During a particularly long lesson of my teacher rationalizing their decision to buy a Ninja Creami Scoop Swirl, a student raised their hand and connected the frivolous decision to “girl math.”
Hearing the term again after its height in 2023 felt like dust being blown off a book, and I wondered why it never stuck for me. As my teacher relabeled the purchase “girl math” and further ridiculed it, I was reminded of why: it felt demeaning.
Originally girl math was coined by TikToker Samantha Jane, and, simply put, her video dumbed down the logical loop holes women supposedly make when it comes to overspending on $5 Starbucks coffee and overpriced dresses into girl math. Does this sound stereotypical enough yet?
To me, it just seemed like another covertly sexist term to generalize women as bad with finances, feeding into misogynistic media trends wherein 65% of finance articles aim to define women as excessive spenders with poor judgment who needed to “rein in” their spending.
Despite my own qualms, hundreds of women were in agreement. Duets, casual usage and giggles at the comparisons of anything under $5 basically being free in girl terms. So why is it, a term with seemingly sexist roots, embraced by so many women online and even invented by one?
Because, in a way, it’s true. Within America, both the average female and male consumers spend around $3,800. The difference is found in who makes up more of consumer spending, and women happen to be 85% of it.
So could it be that all women are natural-born-bad-spenders inclined to purchase a Ninja Creami Scoop Swirl machine? Nope, it is not nature, it is nurture.
The rise in women-geared advertising began in the 1920s when women’s options were to either die of boredom in the house or go out and shop. Male marketers caught on and geared their products to women.
Ever since, women have become the target of consumerism, from breaking down every little insecurity that pricey makeup products cover up, to gendering and hiking prices of items such as feminine shampoo.
So, yes, I think girl math is relatable for many women because we’ve been born into a system that makes us consumers, and then ridicules “overspending” issues it’s morphed us to have. Do not continue this cycle of overconsumption while justifying it with your gender.
Instead, question why you feel inclined to use demeaning labels.
And whatever you do, trust me: that Ninja Creami Scoop and Swirl is not worth it.
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