Over the past few months, women have posted visually pleasing snack plates, colorful fruits and vegetables on TikTok. The hashtag #girldinner now has more than 150 million views on the platform. But, just like any other TikTok trend, you must understand its origin to relate to it. We’ll explain all you should know about it in this article.
Who started it?
The New York Times credits the trend’s origins with Olivia Maher, a showrunner’s assistant. The creator, in her video, said of her dinner of bread, cheese, grapes, and gherkins, “This is my dinner. I call this ‘girl dinner’ or ‘medieval peasant.'”
The origin of the idea was that a girl came to Olivia and said how, in medieval times, peasants had to eat nothing but bread and cheese and how awful that was. Then the girl said that was her ideal meal.
How far has the ‘girl dinner’ trend gone on social media?
The ‘girl dinner’ spread fast, far, and wide. One video with over 9 million views shows plain pasta with olive oil and a sprinkling of cheese. To another user, a bowl of popcorn was “girl dinner” to the tune of 795k likes.
One viral video showed a woman eating part of a Chipotle bowl with a carrot, peanut butter, and praline peanuts. The #GirlDinner has been used over 154 million times on TikTok since. Some continued with the theme of a quasi-charcuterie board.
What do people like about ‘girl dinner?’
A historian said the idea of cooking dinner was historically women’s work in the home. So what she likes about the girl dinner trend is it takes away the idea that you have to cook anything: You just literally put it together.
We see it as an excellent idea because it creates a ‘shift’ from the popular notion that what you eat validates you as a woman. The trend is focused on how suitable your food is to you, not how it was made.
Are there any reasons for criticism?
We see the dinner combo as a snack plate with minimal calories. But some people see it becoming a standard. According to them, girls may start comparing their usual dinners to what others are eating to know if theirs is too small.
One critic says we already fall into the comparison cycle on this app almost every time we scroll. Now we not only have to worry about how our bodies look but also how our dinners look. Well, we think it’s not totally accurate.
Girl dinner and eating disorders
Like any other trend that faces criticism, the girl dinner isn’t an exception. Criticism of the trend began, with concerns mounting that the videos celebrated restrictive or even disordered eating by branding it under the buzzy term.
“Girl dinner does not mean underfed dinner,” one user said. “I know it’s meant to be jokes, but it glorifies disordered eating as a cute little girly thing.” Okay, this is a one-sided perspective- there are several full-plate girl dinners.
