Sophie Maclean: The Value of ‘Girl Math’
If you have spent a non-negligible amount of time on social media this autumn, you will have no doubt come across the trend of the season “Girl math”.
Videos of girls and women explaining their questionable mathematics have amassed billions of views on Tik Tok, and the videos have since filtered through to other social media platforms. It is perhaps unsurprising then, that such a phenomenon has generated a slew of articles both condemning and defending the trend.
At this point I should pause and address the small elephant in the room. Of course, this trend started in the states hence “math” is spelled without an s, and prices are given in dollars. But as with any viral trend, it has now gone global. In fact, it has franchised, with “boy math”, and even “drag math” videos cropping up.
A key aim of Maths Week England is to make sure that children and adults from all backgrounds enjoy and engage with mathematics. Arguably, girl math succeeds in both these aims and hence, I argue, it should be embraced.
The hashtag #girlmath is generally used to explain questionable spending decisions and financial habits. Girl math pushes legitimate money sense to its limit, for example by justifying the purchase of a $400 handbag because really that works out to just over $1 a day. In more extreme examples, any sort of rationality goes out of the window. Through some extraordinary mental gymnastics, girl math claims that anything bought in cash is “basically free” because the bank balance does not change. Similarly, anything less than $5 counts as being free and, perhaps most illogically, returning items makes money.
It is clear to see why some commentators are worried.
Firstly, some argue that in a cost of living crisis, such trends are, at best, unhelpful and arguably even reckless. Financial literacy is growing increasingly important, as daily necessities are getting more and more expensive. Some critics argue that the girl math trend encourages reckless spending. However, I disagree. No TikTokker is claiming that the videos represent correct maths or good budgeting. You would also struggle to find a viewer who would take the videos as serious advice
However, the biggest issues that critics have with girl math is that it reinforces gender stereotypes and propagates the idea that women and girls cannot do maths. It is undeniable that we have a problem with female representation in mathematics. Whilst at A Level, around half of all pupils are female, the talent pipeline narrows to such an extent that only around one in ten maths professors are women.
This is a fact that I am all too aware of. I am currently studying for a PhD in mathematics and my field is particularly male heavy. A result of this is that on several occasions I have found myself to be the only woman in a room full of mathematicians.
Though I think it would be unfair to say that it bothered me, it is certainly something I notice and something that I wish were different. I am also very fortunate to be in a university and department where I am not made to feel any different or lesser for a woman, but alas this is not always the case.
I could write extensively about women in mathematics and what I think should be done to improve all diversity in the subject, not just gender diversity, however, I want to keep the focus on girl math.
Do I think that girl math harms gender equality in mathematics? In short, no.
I believe that we should give girls and women everywhere the credit for being able to see this for what it is – a bit of fun. The joke is not that these women are unaware that their maths is incorrect. Quite the opposite. The humour comes from the fact that we all know that there are mistakes in the logic. As a consequence, there should be no fear that a young girl would see this trend and take away the message that women cannot be good at maths.
Furthermore, a lot of the mathematics in girl math is actually correct! Working out how much an item costs per day encourages basic arithmetic skills and answers the age old questions “when will I ever use this?”. Even to dispute the mathematics in a given clip, one must first work out the correct maths. This results in the TikTok audience, which is largely comprised of teenagers, actively engaging in mathematics and, in many cases, enjoying it!
Arguably the best part of this trend is that mathematics comes secondary – the point of each video is the joke about finances and any arithmetic that comes with it is treated as no big deal.
This is exactly what we want women and girls to think!
Regardless of your opinions of girl math, one thing is undeniable – it has started a conversation about women in mathematics. There are numerous, wonderfully talented women and non-binary folk in maths making counter videos showing their research – their “girl math”. Moreover, the debate about whether or not girl math is a good thing is, in itself, highlighting the work that still needs to be done to achieve diversity and equality in mathematics.
I maintain that, even if solely through the conversation it generates, girl math is worthwhile. It is making viewers, especially girls, think about maths and think about how it applies to their daily lives. In Maths Week England, I cannot think of a much better outcome.
Sophie Maclean, aka Sophie the Mathmo, is a mathematician and communicator.