Girl Math, Girl Dinners, & Bows

Brie Samaniego & Kaylie Viloria

Girl. 

One of the biggest trends currently making its rounds on social media. 

Everything nowadays is girl. Girl dinner, girl economics, hot girl walks, virtually nothing is unclaimable to the girls, everything is for the girls. Defying the laws of grammar and logic, the word girl can be an adjective, noun, verb, or practically any part of speech if you try hard enough. 

A recently popular rendition of girl has taken the title of “girl math”. 

Essentially, girl math is justifying purchases by jumping through hoops to twist how the money is being spent. Girl math includes, but is not limited to, spending more money to get free shipping or else you lose money, buying a $1,000 bag is only ten dollars every wear if you wear it 100 times, returning something and getting $50 back is making money, et cetera. 

To some, "girl math" and "girl dinner" may be lighthearted trends on social media, but beneath the seemingly harmless facades lie deeper issues that can perpetuate harmful stereotypes and impact the empowerment of women.

The complexly connoted word “girl” has been on the rise on social media platforms like TikTok. The idea of “girl math,” in itself, is quite simpleminded. While this trend may appear fun and innocent, it reflects a simplistic approach to financial decision-making. By reducing the value of something to the cost per use, it overlooks broader economic consideration.

Only 26% of economists and 21% of service board members in the financial industry are women. The idea that women can not understand monetary policies of money is further perpetuated by “girl math.” This is ultimately disempowering especially to the minority of women in economics and conveys the stereotype that women cannot comprehend financial matters.

“Girl dinner” is a snack plate of ingredients that have no correlation or specific purpose in the dish– think an assembly of ingredients so low effort that it could not be considered a well-rounded meal. And with the fad of “girl dinner” content comes multifaceted critiques, including its romanticization of disordered eating. The terms suggests that it’s okay and cool to eat a few tiny bites for dinner and that women do not need as much food as men- both proportionally incorrect. It furthers the idea that women do not cook full, robust meals unless they are with men.

But is it that deep?

While yes, a small TikTok trend may not completely eradicate the work the feminist movement has done, there has been an overwhelming amount of trends that confine women. There is an overarching theme of consumerism within social media. The TikTok shop constantly pushes items to its users, contributing to a broader culture that limits women to certain roles and expectations. The impact of these trends goes beyond social media, potentially influencing perceptions and expectations of women in various aspects of life.

However, there is also a beauty to trends. Bows are a great example. Post JoJo Siwa, bows were pushed away and seemed childish and kitsch. A long-standing symbol of femininity since the 17th century has recently made a comeback due to social media trends. Ribbons are inexpensive, reusable and sustainable and do not carry any dangerous connotations at all. Plus, they’re cute.