If you’ve been on the internet recently, you’ve most likely seen the trends of “girl math” and “boy math.”
Originally, girl math started as a seemingly harmless trend that pokes fun at the spending habits of young women. The purpose of girl math was to help rationalize absurd and illogical purchases and decisions women collectively seem to make.
Girl math can refer to many experiences. Purchases made with cash are free. When something is on sale, you have to buy it because the opportunity is meant to be. Any money within your Venmo or Apple Wallet is technically “free” money. Money spent at Sephora is considered an investment. These are just a couple of examples.
As one X user explained, “Girl math is essentially the recognition that time, convenience, and money are interchangeable currencies.” This trend satirically comments on how women justify purchases using lopsided logic that only makes sense to them. This trend can apply to men, but its original purpose catered to female audiences.
The carefully distorted logic of girl math soon evolved into illogical thinking, as it began to relate to the entirety of female experiences from dating, health, friendship, school and more. One Tweet quipped, “Girl math is packing a minimum of 14 pairs of underwear for a seven-day trip,” and another remarked, “Girl math is knowing how to carry 23 items in two hands.” This trend led women to laugh and bond over their silly shared anecdotes, an experience quite similar to the phenomenon of the “Barbie” movie.
However, as every “girl-based trend” goes, men jumped in, hijacked the trend and offered unsolicited opinions. The lighthearted jokes about girl math soon blew out of proportion as men outwardly made fun of women for the sole purpose of entertainment, often with misogynistic overtones. Some men complained that women don’t actually understand math and “how money works.” As one of these misogynistic Tweets claimed, “Girl math is not being a virgin and still feeling entitled to a big and expensive wedding.” Another Tweet said, “Girl math is posting numerous selfies after a man dumps you because you believe he left you for being ugly instead of being insufferable.” These jokes, and many others, very quickly became downright cruel.
Yet another light-hearted internet trend was snatched like a rug right under women’s feet, turning into a battle of the sexes and revealing how easy it is to wield misogyny against women on the internet and play it off as a “joke.”
In retaliation, women came back with “boy math.”
The purpose of boy math is to point out male behavior patterns and show that the joke is actually on them. These address men’s relationship habits, their ideas about women and their overall hypocrisy.
Some examples of boy math include, “Being 5 ’10 but rounding it up to 6′ 0,” “Boy math is what led to the 2008 financial crisis btw,” “having 12 bodies and only have consent from five” and “being afraid of gold diggers when you have 3 pairs of socks to your name.”
Men weren’t a fan of these jokes when it became an attack on their characters. As someone quipped, “Boy math is claiming women aren’t funny or creative but hopping on every f-cking trend we do for ourselves and then whining when you don’t get it.”
Girl math is knowing that the next internet trend meant to celebrate the shared experiences of women is going to be overtaken by disgruntled chronically online men. But girl math is also still participating in these trends because women must navigate the harsh reality of living in “a man’s world,” so they should at least try to enjoy it.