First off, what is “girl math”? Originally, “girl math” started off as a trend women used to satirically justify their impractical purchases. It was a lighthearted trend until men managed to take over it and use it for their misogynistic opinions. An example of this is how it started off as women posting on TikTok about how since they didn’t buy Starbucks yesterday, it was free today. Then, we started seeing more harmful uses of “girl math,” such as when @Neo_officiall tweeted, “Girl math is being a non virgin and still feeling entitled to a big and expensive wedding, Girl math is being a strong, independent feminist but still feeling entitled to masculine guidance, provision, and protection, and Girl math is denying your boyfriend/husband sex because you are angry and still expecting him to remain faithful or monogamous.” This is extremely harmful because it enforces the stereotype that women are bad at math. Not only does this reinforce the “girls are bad at math” stereotype, but it cuts into even deeper misogynistic opinions. This is part of the misogyny that is deeply rooted into our society and that we have been battling. 

Considering that this trend is centralized on TikTok and the participants are primarily adolescents, we need to consider how this trend negatively impacts young teens’ perceptions of their role in society. Teen girls are constantly told that they should want to be romantically desired and that to reach this goal they must conform to societal norms where they present themselves as nurturing caretakers. It enforces the idea that excelling in STEM-related fields makes women unattractive to men. As a society, it’s crucial that we think about what we say to one another, that we are mindful of the media that we consume, and that we spread awareness when we see the rise of another harmful trend.