The Challenges of Divorce

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The "Divorce Glow-Up" is a social media trend showcasing women leveling up after their marriages end.

Social media trends can be problematic if accepted as truth without understanding context.

Divorce isn’t an instant transition or automatically empowering but an invitation to reflect.

Ultimately, the real divorce glow-up can only be the result of a much deeper transformation.

As all cultural movements do in this day and age, this one started on TikTok.

Since the end of 2025, women have been posting their “divorce glow-ups” — before-and-after images and videos showcasing life after ending a marriage. As the term “glow-up” suggests, the “after” is a flex: better bodies, better haircuts. Better them.

And like every TikTok trend worth its salt, this one also spawned a full retail economy in its wake. Divorce-themed Evites. Etsy merch sporting captions like Divorced AF; I Do, I Did, I’m Done; or End of an Error. The Guardian even declared 2026 to be “hot divorcee summer”.

As someone who’s had personal experience with this particular journey, I can tell you that if living in an unfulfilling marriage doesn’t dampen your will to live, the divorce process will. If you are fortunate enough to come out unscathed and inspired to live better, that is indeed something to be celebrated.

But also, as a relationship scientist focused on authentic intimacy, I balk at anything that is performative and simplistic, which is where TikTok trends often reside. If taken as truthful universal experiences, these fleeting trends can cause........

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