Girl Math *eye roll*

[Heylylaa]

AIBU to be sick of expressions like "girl math"?

Google says the definition of Girl Math is "a term used to describe the financial rationalizations that some women use to justify spending money. It's a fun, unserious way of justifying purchases that might not be essential". However, that's not the context I hear it used in.

People I know basically say as a way to insult a womans intelligence if something isn't adding up. Basically you're a woman and you're thick.

For example on a Facebook page where someone declared they were 100 days since the start of something, a commenter queried how that could be as they were 83 days a couple of days ago. A different person comments "girl math".

I don't know if I'm being irrational to hate this phrase so much?

I hate it. I've only heard it being used by women about themselves and I think they should have more self respect. Its along the lines of 'oh I'm only a little weak girl' and comes with a giggle thst makes me heave.

Whilst we are judging people- can I please add 'girl dinner' to the hate list?!

Why can't we avoid using derogatory terms ? Be a bit more honest - I can't really justify this but I'm doing it anyway - rathe than use terms that do have a negative impact on people who hear them

When you have to put up with bullying and general crap because people think girls who are good at maths are weird it's really not helpful to have people making a joke of it - it's another "it's just banter " phrase that is really not "just banter "

I've never heard that, but

It's akin to 'run like a girl'. We have 'this girl can" which I think has been quite successful - it celebrates all the sports women want to do.

Whilst we are judging people- can I please add 'girl dinner' to the hate list?!

What's this?

Never heard of lady petrol either.

I think it's fine for men and women to tease each other as long as they actually respect each other.

I don't know if people want to laugh at themselves and that's the only context I have ever seen 'girl math' used in then I think they should be able to without people policing their language. It's tiresome. It takes away peoples confidence to express themselves due to worry that everything they say will picked apart with people telling them that they are bad, they are wrong, this is how you should be expressing yourself.

"Girl dinner" is amazing! It's basically any dinner you make that is just random little bits or picky food or something that if a big strong meat and two veg man (eye roll) saw they would think wasn't real food. So if my husband is here and I'm making tea I'll do a full meal, if he's not I will have random little bits I like that don't quite go together and aren't a traditional "meal".

I feel like there's a bit of a generational gap between people that accept / use phrases like girl math and girl dinner and those that don't. Tbh I've got a STEM masters, I'm a qualified accountant working a really tough job - if I want to girl math my way into a coffee run or enjoy my girl dinner I bloody well will 😂

Cos everyone knows it's "lady diesel"?

It would be less offensive then if it was "woman maths".
I hadn't actually heard of man maths before but I have seen "girl math", mostly in the context of someone doing maths incorrectly.
I hate it.

Tbh I've got a STEM masters, I'm a qualified accountant working a really tough job - if I want to girl math my way into a coffee run or enjoy my girl dinner I bloody well will

I'm also in STEM. I am professional, qualified and skilled. We all are, and we respect that. We also have an informal group chat just for the women called 'pool party' which was started by the director (a woman) when the women in the team (I daresay we called ourselves girls!) got together at the pool after a day at a conference, had some drinks, sat on the loungers in our bikinis and talked about what spa treatments we'd hopefully have time for.

It's about context.

Sorry but YABU - the term 'man maths' has been around for decades

Not boy maths though. And not woman maths. But man and girl.

You are not being unreasonable, as having read your description it is clearly being used as a demeaning insult to women's intelligence. I have, however, never heard of 'girl math' until this thread.

Frigging stupid American phrase by the look of it, considering the absence of an 's' at the end of maths.

Mansplaining is another term that is against women too. Both imply women don’t know what they’re talking about and that we need the big important men to do the boy math and mansplain things for us.

I can't stand women using terms like this, including girl boss, boss babe and other twee, patronising nonsense that they're dumb enough to believe to be 'empowering'. I'm even starting to hate the phrase 'I'm a strong, independent woman', even though I love strong independent women!

It’s a bit inane but ‘boy maths’ also exists… as in the 45 year old bloke having a midlife crisis and spending £5/6/ 7k in a guitar he can’t play properly ( I know several at this point!) because his hit record will pay off the mortgage in a year

Think it's just a bit of fun, TBH. Never heard it used derogatorily.
Im an accountant and studied maths. If I find £5 in my pocket and buy a £3 coffee, the coffee was free and I've made £2 profit because girl maths.
I also gently tease my boyfriend about his "boy maths" of only buying (for example) one tin of beans every week for half the cost of a multi-pack of 4, because "I only need one for this week" despite having beans every single week and spending twice as much as he needs to on them.

At the risk of mansplaining mansplaining, isn't it taking the piss out of blokes for being patronising to women who know more than them.

My old boss used to have men try to explain what some software did, software that she designed and wrote. To me that's mansplaining

Google says the definition of Girl Math is "a term used to describe the financial rationalizations that some women use to justify spending money. It's a fun, unserious way of justifying purchases that might not be essential". However, that's not the context I hear it used in.

this context in itself is drippingly sexist and disparaging of women.

No, it's not that at all.

Eh? This is exactly what mansplaining is.

I think you’ve misunderstood the term.

Yep. Women who are genuinely high achieving and successful in their careers don't use twee terms like Boss Babe. They simply don't need to. Their achievements speak for themselves.

Well it's used proudly by women and I also don't like the term but it's only women to blame for this. Same with 'I can't pay the mortgage' trend.
Invented by women who are desperate attention seekers

Well it's an American term hence 'math' instead of 'maths' and only really used for fun on TikTok

I understand it to be "the explanation of something by a man, typically to a woman, in a manner regarded as patronising or condescending" (I just looked it up on Google to check).

@randomchap said "At the risk of mansplaining mansplaining, isn't it taking the piss out of blokes for being patronising to women who know more than them.
My old boss used to have men try to explain what some software did, software that she designed and wrote. To me that's mansplaining"

The boss was a woman. Her asking men to explain something isn't mansplaining. Or does randomchap mean that when she got the men to explain they would be mansplaining?

I think most women get angry at mansplaining, rather than laugh it off.

I use it all the time. I think it’s been reclaimed. Originally it was probably a bit of an insult, but it is used as Google suggest now much more widely.

For example, if I’m paying for my holiday in advance of going (which for me I always do, and recommend people do), in jest I will say that my girl math says it’s free because it didn’t come from the payslip in the month I’m going.
Or if I want something expensive, I will divide the price by an arbitrary number of times I’m going to use that thing, to make the thing less expensive and joke that my girl math says this thing is only £1.80 per wear which is actually excellent value for money.

It’s really just used in my circles very light hearted. Tbh if I saw someone using it in the insulting context as you demonstrated you saw, I’d just find their comment a bit weird and lacking in value.

I usually pause, leave an awkward silence and then thank them for their mansplanation. They usually get the hint 😂