‘I’m Just A Girl’, ‘Girl Dinner’, ‘Girl Math’: Why Are Harmful Trends So Popular Online?

Are social media platforms reinforcing outdated gender roles and stereotypes through these harmful trends? When online trends are portrayed as funny or a joke, viewers may not recognise the sexist attitudes behind them.

Harmful trends like ‘girl math’ depict women doing maths problems that don’t have real logic or sense behind them. Why do we need to popularise a trend that depicts women as bad at or unable to do maths, especially when only 35% of STEM students are girls? Similarly, the phrase ‘girl dinner’ shows women’s meals with very small portions that are sometimes just snacks or meals with no nutritional value. Why isn’t this viewed as a harmful trend? Why is ‘girl dinner’ seen as light-hearted, when there are four times as many teenage girls with eating disorders as boys in the UK?

Gen Z is on track to be the most educated generation yet. So why do small mistakes or ditsy behaviours get put down to ‘I’m just a girl’? Why does ‘I’m just a girl’ have over 2 million posts on TikTok, and why do creators not see any issue with infantilising their behaviours?

Psychology points to three reasons why these online trends are so popular – when a statement is seen as both harmful and harmless, we may view the statement as funny. Similarly, our brains process humour faster than hostile behaviour. Lastly, when statements or behaviours are popular, people tend to view even problematic behaviours as acceptable.

The Benign Violation Theory

The Benign Violation Theory is a psychological theory which argues that for something problematic to be perceived as humorous, there must be two aspects: the harmful statement or behaviour, and a perception of the harm as benign (i.e., innocent or harmless). Can this explain why ‘girl’ trends are so popular online? The viewer might perceive these trends as harmless or innocent, and therefore, statements like ‘I’m just a girl’ are perceived as funny. Can this theory partly explain why sexist trends are so popular? If sexist phrases are infantilised, or glossed over with images of glitter and pink bows, is the sexist aspect of the statement disregarded?

Processing Humour Cues and Hate Speech

Do our brains process humour before they process hostile behaviours? A recent study from 2023 would say yes. In the experiment, participants were asked to rate online memes that have both humour and hate cues. The findings suggested that when hostile statements or behaviours are masked by humour, people are more likely to be accepting of the behaviour, because they process the humour first. Is it possible that people find ‘girl math’ funny because it’s presented as ditsy and something to make fun of, and people don’t process the sexism behind the phrase? Is this how harmful trends operate?

Normalisation Through Popularity

If a trend is normalised online, is it likely that the viewers won’t perceive the trend as problematic because it is widely engaged with?

Social media has transformed how information is accessed and spread. Trends can also influence how creators and viewers engage in health behaviours and wellness —for example, ‘what I eat in a day’ videos, or the ‘girl dinner’ trend.

Content exposure and user engagement contribute to positive or negative health behaviours. Is being regularly exposed to content like ‘girl dinner’, or ‘iron-deficient princess’, reinforcing that women should eat small portions with no nutritional value? Is this an attempt to uphold outdated gender roles that portray women as small and weak? If a harmful trend is popular, viewers could be less likely to see the issue because it is widely accepted.

Many creators may engage with these trends and not even realise that they are problematic. They believe it’s funny and that the video will get views. However, can making jokes about women’s abilities, eating patterns and infantilising behaviours ever be just a light-hearted joke? If these statements were phrased differently, would viewers still find them funny? Did the psychology behind including humour and large popularity encourage people to disregard the sexist aspects of these jokes and belittle women’s abilities?