Girl dinner. Girl math. Girl’s girl. Boy’s girl. Girlboss. “Hell is a teenage girl.”
What does any of it mean?
This new wave of girl-centered media, helped to fame by Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” began as a celebration of what it means to be coming-of-age in a 21st-century world and all of the hardships that come with it. More so, what it means to be a girl – and if one ever really stops being one.
One of the more recent trends to strike TikTok, “girl dinner” became a popular audio to describe at first seemingly unconventional meal or snack pairings. However, it quickly evolved beyond that.
Users noticed that what started as an innocent movement morphed into what some claimed normalized disordered eating. “Girl dinner” became synonymous with almost no dinner, or a low-caloric one at that.
This was the first crack in the takeover of “girlhood” across social media.
Suddenly, there was no longer just girl dinner; there was girl everything. “Girl math” was used to describe how to rationalize spending — round down instead of up and cash doesn’t count as real money.
Economists used “for the girls” as a way to explain (you guessed it!) economics in an approachable way. And, of course, the broader term of “girl logic” to explain anything that doesn’t fit under a given umbrella.
On the surface, it’s a harmless joke, a way to make a topic that’s typically male-dominated less intimidating or a simple description of a habit many women have.
But the adjective used is never “woman.” No, it’s always “girl.” Why is that?
“Woman” is harder to infantilize. I am not a 19-year-old woman, I’m a 19-year-old girl.
I listen to Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift. I cry when I watch “The Notebook.” I still feel like I’m playing dress-up when I wear anything more formal than a turtleneck.
There is nothing wrong with any of this, so why do I — and so many others — feel the need to justify it to ourselves?
Music, shows, hobbies and general interests enjoyed mainly by adolescent-aged girls have long been the subject of mockery and judgment from older generations — specifically, men. It’s easy to understand how “girl” becomes an adjective to describe something not necessarily bad, but something that an entire population can identify with, is a comfort.
Beyond comfortability, it exists as its own community. From heart-wrenching poems about growing up, the classic “we were girls together” quote and first-hand accounts of catcalls and street harassment, there are no limits to this broad “girlhood” category on social media.
So how could a space created by and for women ever become misogynistic?
My criticisms lay where the condescension begins. You’ll notice that almost anytime the adjective “girl” is used before a concept, it could easily be substituted by “simple” or “elementary,” and the video’s concept would remain the same.
It’s not “girl physics,” it’s physics explained in a way that makes it understandable for a beginner. Why not just call it that?
The STEM field is predominantly male, but if anything, these videos reinforce the concept that girls just think differently.
You are not an amateur or uneducated. You are a girl who needs simple metaphors and anecdotes to understand difficult concepts. Only after mastering these concepts can you graduate to Woman.
Do I think every creator who coins this term is deliberately feeding into this narrative? No, not necessarily.
I think most have good, genuine intentions of helping out their fellow women to navigate topics that often appear intimidating. Similarly, I don’t think anyone who has used the term “girl-‘insert noun here’” is a bad feminist, nor do I have the authority to make such a claim.
But, in my opinion, it’s time to move on from this tired trope. There is nothing wrong with liking makeup, dresses, pink or other traditionally feminine — dare I say “girly?” — things.
There is something wrong with attributing these traits to someone who you think can only understand complex topics when spoon-fed to them through a pop-culture metaphor.
So please, do yourself a favor: next time you buy a latte, snack or whatever little treat you need to get through the day, don’t rationalize it. The $6 is still $6 whether it comes from your debit card or spare change. It’s okay to spend it without the justification of “girl math.”
And if you do buy a snack, it is not your “girl dinner.” Eat a proper meal. You’re allowed to grow up.