RECLAIMING #GIRLMATH

The Tiktok trend #girlmath makes it seem like young women think that "money isn't real", but can there be merit to this seemingly frivolous trend? We believe that it's high time we set the record straight.

- Shazrina Shamsudin & Karishma Tulsidas

Did you know that women outperform men as investors? Several studies in the past few years have corroborated statistics that women make higher returns on investments, even though there are less female investors than male.

Still, the prevalent rhetoric remains that women are not good with money. Look at one of this year’s most prolific Tiktok trends, #girlmath, which essentially sees young women on Tiktok share strategies – some perplexing, some smart – to rationalise their extravagant spending habits.

It has engendered a host of commentaries and videos, some featuring young girls explaining the concept to older men, and the men shaking their heads in dismay. It’s condescending, trivialising, and reinforces our negative perceptions of women and money.

We don’t see men justifying that exorbitantly expensive watch, car or video game, so we have to ask: Why do women have to do it?

WHERE DID IT START?

The #girlmath trend originated from a New Zealand breakfast radio show called “Fletch, Vaughan & Hayley”. It started as a joke: They’d ask listeners to share a purchase, and help them justify their spending.

For example, a caller would reveal the cost of her purchase, such as splurging $5,600 on four nights of Taylor Swift tickets, or purchasing a $699 Dyson hairdryer. The hosts of the show would then discuss and help the caller justify their exorbitant spending by calculating how often the item is expected to be used, or the potential savings it might offer. By their logic, the overall cost of the product or experience becomes practically negligible or, at times, even profitable in the long run.

SOUNDS FAR-FETCHED AND PERPLEXING?