'Girl dinner,' 'girl math' prove beneficial in moderation

While not every internet trend is one to cling to and practice daily, some sensationalized fads actually have a bit more substance behind them than others. 

I, for example, find the internet trends of  “girl dinner” and “girl math” to be quite endearing. 

The issue arises when people take these trends too far, as it negates the beneficial lesson that our culture can learn.

“Girl dinner” and “girl math” are popular phrases used to describe the feminine perspective on ordinary things like meals and finances. 

“Girl dinner” refers to odd meals, consisting of bits and pieces of snacks that don’t exactly complement each other. An example may be a plate of potato chips with a side of baby pickles or a slice of pizza, six grapes, a cheese stick and anything else you may be craving. 

“Girl math” encapsulates the rules that can be used when deciding to make a purchase: paying with cash or gift cards means your purchase is free because no money leaves your bank account. If you return an item, you’re actually earning money. If a jacket costs $50 and you wear it 10 times, it costs $5 a wear. And if you forfeit your daily Starbucks, the jacket is free. 

Unfortunately, both of these innocent trends now have a somewhat poor reputation because some people are now using the word “girl” as an adjective to excuse poor choices when it comes to nutrition and financial responsibility. 

An example of the negatives of this trend include a woman regularly forgetting to eat all day and then quickly making herself a “girl dinner” by throwing together a nutritionally unbalanced plate of random foods. Not only does this glorify poor nutrition, it also belittles femininity by insinuating that the meal is bad because it’s a girl’s meal. The same negative connotation applies to “girl math,” which makes it seem like women are financially irresponsible and bad at math. 

When used in this way, “girl dinner” and “girl math” are quite toxic, allowing people to justify spending thousands of dollars that they don’t have and neglecting their bodily needs. It is my belief that “girl dinner” and “girl math” can be so much more beneficial when used properly.

“Girl dinner” and “girl math” are helpful because they allow us to indulge in things that we want, but our culture judges us for wanting. Especially in the Midwest, we heavily enforce values of frugality, making it difficult to allow yourself to buy what you want.

Say I really want to buy something that isn’t a necessity, like a new pair of earrings. Let’s say they cost $40. It’s likely I will wear these earrings between 8-10 times, so girl math says the earrings are about $4-5 per wear. The math here makes logical sense, and it also helps me to rationalize my purchase. It’s easier to feel like I deserve this unnecessary purchase when I can see that there is value to it. 

Internet culture today also promotes unrealistic diet choices that make us feel guilty for eating what we might crave. As silly as it may sound, “girl dinner” and “girl math” help us to overcome these social rules and justify our choices. 

At the end of a long day, you may not always feel like cooking yourself a full meal. Maybe you are craving a little of this and a little of that, and maybe it’s not exactly nutritional food. But calling it a “girl dinner” is a goofy way to excuse these “unhealthy” meal choices, and it makes you feel like you aren’t doing anything wrong.

The issue with “girl dinner” and “girl math” arises when people don’t practice moderation. 

Eating a plate of hot Cheetos and potato salad for every meal isn’t a good choice, even if you try to make it cute by calling it “girl dinner.” Using “girl math” for every purchase without acknowledging your actual financial status will harm you in the long run and make women seem unintelligent. 

With moderation, using these trending phrases to help yourself feel secure in your choices really just allows yourself to indulge once in a while, which is far from a crime.