If you’re an avid social media user (and haven’t been living under a rock), you’ve more than likely stumbled upon the ‘Hot Girl Summer’ hashtag. (#HotGirlSummer) However, ‘Hot Girl Summer’ isn’t just a hashtag. It’s become a movement— a movement of body positivity, gaining confidence, celebrating diversity, and sexual liberation. Summer of 2019 became the summer of the ‘Hot Girls’.

And Hot Girls, this article is for you.

OG Hot Girl, Meg Thee Stallion, stole the attention of millions of young women everywhere through her boasty rap lyrics and upbeat personality. The iconic female rapper, who is a 5’10” tall woman, sparked an array of confidence in women, especially throughout the African American community. Women who didn’t meet the typical “beauty standards” (of being under a certain height with certain eurocentric features) felt more open to be themselves now that there was an icon like Meg the Stallion representing them.

“Being a Hot Girl is about being unapologetically YOU, having fun, being confident, living YOUR truth, [and] being the life of the party, etc,” Meg Thee Stallion wrote via Twitter (@theestallion).

All summer, the mantra “real hot girl shit!”, echoed throughout various social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat. The viral movement not only focuses on women, but encourages men and non-binary people to participate, as well. The hashtag sparked a newfound confidence in all different kinds of people around the country. People are sharing their weight-loss journeys, boasting about travel, and living their best lives this summer, all while sharing their experiences on social media, accompanied by the hashtag, #HotGirlSummer.

Even celebrities such as Ciara Wilson, Jordyn Woods, and Jada Pinkett-Smith have joined the iconic rapper in spreading the positivity of the ‘Hot Girl Summer’ hashtag. 

“It’s just basically about women— and men— just being unapologetically them, just having a good-ass time, hyping up your friends, doing you, not giving a damn about what nobody got to say about it,” Meg explained in an interview with The Root.

Hot Girl Summer has even made its way to multi-million dollar companies such as Maybelline and ASOS, using the catchphrase to promote their products and for their social media branding purposes. 

However, because the phrase was spontaneously created during a social media post, it wasn’t legally classified as the rapper’s own. Therefore, the companies who used her phrase weren’t obligated to pay her for the use of her words. Luckily, Meg Thee Stallion is now in the process of trademarking ‘Hot Girl Summer’, which will also allow her to create her own merchandise for her millions of fans. Therefore, our good sis, Meg, will finally get her (rightfully owned) coin.

On Aug. 9, 2019, she also blessed her fans with the release of the song, “Hot Girl Summer” featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign. The song has already amassed over millions of plays and is charting at #3 on iTunes as of Aug. 20, 2019.

Although summer has now come to an end, the ‘Hot Girl Summer’ movement has proved that it will not be dying out anytime soon.

Watch Meg thee Stallion’s ‘Hot Girl Summer’ video ft. Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign here.

Originally published in The Miami Hurricane.