Within the past year, there has been an ongoing trend to define certain things as “girl things.” It is usually a lighthearted way to joke about a habit or mindset many girls have, but the implications of this trend furthers the internalized misogyny for many women.
For example, “Girl Math” is used when girls say money doesn’t count in certain situations like paying with cash, or as a justification for spending a lot of money. “Girl Dinner” involves meals that do not typically function as a real meal.
The most recent case of this trend that really confirmed this idea is, “Girl Hobbies,” which included things such as getting a fun drink. Even saying “I’m just a girl” diminishes us down to just that, our gender, and we won’t be looked at as fully human by others because we are only, “just girls.”
“Girl Dinner” started as a joke about how girls will put together a random mix of foods or snacks as their meal, but turned into joking about the meal being a few chips or a cup of ice. This can be extremely harmful, especially to young girls, as it glamorizes disordered eating and gives them the idea that this type of eating is not only normal but healthy.
“Girl Math” furthers the long-standing stereotype that women are bad with money. Historically it has been harder for women to become financially independent as they were forced into careers that pay less, and receive less than their male coworkers. Since they had less exposure to money, it’s easy to just assume they don’t know how to handle it.
The stereotype that women are also bad at math furthers their belief that they are bad with money, feeding into each other and confirming inside the woman that she is less competent than a man.
This might seem like a very serious way to think about this trend, but the “joke” here is just another way patriarchy controls the media and our minds. If we are “just girls” who don’t understand money or don’t know how to properly nourish our bodies and WE can joke about it, it gives the okay to other people (men) that they can too. Not just about something small like math, but our overall competence.
These jokes are becoming one of the many, normalized ways women undermine themselves. Woman’s language is another common way this happens.
Women will often use less direct language or add extra emojis and punctuation to avoid sounding harsh in their communication. This is known as ‘strategic softening’ and is used by women to seem approachable or more likable in situations like the workplace.
These are just a few examples of the way women unconsciously undermine their competence, not to mention the constant discrediting women receive from society.
Playing along with these jokes may not directly harm women, but it is one thing to consider how it adds into all the other ways misogyny plays a part in our society.
Putting “girl” in front of everything does not make it cute and fun, it only furthers the sexism that runs so rampant in our everyday lives.