- “Girl” trends have seemed to have taken off online over the past few years.
- Gen Zers reclaimed the word — and they’ve been applying it to all sorts of lifestyles.
- Some people, however, are tired of being labeled by buzzy internet terms.
Some women are pushing back on all the new “girl” archetypes emerging online seemingly every week.
Open any app and there’s almost always a new term affixed with “girl.” Newer entrants like “Girl math” and “Girl dinner” have joined those that have been around for years, like “Girlboss.”
More recently, the “snail girl era” is taking off on TikTok as some women opt for a slower lifestyle than their girlboss peers. But, the snail girl trend has gotten pushback online — with many people commenting that they’re over all the “girl” trends.
The trends have humorous origins and they’re mostly used in lighthearted videos. The most viral moments for such phrases are popular because more than one person relates to the context in which the label was used. In other words, viewers are typically in on the joke.
But, the sometimes negative connotations of the “girl” labels have struck a nerve with some — and they’re making it known.
As “girl dinner” went viral over the summer, TikTokers discussed how the term related to a woman’s role in a what they called a patriarchal society. One creator argued that married women have pressure to perform “wifely duties” like cooking meals, so they lose the option of a simple and easy “girl dinner,” which is typically grazing on small things like crackers or fruit or lunch meat.
“Girl dinner can also relate to how tired we are from performing caregiving tasks so we don’t have the energy for feeding ourselves,” a comment under the video pointed out.
Elsewhere on the internet, LinkedIn users sounded off about what they said were double standards and unnecessary labels after learning about the so-called snail girls and lazy girl jobs.
“I’ve never heard anyone refer to a male executive as ‘boy boss’ or one that prioritizes golf or the chiropractor as ‘sloth boy,'” wrote Claire Wallace, a marketing professional. “It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Not much better than ‘girlboss’ or ‘snail girl.'”
LinkedIn users questioned the internet’s “obsession with having to label everything,” and the apparent need to categorize women instead of acknowledging their complexities.
“I’m neither a ‘snail’ or a ‘girl,’ and, frankly, find the term offensive. I am a woman that works hard, plays hard, and has earned the respect to not be subjected to being asked such degrading questions,” customer advisor Jenifer Gatewood commented.
Gen Z professional Linda Le had less of an issue with the “girl” part of the trend and more criticism for the “lazy” label applied to her low-stress job.
“Apparently, if you’re not burning out or working to death, you are lazy,” Le wrote on LinkedIn. But, she said: “It’s OK to work a job that doesn’t kill you on the inside. It does not make you lazy at all.”
The origins of girl trends
It’s a phenomenon that appears to have started with Gen Z girlies reclaiming a label that previously drew criticism for being sexist and using it to coin new trends over the past few years. The term was boosted by the viral “gorgeous gorgeous girls” TikTok video, rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s famous hot girl summer, and more off-the-cuff uses online.
And the trends are wildly popular to the younger TikTok audience. The girl math hashtag has more than one billion views and tons of videos of young women explaining how they use girl math to feel better about their finances.
Using girl math means someone can justify spending about $3,900 on Trinity Cartier earrings since they were cheaper than other pricey Cartier earrings she originally intended to buy and she plans to wear them for decades to come.
“These Trinity earrings are literally so classic, so timeless, I could probably be wearing them till the day I am dead. But let’s say, for simplicity’s sake, I wear them every day for the next four years,” content creator Chloe Liem said in a TikTok video. Dividing that cost over every day for the next four years puts the cost-per-use, so to speak, down to a more manageable idea.
Luke Lintz, a Gen Z public relations professional and social media expert, weighed in on why some corners of the internet might not be so fond of the girl trends.
“The online trends are kind of like an inside joke and an abbreviation for much larger context,” Lintz told Insider.
The inside jokes spread quickly past their online birthplaces and become a part of daily language and slang in the real world. Being unfamiliar with the origin of such jokes could mean offended parties are missing important humorous context, Lintz said.
“I don’t think these trends, although they are technically gendered, are sexist by any means,” he told Insider.
Here are just some examples
Girl dinner: It’s a meal made up of small side dishes instead of the typical entree and side. Usually, it requires little cooking and is made up of food items that may not serve as a filling meal on their own.
Lazy girl jobs: This workplace trend is used to describe the low stress, high paying jobs sought out by female professionals. Lazy girl jobs are for people who want to prioritize their personal life over their professional responsibilities.
Girl math: The personal finance trend used to justify purchases. For some girl-math enthusiasts, items under $5 or those paid with cash are seen as “free” and expensive items can be rationalized by their cost per wear.
Girlboss: One of the first trendy “girl” terms to emerge online. It refers to a female boss getting things done and making executive decisions in her personal or professional life. It was coined by the first self-proclaimed girlboss, Sophia Amoruso, who wrote the memoir #Girlboss. Her retail company Nasty Gal filed for bankruptcy in 2016.
Snail girl: Snail girls are the antithesis of girlbosses. They prioritize taking it easy in life and push back on hustle culture. Like other terms mentioned, “snail girl” was coined on TikTok.
Clean girl: Those who identify as clean girls have a very modern, minimalist aesthetic. Their makeup, style, and daily routines are all refined to appear flawless.
Boy trends do exist
While some women expressed their distaste for the origins of these terms, their male counterparts have also earned their own versions, like “boy math.”
But boy math is less about justifying expensive purchases and more about male logic that some people find annoying.
As with many viral internet trends, it appears we may be entering the phase with girl-label trends where they’ve reached a level of exposure that can seem impossible to ignore, whether it’s on TikTok or the resulting media coverage — even if there are many people who are ready to just drop it already and move on.
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