Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
Kamala Harris is having a brat girl summer and the “coconut-pilled” #Khive is celebrating. What does that mean? In a 2023 speech, Harris described one of her Indian-born mother’s sayings: “I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree.” Clips of the quote – and Harris laughing – resurfaced and began to go viral earlier this month thanks to the #Khive, a self-coined term for Harris’s supporters (and a play on Beyoncé’s Beyhive). Being “coconut-pilled” is internet-speak for “swallowing” the Kamala-pill and stems from the “red pill” in The Matrix. “Brat girl summer”, however, is a more recent viral moment from this year’s other internet-it-girl, Charli XCX, and her new album, Brat. “Brat” has rapidly become synonymous with a neon green colour scheme and the hedonism of cheap cigarettes, smudged makeup and white tank tops. Bottom line: Harris has hit the campaign trail running in terms of her ability to appeal to millennials and Gen-Zs, and her team knows it. After Charli XCX posted “Kamala IS brat” on X, the official KamalaHQ account changed its header to neon green.
