Girl Math. A trend that began on TikTok as a lighthearted method to defend purchases—for example, claiming that a $40 top is essentially free if you return something else—has grown into a more widespread cultural discussion about gender, money, and gendered marketing.

The extent to which financial double standards permeate daily life has been revealed by what started as jokes about "retail therapy" and "treat yourself" reasoning. Men are commended as astute investors for their high-risk financial activity, while women are derided as sentimental spenders. The hashtags #Girlmath and #Boymath, along with similar ones, have gone viral on social media, garnering thousands of views on Instagram and TikTok.. Female authors of the "Boy Math" movement responded to the humour surrounding Girl Math by using it as a way to challenge stereotyped "man logic," frequently exposing the hypocrisy of men's financial behaviour while maintaining claims of emotional or other superiority. In a sense, "girl math" tends toward relatable small indulgences, whereas "boy math" has evolved into more of a social critique.

A few crucial self-care items Razors, for example, are pink to appeal to ladies and are hence more expensive. For a month, BuzzFeed had two writers switch gendered items, like as shampoos, lotions, and razors. They discovered that while the majority of the items were of almost the same quality, women's versions were frequently more expensive. The marketing language, which portrayed women as kind and nurturing and men as strong and fearless, mostly relied on antiquated gender stereotypes. Emotion is still being used as a weapon in marketing campaigns. According to a 2023 psychology paper, advertisements that present consuming as a kind of self-care and are urgency-based and guilt-driven, such as "Don't miss out!" or "You deserve this," disproportionately target women.

70–80% of consumer spending is driven by women. Fast fashion websites like Shein and PrettyLittleThing create daily microtrends and encourage impulsive purchases through influencer hauls, limited-time sales, and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services like Klarna or Afterpay. These tools frequently promote debt as empowering. Female arithmetic reasoning: "If I split it into four payments, it's free." According to a recent Capital One survey, women are 58.7% more likely than men to utilise BNPL, primarily because these services are more frequently displayed on retail websites aimed at women. BNPL is frequently viewed as a more reasonable method of financing purchases when combined with the persistent gender wage disparity. It mirrors and intensifies underlying financial strains that disproportionately impact women.

Balancing Act: How Humour and Hustle Shape the Concept of Girl Math

Girl Math is already being exploited for financial gain by the Humour and the Hustle Companies. A TikTok depicting a lady packing travel-sized lotions into her cart was shared by Ulta Beauty with the message, "Girl math is the only math that matters." By promoting expensive cosmetic products with a pink ribbon and labelling them as "Girl Math," these corporations are effectively using women's empowerment as a marketing gimmick, obscuring the injustices that women have been battling for decades. Since men were not nearly as heavily advertised to, they were positioned as the "money-saver" of sorts and given a pedestal. Unlike women, they were in charge of their spending and only ever bought things that were required.

This appeared to contribute to the widespread debate about women's spending on unnecessary items or for their enjoyment. It seemed to turn into a heated argument that women spent the money on pointless items while men were left to perform all of the household chores because men were the ones who made the money. Even though a group of men created all of these ingrained preconceptions, women are being held responsible for them. It is annoying that women are still criticised for their purchases in the contemporary world, while men spend hundreds of dollars on vehicles, gaming consoles, and footwear.

Saying that now feels a little more self-deprecating. Since many of these habits were initiated by avaricious guys who aspired to become billionaires, it feels more vulnerable to conceal certain inexplicable purchases for my satisfaction. It is difficult to accept that my purchasing habits are the result of a century's worth of guys setting up a trap with catchy language and advertisements. Rich, shopaholic women have been portrayed in popular media as the protagonists of numerous films and television series, like Clueless and Gossip Girl, which has only served to perpetuate the idea that women are "money spenders." The disparity in spending between the sexes is not as great as many might think, though.

And girl math is just that. The unlimited number of products in my Amazon shopping cart constantly reduces to a small number of items that can be purchased due to the laborious process of research and formulation. All of the others, though, are put on "save for later" while I wait for any significant sales or consider how much I need or want it. Setting a spending cap is crucial, and the way women justify their purchases just appears to make sense. The returned item has just been brought back into my existing "fun money" budget, if I had been wanting something really expensive that has been put off for a while, and I just returned another item.

Girls are encouraged to reconsider anything they wish to purchase from an early age. It has evolved into this never-ending calculation and reasoning that maintains a firm grip on women's minds. Among my friends, going to the grocery store with a mother to assist with grocery selection has turned out to be the most informative and relatable experience.

We begin the journey by making a list of the items we must purchase in order to survive the next week or two. This appears to be rather simple: you enter the store, check off the things you've picked up, and then check out to leave for home. But it's far more nuanced than that. I've been on an emotional roller coaster with girl math. These disparate purchasing behaviours combine to provide a humorous, imaginative expression that delights women. It gives women a sense of empowerment and accomplishment for all the effort they put into considering such purchases. Even though this has a long history with men and their advertising campaigns, it was taken back and developed into something far more significant.

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