Trends on social media are constantly cycling in and out of popularity. With that, it can be difficult to decipher which of these trends are innocent, and which of them are harmful. This year, a surge of trends that highlight “girl life” such as “girl dinner” and “girl math” have gained popularity. Sometimes these trends can be fun and relatable, but they can normalize sexist stereotypes on social media.
The “girl dinner” trend stands out in this category for being very harmful. Though it may have started as a way for girls to share fun snack and dinner ideas, it has transitioned into something much more damaging. Videos under this trend promote unsafe eating habits with the excuse of it being for a girl. This promotes stereotypes regarding how much girls eat, while also influencing impressionable young girls on social media. According to Social Media Victims Law Center, studies show that 51.7 percent of girls aged 13 and 14 who are on social media reported severe changes to their eating habits due to social media.
If you search “girl dinner” on TikTok, some of the first videos to show up are extremely problematic. One video even shows just an empty plate with the caption “girl dinner.” Other influencers have noticed this and spoken out about the trend and the harm it causes. Halley, a popular TikTok influencer, posted, “I just want to watch the girls piece together fun little meals, I don’t need you to tell me how little you ate.”
Another widely recognized trend is the “girl math” trend. This trend is usually used in the context of girls justifying how much money they spend. Some examples of this are people saying how paying with cash isn’t actually spending money, or that returning something actually makes you money. Though these examples are relatively harmless, in some cases the trend has escalated to people making mistakes in simple math and calling it girl math. This can perpetuate the idea that girls are not good with money, and cannot handle their own spending.
However, many women do not have an issue with these trends. Sophia Jacobs, a junior in Berkeley International High School, believes that these trends do not need to stop. “I personally haven’t seen any negative versions of theses trends,” Jacobs added, “and I also have not seen anyone dissing these trends in the comment section, so I don’t think they necessarily need to stop.”
Though these trends can be light-hearted, it is extremely easy for them to evolve into something harmful, The “girl math” and “girl dinner” trends reinforce traditional gender roles that need to be left in the past. It is much more beneficial to impressionable kids and teens on social media to have trends that cannot be twisted into something stereotypical and negative. It is crucial that content creators and influencers recognize the influence that they have, and utilize it in beneficial ways.