2020, Mikki Kendall, Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot[1], page 74:
Yet the “pick me” culture, a phenomenon where some women announce their willingness to adhere to these arbitrary standards, is evident on Twitter and other social media sites.
2024, Drew Afualo, Loud: Accept Nothing Less Than the Life You Deserve[2], unnumbered page:
Or think about the pick-me's claim that she's totally fine with how much her boyfriend salivates over Instagram models or flirts with his coworker, because she's not like other girls who are jealous and insecure.
2024, Katherine Murray, “Female Millennial Rage: The Weaponization of Cottagecore”, in Anastasia Klimchynskaya, Betsy Winakur Tontiplaphol, editors, The Literary Taylor Swift: Songwriting and Intertextuality[3], page 125:
While folklore and evermore do celebrate Swift's evolution from the "pick me" days of Fearless, the albums also use cottagecore landscapes and imagery as a vehicle for mourning simpler times.
Pick-mes are ideal for the role of the token minority friend since they often fall in line with racist beliefs used against their own community.
2020 November 1, Marissa Foster, “Stop being a 'pick me' person to fit in”, in Pepperpot, Georgetown, Guyana, page 20:
The most disgusting act I've seen from a "pick me" is when they'd bring others down or betray the ones who cared for them all in the name of "being accepted."
2022, Shreya Joshi, "Ghislaine Maxwell and the pathological pick-me syndrome", The Medium (University of Toronto Mississauga, 17 January 2022, page 6:
A “pick-me” person is desperate for acceptance from a particular group and will do whatever it takes to gain access to certain social circles and remain there.
