Halle Robbe found herself drained at work, prompting a caffeine run to a corner store. With no bag to carry her two Red Bulls, she juggled them alongside her wallet and keys. Her work friend captured the moment, finding it hilariously relatable. Thus, Girls Carrying Shit came to life.
This began in 2021 when Robbe was immersed in influencer marketing at a New York City agency. Today, she operates her own consulting firm along with one of Instagram’s most delightful finds, @GirlsCarryingShit, boasting over 3,000 entries that showcase women carrying astonishing amounts all at once.
In April of last year, Sasha was photographed carrying a wine bottle, a cigarette, a vape, a flask, her purse, a lighter, an extra sweater, and a bottle of juice. In May, Naomi showcased 14 miniature microphones. By June, Emma carried nine juiced lemons. Some carry chickens, others records, some even manage to carry things on their feet or while riding skateboards.
In a woman’s world — one that’s full of stuff and short on pockets — there’s a nearly daily need to juggle an impressive load in our hands and on our shoulders.
“I frequently thought about all the things I’m carrying around and how that experience is universal,” Robbe reflects on her pre-GCS days. “But I dismissed it as nonsense, unsure if anything worthwhile existed there.”
In a woman’s world—one filled with myriad belongings and a lack of pockets—there’s a constant need to balance an amusing array of items. Be it the Luo women of East Africa who often carry 70% of their body weight on their heads or Brooklyn women who insist on three tote bags and backup shoes, women worldwide have innovatively adapted to transport belongings from one place to another.
Terms like “girl hands,” “girl physics,” or the newer concept of “the claw grip” celebrate that everyday talent, with a bio proudly stating: “After thousands of years without pockets, non-men have developed a superior grip to manage their belongings.”
On the Girls Carrying Shit feed, women are seen managing their items with varying degrees of elegance—some gripping items firmly while others appear at risk of dropping everything. The authenticity of each photo showcases what Robbe describes as a “behind-the-scenes” essence, capturing “the moments we typically wouldn’t preserve.” It reflects the candidness of daily life rather than the staged selfies often presented at events.
“Sometimes the spontaneous shots turn out to be more compelling than posed ones,” Robbe shares with Popsugar. She maintains a focus on the items being carried rather than the individuals carrying them, intentionally avoiding face shots. “Women are often pressured to conform to beauty standards. I believed that could detract from the value of these images.”
Robbe, at 27, is a digital marketing talent from Ohio, having felt burnt out by the corporate world by age 23. Her aspiration for the GCS account is to channel its success into funding a women’s art collective, an initiative already underway as she juggles various creative pursuits. Among her projects is her friend’s play, “God Mode,” focusing on the friendships formed in women’s restrooms at clubs. Additionally, she turned her teenage Tumblr passion into Pinky, a print magazine celebrating the intangible aspects of what women carry, recently releasing its sixth issue this summer.
The flourishing of the account, filled with submissions from across the nation, has underscored Robbe’s understanding of how effortlessly women articulate their experiences of managing life, both literally and figuratively. Advocates have long proposed that more sizable pockets in women’s clothing would acknowledge the diverse roles women now occupy in society—not just housewives or secretaries but as anything they aspire to be. While the fashion landscape has begun to address these calls, the functionality of clothing remains divided along gender lines, with some estimates suggesting that women’s jeans pocket lengths average half that of men’s, often failing to accommodate even the simplest essentials, such as an iPhone.
[Girls] devise solutions to everyday challenges, like forgetting their reusable tote and scrambling to hold their beef jerky snacks and 11 loaves of bread.
Paradoxically, women are socialized to carry a multitude of items regardless of limited storage space, whether it’s makeup, pain relievers, or pepper spray, even as their male counterparts simply take their keys and wallets and declare themselves ready for the day. Robbe remarks on her male friends typically underutilizing their pockets, incredulous at their lack of creative storage skills. Robbe’s playful spirit resonates, much like the watermelon White Claw Coco carried last August, balancing it with her phone, cigarettes, and two keychains—one featuring pepper spray and another a plush koala.
On GCS, women manage their belongings on sidewalks, in parks, at beaches, during hikes, at restaurants, rollerblading, and on subway rides. They create solutions for unexpected situations, like forgetting their reusable tote and needing to balance their beef jerky snacks alongside 11 loaves of bread.
This account does double duty by showcasing relatable snapshots that illuminate an often overlooked aspect of womanhood, while reminding us—through various items like vapes, raspberries, balloons, and keyboards—of all the intangible burdens we carry daily. These include systemic challenges that complicate our lives, as well as cherished attributes—like resilience and humor—that are less burdensome.
“GCS is a shared experience, a private joke between me and 60K followers,” Robbe states, noting her following has surged since we last spoke. “It’s comforting in these divisive times when so many are facing challenges, and we feel unable to assist from afar. Having a common thread is soothing.”
When choosing the account’s name, Robbe contemplated more diplomatic options like Girls Carrying Things or Girls Holding Stuff. However, she opted for a title that encapsulated the raw authenticity of managing four gigantic chess pawns or gripping fresh basil on the subway.
“Perhaps it’s a youthful impulse to use profanity, but I didn’t want anything delicate or feminine. We’re carrying our belongings,” Robbe declares. “And we’re doing it exceptionally well.”
