but as she grew into a young woman, the idea of publicizing all aspects of her life became less appealing.
In 2021, her videos began featuring less of her friends or footage of important moments, and Chamberlain began documenting the slow days in her life. Instead of watching Chamberlain vacation with her friends, viewers began watching her sit and read in her bedroom.
The slight switch in her category of content was met with critical feedback from fans saying, “I miss the old Emma.” Chamberlain’s audience expected her to continue inventing entertaining forms of content, but in a way, that required less adaption from them.
Chamberlain spoke to Vogue about her struggles with perfectionism that stem from the never-ending feedback offered towards her content. “I’m not perfect and I can’t ever be perfect, but I feel like I have to be. I don’t know how to turn it off and I felt overwhelmed with all of the things that I needed to be perfect for at once,” she revealed.
Swift, familiar with the feelings Chamberlain described, attempted to metaphorize these efforts women in media are forced to make to appease audiences as “twisting yourself into a pretzel on an hourly basis.”
The standards pushed onto Chamberlain and all young girls in the media are extremely hypocritical and manipulative. Chamberlain is expected to be open about the effects of her mental health issues but still be healthy enough to produce videos. She should document the process of growing up but is not allowed to make any mistakes along the way.
Young entertainers like Chamberlain, TikToker Charli D’amelio, Swift and hundreds of others are often asked why they deserve the fame they have achieved but are then criticized for taking hiatuses. The pressure to be entertaining, a perfect role model and concurrently be a youthful version of oneself causes the instability frequently seen in young girls in the media.
How is Chamberlain expected to continue YouTube when fans cannot remove their rose-tinted glasses and realize she is not the 16-year-old girl she was when she began her career?
