Trend Girl Math Popular On Social Media, Between Jokes And Evidence Of Women's Financial Intelligence

JAKARTA Istullahgirl math or women's mathematics has become a hot topic of conversation among netizens lately. Simply put, thegirl math is a trend on social media to justify women's shopping habits that are sometimes difficult for men to understand.

Some of the mathematical examples of women that are widely discussed by netizens include choosing to increase groceries up to Rp. 20,000 rather than having to spend Rp. 20,000 in shipping costs. Or there are also those who calculate the price of an item per use so that it feels cheaper, such as shoes at a price of Rp. 2 million but if used 100 times, it means only Rp. 20 thousand per use.

And what makes people more surprised is that women like to feel like they don't spend money using QRIS or points from an application. Initially, the cow match phenomenon was considered a joke, but on the other hand this trend was used to justify impulsive shopping habits.

Girl math is a term that appears as a trend on social media, especially TikTok, to describe creative and sometimes unconventional ways that women use a lot in justifying their money management decisions.

This trend became popular in 2023, and was considered something different because many men had difficulty understanding it.Girl math is often considered unreasonable financially, but it's true emotionally.

Trendgirl women are so viral on TikTok that they have been viewed more than 3.3 billion times. This trend continues to expand very massively globally, even triggering discussion and criticism.

According to a number of sources, the term girl match was first popular in New Zealand, to be precise as one of the segments in ZM radio station. This term begins when a listener calls for help to justify expensive purchases.

At that moment, the broadcaster at the event used the termgirl math to make the item look cheap.

Starting from the radio show, people on TikTok shared a mathematical example of their own version of women. Reported by Huff Post, one of the TikTokers with username @samjamessssss said anything under $5 feels free. Or other experiences that say he felt he came to the concert for free because tickets were bought a few months earlier.

Initially,girl mathini was meant to be a joke, as content creators outlined quite a complicated calculation of how she spent money getting something.

For some, this phenomenon is harmless, but some even play stereotype that women are not good at mathematics so they are unable to manage money.

Girl math is one example of the theory of mental accounting developed by Richard Thaler. In the theory, it is explained that people group their money into different mental accounts'.

That makes them make financial decisions irrationally, because they treat them differently depending on where the source or destination is.

Meanwhile, financial expert Kelly Ann Winget said cow math could be a valuable means of decision-making for women who guide large and small choices in shopping.

In the right situation, cowmaking becomes very useful when navigating investment, essential purchases, savings, investment, and monthly budgeting.

According to Winget, thegirl math can actually help empower women in making decisions on financial issues. He stressed that this trend challenges conventional financial rationality, as well as provides perspectives on spending value, not hindering purchases.

Winget said thegirl math could have a positive impact, especially because women have a lot of considerations to justify spending that doesn't interfere with their financial well-being, it's a good thing.

But financial planner and psychologist Brad Klontz has different opinions. According to him, girl math is just the latest literacy from us trying to rationalize financial behavior that we shouldn't have done'.