rotten girl vs clean girl // EP 17 - Pretty Lonesome

In the latest episode of Pretty Lonesome, Madeline delves into a thought-provoking exploration of the "clean girl" aesthetic and the societal pressure to maintain a flawlessly organized life. Drawing from her own personal experiences of living amidst chaos, she candidly shares the valuable lessons she has learned along the way. By examining the influence of social media and the rise of influencer culture, she sheds light on how these platforms shape our perceptions of cleanliness and perfection.
Madeline encourages listeners to reflect on the notion of balance in our lives. She challenges the prevailing narrative that equates cleanliness with success and fulfillment, inviting us to embrace the beauty of imperfection. Through engaging anecdotes and heartfelt insights, she unveils the transformative power of finding harmony amidst the chaos.

[@rockys_world]

"one minute you're meant to be a clean girl and the next a mob wife and you're only 12" I choked omg, Love you Madeline!

[@alwaysachance217]

Timestamp ? 😁

[@anastasiiabarceloneta2140]

@@alwaysachance217 21-09

[@user37781]

ngl mads always gave me clean girl vibes--but its oddly comforting to know she's a rotten girl too😭

[@satvrrnmyst]

what on EARTH made you think she gives clean girl vibes

[@user37781]

@@satvrrnmystwhen i first found out about her from pinterest and then i went to tt and insta and i was like ok😭maybe not

[@coolpumpkins453]

@@satvrrnmyst She is rich for one

[@lululemon8427]

⁠@@satvrrnmysther style, natural look/makeup, clear skin, brown layered¿ hair and british accent really make her come off as clean girl/posh if you dont know her personality.

[@callaviolet869]

did you first see her on youtube or tiktok lol

[@StaceyMaGroov]

As a depressed perfectionist I've always envied people that have not so great external circumstances or external environments but still live life amazingly. I'm gonna play this video again and again till it really gets in my head. Thank you for this Madeline ❤

[@nyx8103]

"The coolest thing you could do is being able to keep on living despite hardship." is the most inspirational thing to come out of the clean girl trend!

[@marisolronk6991]

this has been one of my fav episodes. as someone who has always struggled with adhd and major anxiety dysregulation, i never understood why i couldn’t help but be a rotten girl, even though i graduated college last year and have always been very capable and functional. but i think the truth is that sometimes you use up all your energy focusing on priorities, and don’t have any left to just clean your room. i believe this is especially true for those of us that have a little dopamine system dysfunction. you can be both messy and successful, but just because two completely different areas of your life don’t look the same, it doesn’t mean that one or the other is a facade. i’m so glad you normalize being imperfect, but holding that with grace and recognizing that you can grow when you have the strength and energy to. there are so many things that madeline shares that seem crazy or entirely unrelatable to some, but are so relatable and just normal to so many of us and it’s so comforting to see people share things that are real.

[@annabella447]

I’m 90% sure I’ve seen the video she’s talking about and I think this is such a great response and explanation without calling anyone out or being rude.

[@mishcats]

sameee!!

[@Amina-vj1ot]

which video are you referring too?

[@annabella447]

I'd have to search for it and it was a girl "criticisng" how she romanticises the rotten girl lifestyle and how she's a bad influence for kids. The original didn't seem fully malicious as far as I can remember but it also wasn't the kindest or most understanding and made some relatively untrue accusations that twisted and manipulated the purpose of her content .@@Amina-vj1ot

[@MariaTokareva]

OMG GIRLS THIS IS MY FAVORITE CONTENT EVER!!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! Like i am an artist and its so so so so so so s osoooooooooo hard to pick up after myself and my art supplies because then like i have to spend all this time to unpoack them and by the time i get them out ill be over painting lo so they just have to be there sometimes for weeks and now I FEEL SOOOOO MUCH BETTER ABOUT IT. Your words are just music to my ears!!!

[@jordanskyfinding7767]

As a chronic perfectionist who is SO NOT PERFECT, this was an extremely important video. Thank you ❤

[@walkonearthofficial]

“Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain.”

[@hawtdawg9038]

for me with ADHD the whole that girl / clean girl aesthetic seems like a cruel joke

[@crazycontraptions1249]

Grills with ADHD trying not to mention the fact they have ADHD in their first sentence challenge (impossible)

[@camryn8225]

@@crazycontraptions1249trolls trying to spell challenge (impossible)

[@sannmayy]

​@@crazycontraptions1249 It's their whole personality

[@lylz3030]

feel like anyone can be a rotten girl but not everyone can accomplish the clean girl aesthetic

[@aaliyah8215]

so who can and who can’t?

[@user-np8yf8fj2w]

well yeah

[@lylz3030]

@@aaliyah8215 i just think people have made the clean girl aesthetic more exclusive for some reason

[@josierhodes4956]

this is such a refreshing take on so many aspects of life. truly exactly what i needed this week

[@deadcatvsbanana]

I love this Episode so much, you really pinpointed why being a rotten girl is actually something i always aspired to be - still doing your thing even if your life is falling apart, cause it always will

[@cshepard09]

i haven't watched the video but i feel like women have a PR problem? why use the word rotten? as a men i just instantly assume you mean slutty and not giving a fuck about anything but yourself

[@isabel20728]

Every Monday you sincerely save my sanity, your little podcast is like a therapy session to me

[@lamalem12]

fav rotten girl

[@elinevve]

my high school was so far away that i often woke at 5:30am to get to the bus, i graduated with a great gpa. there's so much i wish i knew then, like that i had adhd. but especially how falling asleep in my clothes and then rolling out of bed in a hurry against a "perfect" morning routine made no actual difference to my day. and that's ok! only thing that truly made a difference was eating/getting/bringing food edit for longer rant: also, in college the accomplished eccentric professor types are kind of the perfect antidote. so many with shirts falling apart on their body, partner probably cooks all their meals, an organized mess of an office. but also the more normal ones where family introduces a level of chaos, with kids sick, etc. being comfortable with chaos is great for some stages of life.

[@danaturtles]

Side note: being a rotten girl over a clean girly can really be realistic for those who also have adhd or are infp personalities…for me anyways this is how I roll and have done for years however I can be really tidy and organised in all other areas of life! It’s weird but at home or in my own room I can let things slide, but at work or school my desk and space has to be tidy and ocd almost

[@alanahjade27]

I'm an infp 😰

[@annabelsc0tt]

this episode is so comforting

[@weather-head]

I'm a college age guy and I have no idea why I got this recommended to me, but I decided to watch it because I had no idea what a "rotten girl" was or a "clean girl", and I was just in the mood to watch random stuff. Turns out a bunch of shit in this video was totally relatable to me. I totally understand what you're getting at through this, and your storytelling abilities are really great. I agree that there's definitely a lot of negativity that is shot towards people these days who aren't neat and tidy all the time, or living in aesthetic environments and doing yoga in a glass room in the fucking forest. Through pursuing perfection, control and symmetry in everything we do, we start to forget the beauty of asymmetry that is the general state of nature. Recognizing and accepting your situations and who you actually are brings humility. You made me laugh with some of your stories and honestly this brightened up my day. Keep rocking you and live your best life imo and keep spreading the good message. Great video.

[@unreasonablerager]

You make insane sense. Always. it's really surprising. Oh, how i go into watching these video not knowing how it's gonna tackle my personal and very specific struggles!

[@liangyiu]

This was the first time that I ever wanted to use the KZbin tip/thank you feature! You talking about it made me feel understood and seen and just way better about myself in general. You just don’t ever really get to see the normal/average/messier equivalent of the glorified lifestyles on social media or even in our society, so not fulfilling that image has made me feel like I don’t have my life under control. But I always said to myself: It’s okay, that’s just who I am and if my room/flat not being tidy is making people think less of me, well then fuck those people because they clearly got their metrics wrong if that’s how they categorize people‘s worth. You don’t have to try to be the best version of yourself each day! You don’t have to constantly improve! Just try to be the person that you would like to call a friend/partner and don’t define yourself through things that don’t concern other people. As long as your room being messy/dirty doesn’t bother you and you’re comfortable, why should anyone else have the right to be bothered by it? It’s your home and your castle! I truly want to thank you for this video, it made me feel so much better about myself and the person I am and thrive to be! Thank you!

[@Azulccervantes8]

Thank you for this amazing video, I strongly feel like social media puts so much pressure into living the aesthetic life that it eventually messes up our perception of what life should look like. I’ve lived in not so great apartments with cracks on the walls, ugly showers and broken utilities, I always felt so consumed by it because I thought it was supposed to look different, like the houses you see on tv or social media, I wanted my life to look like that. Perfect and untouched. Other members of my family (my grandparents for example) just got their first house in 30 years since they immigrated to LA, it’s a beautiful house with five bedrooms and lots of space and guess what? It still has flaws, but it’s beautiful and I adore it because that’s where my family lives and that’s where we get to exist together, I now value having a roof over my head and all the commodities I need over how aesthetic my place can look like.

[@zooowie.mamma333]

my room is usually in a state of filth (clothes all over the floor, rotten food in bowls, piles of dirty and clean clothes, art supplies everywhere) and i'm so used to seeing influencers with "perfect" lives. i wish it was more normalized or less judged to be messy. i dont want to place my value in how others think i should live if it's the best i can do sometimes and doesn't genuinely bother me.

[@roxy4046]

rotten food in bowls?? oh my god that’s not messy! messy means a few clothes on the floor or an unmade bed, not a stinking room where probably mold and bugs could thrive

[@roxy4046]

“i wish it was more normalised” im sorry but thats just disgusting

[@zooowie.mamma333]

@@roxy4046 oh my i had no clue that it was gross 🫢. ty for informing me

[@elizabethaloku4268]

🤢🤮​@@zooowie.mamma333

[@elizabethaloku4268]

​@roi I know right? I would take the clean girl aesthetic any day to the normalization of such filth. Yuck 🤢 Even my preteen siblings always wash their plates after most meals and here you have a lazy adult that wants to normalize this type of behavior and use mental health as an excuse 😂. xy4046

[@emerveille_]

Agree so much with the “clean girl”aesthetic and the gym sentiment. I never feel like I can go as hard (and therefore not as internally clean as I’d like) especially on cardio if I’m completely newly clean. i hit the most liberating intensity at the gym usually on post shampoo day 2 or 3. And then I’d sauna and shower and that’s the perfect walk in rotten come out clean vibes for me. lululemons for hot Pilates for functional reasons but those sets get sweat through and washed every session, if I had to look clean girl for the gym too I might as well not go. There’s no point in aesthetic if it detracts from function. It’s a balance and I think even categorically naming “aesthetics” is problematic. Most people benefit from structure but also in knowing that success is not final and failure is not fatal

[@DanThePhilosopher]

Hi 💕💗Madeline💗💕 One thing about cleaning your room and keeping it clean is that you will get used to it. Also, Mold is bad for your health, especially mold on shower curtains, it will get mixed into the steam or vapor and get into your lungs, other than that nice seeing you. 🌹🌹🌹

[@jonathanscott3908]

no disrespect but you should shut your trap

[@alyssadouglas6431]

Pretty sure car wash mode on your car is specifically for when you’re going through an automatic car wash it lifts the suspension so it cleans the tyres better, closes all windows and sunroof incase you forget lol, side mirrors will fold in, the rain sensor will pause so you’re wipers don’t automatically turn on when you’re going through the car wash and it probably does a few other things to help the car when going through the car wash and as you reach a certain speed when exiting the car wash then car wash mode will automatically deactivate and all settings will go back to normal 😊

[@ruthiebee11]

About to rot all day due to my period. Perfect topic for me.

[@wertylasky2344]

Twinsss

[@RaulRatcliffe06]

Twins x3 ❤

[@GoodJuju333]

I embrace the chaos and the chaos embraces me 😤 i genuinely think the saying « cleanliness is next to godliness » is what fuels this societal elitism we place on hoarders/messy/dirty people- when we don’t acknowledge simultaneously the crazy amount of privilege it takes to have a clean, aesthetically pleasant lifestyle, AND film it AND profit off of that footage. There’s a lot of cognitive dissonance between the content we consume and the reality we experience

[@hulomaolwan]

the way she says room is so oddly satisfying lol

[@IoloIololoIoI]

wish both women and men were more open to a "rotten" lifestyle. i see so many people that are struggling to maintain a clean image, even though it makes them miserable and a less put together lifestyle would allow them to live true to themselves. the amount of time they spend perfecting pieces of their image that they don't enjoy must be exhausting. BE YOU!

[@MeganQuist]

Shoving shit behind the shower curtain when people come over I’m no stranger- you are speaking my language 💕 said this so well without offending anyone!

[@robertmueller2023]

Mess = good camouflage for blinds. There won't be any buildings in the year 2800. Only projected high-tech shields to hide your nakedness and keep in the heat/ac.

[@rosabarrios7048]

Also the one about compartmentalizing friendships would be super cool :)

[@oscar-wi3tj]

"if i wanna go home and let my food rot let me do that" LOL your a funny girl

[@savannahjourdan9916]

Yes, love is how we heal not shame

[@BigEd30]

Preach! True girl, true!

[@sophiabakova7814]

Madeline’s videos are always the highlights of my weeks

[@marikakwiatkowska5332]

You have no idea how much i needed this right now. Thank you!

[@levimogford3202]

0 evidence of her doing this rotting thing, it's posing for clout

[@nikaabgarian4532]

Very inspirational. I love chaos and I have a pet rabbit.

[@RoseWillowstone]

I've never felt so seen, lol. I'm the same, it's never bothered me to have some mess around me. I've always been like this as someone who grew up and lived until 22 years old with a grandma who lowkey has hoarding tendencies. Now my boyfriend keeps making light fun of me for leaving my desk to get messy. I do clean the whole apartment once a week but it stays put together for like 2 days and then things start piling up just because I don't feel like doing little chores. And I think I prefer it this way - I just put on a podcast or a long video essay to listen to and I just get into the zone of cleaning as a one big job and I'm actually enjoying myself and then I feel very accomplished. Tbh I thought this was normal until I started living with my boyfriend and his parents for a bit. Of course his mom will always critize the way I like to keep the place I live in but this is just me and I like it that way

[@joshb7415]

women spend so much time thinking about what others think, that they dont spend any time actually thinking about what they want

[@terii_nka]

I feel like I found my soulmate

[@amyunderwood8544]

i usually play go to you tube when i’m doing something else like eating or getting ready. when i see you upload i stop and actually watch i feel like you speak my language

[@miriamlevenson9430]

i think ur my soulmate in terms of life philosophy. i agreed with everything you said

[@taylore2877]

it is just societal norms which are based around other peoples judjement so basically as long as you stay authentic you will become timeless and the most wise compared to those who are ashamed to be who they really are

[@talia4205]

Social media literally changed our whole lives. I’m getting the pressure all the time to be like the clean girl lmao

[@samihakhondoker2456]

prettiest human ever

[@Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii7890]

literally gets me through every week

[@nedarangelova9595]

10 minutes in i cant believe how much i can relate to u

[@desireej6653]

please do the enjoying your own company episode!! ❤

[@AlexisBelon]

Crying cos we didn’t get the weekly vlog

[@lancethrust9488]

LOVE THE NAILS GODDESS

[@МарияКочурова-я6и]

thank you, Madeline. You are precious

[@oceandriver7]

shes so beautiful man

[@djukafox]

Balance is key. I'm guilty of always basing my self worth on the externals. But It's okay to be rotten for a period and be clean for a period. When I over do the rotten part I always have a time of being clean and mindful. I know that I'm probably doing that only because I want to compensate for feeling guilty of living rotten but whatever, If I start feeling guilty about feeling guilty ill drive myself nuts.

[@lauraturford]

Love this....u talk sooo such sense!!! Makes u realise how many fake ppl there are on social media 👍

[@titocristobal5573]

Salutations! You have summoned the Baldy Army.

[@JessAtack]

i love this as a teen girl its so refreshing

[@dnce5065]

I’m not good at English especially listening so I can understand only 40 % of what you say. I know you don’t care but what I want to say is you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

[@ZoroJL-e1l]

It’s my bday and I was sad thank you for posting today

[@preslava2201]

happy birthday ❤

[@ZoroJL-e1l]

@@preslava2201thank you ❤️🥺

[@TCHHCTN]

This terminology isn't much more appealing than the whole "looksmaxxing" thing, it's all superficial generalisation BS. The more you discipline yourself the more happy you'll be with the practical aspects of your life. If you love yourself and tell yourself you're worthy of keeping your life in order then it's so much easier to get stuff done, other people manically get stuff done as a form of escapism and burn themselves out eventually. There's so many things in the equation that trying to boil down someones lifestyle to "clean girl" or "rotten girl" doesn't make sense, those are the two extremes that everyone has the capability of indulging to varying degrees. I used to be completely rotten but also chase unhealthy levels of cleanliness, now I'm in the middle. It probably says a lot about bringing the insecure and narcissistic parts of yourself closer together, better socialising and balancing yourself.

[@Jtheodorex]

Never identify yourself with other people just be you because their is only Maddy Argy

[@216zelda]

Ive always liked the sort of "grungy"(closer to the 90s version),messy, or somewhat unkempt look. It feels more representative to my personality. And I find it more imperfect and chill in a be as you are type way. I still care how I look but it feels right to exist that way as somewhat of a philosophy

[@padmeasmr]

I didn't know anything about this trend and now I realize I now embody the clean girl aesthetic while ten years ago I didn't I was literally rotten, my life, looks, body, room, mental health was a mess.

[@TheBurrito171]

rabbits are not rodents. They are lagomorphs.

[@jacobtoth3120]

So, as someone who mostly uses KZbin for musical listening, I think I can give a lovely metaphor that will expand on the idea of aesthetic in music: Consider this, there is the finely tuned piano and the heavily distorted heavy metal music. The finely tuned piano is useful in the tuned ear to hear and imagine and grasp the emotions of the song; this is the same for heavy metal, which intends to convey in the same way as the finely tuned piano. There is a choice of musical style. But now I lend yourself a question: what of the song of one’s heart?

[@FlasKamel]

All of this is so true! However, I wonder at which part in the last decade or two people's mindsets shifted from one where the key is balance (which I agree with) to there being a right and a wrong! Like how is constantly being concerned with cleanliness better than being fine with a little bit of both? Loving yourself should come from loving yourself, not from completing a checklist.

[@StephenBelcher-sr3zk]

Ariana Grandma Says” And That’s What You Think” Lt a Madelines Argy’s😂❤

[@carolinefogas3664]

Who else is rotting right now?🙋🏼‍♀️

[@SaraMarkovic-ye5ek]

FAVORITE PART OF THE WEEKKKKKK

[@ashlynnfelker]

I have come to the terms that I will never have the clean girl aesthetic. Rotten girl for life.

[@spongebob7296]

I love this girl. Most guys would never be with those perfectly aesthetic girls because they are narcissistic, shallow and so fixated on everything being extremely clean and that's actually ugly.

[@mishripettinger6242]

newsflash bucko! most girls don't actually live their lives for the sole purpose of pleasing men , believe it or not but men aren't actually the centre of the universe

[@AlamoVazquezMaria]

this such an interesting video enjoyed watching it, keep going Madeline

[@tanusreesaha6978]

I needed this today!

[@mackenzie.edwards1608]

you worded this beautifully

[@talia4205]

Love reading the comments while watching your video

[@palesamaretlwa]

this is my favorite part of the week!😁🤩

[@conangraysbae6673]

I LOVE HER SM

[@StephenBelcher-sr3zk]

Thanks Madame set Monsignor Argy : I Hope She’ll Get Back❤❤

[@StephenBelcher-sr3zk]

They Shot At Us Madeline “ But They Miss Baby😂❤

[@jasnico9618]

This is so real

[@Mitzi0714]

Me watching being named Mitzi 🧍‍♀️😭😭😂😂

[@audreymilner9067]

Where did you get your sweatshirt it’s really cute

[@savannahjourdan9916]

Love, love, love this video it’s great hearing actual coping mechanisms

[@karoisart9266]

as someone who struggles a lot thanks to being someone with AuDHD inside my living space, I want and NEED to be able to like fuck up, be messy, and not keep things perfect. I am already struggling enough to keep up appearance outside of my space, so inside I need to be able to just close my eyes, look away from the thing I should do, but not necessarily need to do, and just relax and enjoy myself a bit. I cannot manage to clean, cook, and eat the way I should and other people can everyday. I have to allow myself to just rot for a few days when I can as look as I can participate like everyone else in society.

[@mintyrainx4962]

see what u were talking abt with influencers being popular bc they are "relatable but not TOO relatable" in some sense, idk if u realise that is what u r to me and other ppl im sure. I like I feel like you are SO similar to me but like smarter yk. in a way that im 15 so you have learnt much more then me in life and I love that you are sharing stuff like that w us

[@ninafugmann573]

i need her to do more of these videos as I listen to them during my 2 hour hot girl walks

[@boiledtoes]

i literally love you

[@brettlaw4346]

There is a book, "Small Rules," that discusses how small rules can be highly effective at a) increasing adherence and b) reducing stress. So, "I throw out food waste, daily." and "Only rinsed off dishes are allowed to sit on the counter or in the sink." Provide pretty low standards that make a big difference. "I always brush my teeth at night," "I always wash my feet before bed," "I wash my sheets weekly," etc. Basis for ground level control, preventing people from getting too far gone. It seems kind of like you're trolling people into being lazy and trashy as acceptable identities which improve their quality of life. It seems pretty sinister. "I take out the trash when it gets full of shit."

[@bimbozo5652]

Hello Madeline me and my dog were listening to you

[@peapeaprincess]

luurve this one

[@minaisnotmean]

i love you. you’re changing my life ❤

[@ralphmagletof7318]

I have never felt so heard

[@StephenBelcher-sr3zk]

True Wwomens Love” Gives you Weak Legs in the end if you can’t run from it, Like Fame, Fast Enough, Madeline ❤

[@bananachocchip224]

can’t wait for next week already

[@PrincessSakuno]

Soooo REAL I LOVE THIS PERSPECTIVE SO MUCH

[@Georgiistrying]

Fav part of the week

[@sabsaying2071]

Thanks for your words ❤i relate

[@katmiau616]

Thank you, sincerely •