This #GirlMath Thing isn’t Adding Up

Viral TikTok Trend “Girl Math” is inspiring women to share how they justify their spending in this economy.

The sensation started with a recurring segment on the New Zealand Radio Show “Fletch, Vaughan & Hayley” that, like all things nowadays, found its way to TikTok for you pages of millions. Female hosts and producers would answer write-ins from listeners asking the girls to justify these major purchases. With price tags ranging from $100+, the hosts would pull out their trusty calculator app to break the price down. Whether it be per unit, wear, use, et cetera by the end of the segment the hosts would usually conclude it not only an economic purchase but often also a profitable one. Although this may be the first documented use of the term Girl Math has been around for as long as women have been able to make independent purchases.

With what feels like the world weighing in we have to ask ourselves, why do so many people care about girl math? Maybe because we’re coming off the greatest girl summer of humankind. Female pop superstars Taylor Swift and Beyonce’s historic tour successes have done some heavy lifting for our economy. And who could forget Barbie transcending generations and opening weekend box office numbers? Don’t even get me started on Olivia Rodrigo’s new album and what that means for 20-something teenage girls everywhere.

Girl dinner may be an easy trend to blame. Many have noticed the similarities and see both as a gross oversimplification of a piece of daily life that diminishes women's and girls’ capabilities. Girl dinner has received some rightful criticism for glorifying disordered eating. Like all trends, however, girl dinner (and Girl Math) have transcended their initial meaning. Girl dinner started as a celebration of a variety of foods. With each plate a feminine charcuterie these dishes spanned healthy portions of fruits, leftovers, air-fried nuggets, and more. Similarly, Girl Math began as the human desire to justify spending.

This cannot be exclusive to women in our society of overconsumption. Right?

With academics and economists alike asking what girl math means it only becomes clearer what it doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean that we are grooming our daughters into thinking they can’t do math. In fact, those with expertise say quite the opposite: girl math is the culmination of economic principles we all use, boys and girls alike. Check out Liz Plank, author, scholar, podcaster, and TikToker of over 250K fans, as she explains “Girl Math” from a behavioral economics lens:

I can empathize with those quick-to-be-critical trends such as these. We are the daughters of mothers who lived through the second wave of feminism. It has been this generation of girls that has finally been encouraged to become “Women in STEM” and still remain in their fields. When those before us have fought so much for the progress we take for granted it can seem as though “Girl” anything is a step backwards. Yet I think it’s important to remember that growing up is hard. Especially for girls. After the past few years we’ve had it’s no surprise we all need some simple pleasures or retail therapy time and time again.

So with that, I say go out into the world and buy something! Only if you want it. Use girl math or don’t but if you need a soundtrack to your spending may I suggest GUTS?