The ‘girl math’ trend proves that women are still apologising for their spending
The IndependentStay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. For Dunlap, the easiest way to define girl math is the “mental gymnastics women do to justify purchases” to themselves, whether it’s a major purchase or one purchase spread out over a period of time. “This is what people do in terms of their mindset around certain purchases, but it’s also like everything on the internet - clearly satirical, supposed to be funny and comedic.” But at what point does girl math go from simply a joke to having actual real-world, financial consequences? “If you were to invest that money instead of buying coffee, after about 30 years you would have half a million dollars.” It’s no secret that the internet has seen a recent rise in female-focused trends: girl math, girl dinner, hot girl walk, feral girl summer. Instead of admonishing women on social media for taking part in something that’s meant to be a joke, financial experts think we should change the narrative around what it means to do “girl math”.