Girl Math, Girl Dinner TikTok Trend Empowers Women

If we’re really looking to unravel the reasons why mansplaining and manspreading are two problematic behaviours (besides the obvious ones), one common thread comes to mind; for decades, women have been discouraged from inhabiting space physically, psychologically, and intellectually.

To be honest, we’ve only scratched the surface with our confrontations about manspreading and mansplaining. On the intelligence and psychological fronts, women are still often expected to hide in corners and not actually show who they are. Why am I saying this? Am I a pessimist, or a misandrist? Am I a bitter-with-no-man single woman, who can’t help but find the chance to represent women as victims?

I think it comes down to me being a woman who is tired of women being the butt of the joke. I’m talking about the TikTok trending ‘Girl Dinner, Girl Math’ that has swept the nation. Women are bringing to life a movement of sharing how they manage money and what they really eat for dinner. The truth is that it’s not just about money, the whole idea behind ‘Girl Dinner,’ is about hilarious ways to discuss aspects of food we can enjoy when we are comfortable with ourselves and feel unbound to what society, patriarchy or some guys can judge about our food choices only to stare at our food, scrunch their noses and raise their eyebrows and label them as ‘unhealthy.’

‘Girl Dinner’ is literally about throwing together meals to make for dinner that can even be considered lazy work. And, to be honest, that is exactly what we want. We want to do something we want- for our flavoursome joy- that can nourish our taste-buds and body without hearing the comments that really almost every woman has heard our entire lives. Comments like,

‘Wow, you’re so bad at cooking.’ Or, ‘No wonder you ate single, you can’t even make a proper meal to eat, how the heck will you ever cook for a partner, or kids?’

The reality is women are tired of trying to be good at things, that serve the people around them. We just want to be able to make an easy meal, and NO ONE tell us, that we need to be better, or do better.”

And we also get this, isn’t an excuse to neglect your health and choose not even healthy food, that is not what this trend is about, nor is it about glorifying poor eating habits. This is an invitation to make peace with the notion it’s alright, sometimes, to do the bare minimum. Sometimes, we deserve the ease, sometimes we deserve to be given ourselves permission to be laid back.

This aligns perfectly with the “Girl Math” trends. It is not an excuse to terribly manage your finances. It’s just a chance to give yourself the power to take control of your hard-earned money. “Girl Math” is about women being able to handle their finances in a way that embodies autonomy that may not resonate with people conditioned to understand money from a patriarchal position.