The Troubling Influence of 'Girls Dinner' Trend on Social Media

The Troubling Influence of 'Girls Dinner' Trend on Social Media


The cottage cheese trend has started. Next came Grimace's demeanor. This summer has been packed with viral TikTok food trends that have given social app users a taste of all sorts of new flavors. 
 
 While content creators are touting recipe videos  everyone should be craving, the latest food on the social  app isn't a meal at all. Enter "Girls Dinner"; An easy-to-prepare portion for someone that essentially consists of a bunch of great snacks.Think some cheese, a strong marinade, a colorful ensemble of vegetables and a neatly folded salami. And of course a fresh portion of roses. 
 
 These posts (which garner millions of views) are visually addicting and subtly triggered as the snacks have no recipe restrictions and require virtually no cooking. There is also a belief that with increasing experiences of loneliness and other mental health deficits, pausing on the porch and slowly munching on creatively arranged burrata-wrapped peaches can be very soothing. 
 
 Posting an aesthetic meal on social media is nothing new, but the focus is on women who excel at the small bite game (good lighting for a girl at dinner is important!) raises several questions. Why do we call a snack "dinner"? And does the idea that a bowl of food could replace a woman's or girl's lunch sustain the idea that some people shouldn't eat  or should eat less  at mealtimes? 
 
 "Some of these 'girl dinners' 039; seems a bit strangely short.”. @siennabeluga called  TikTok. 
 
 "It's not a crime to play with food, but what makes food 'girl food'? Why is there no hamburger in the picture? I worry about what a perfectly built and perfectly presented body should look like for the girl [ "Whoever eats this food] is happy," says Chase Bannister, senior vice president of community engagement at Veritas Collaborative and  Emily Program, specialty health  systems that focus on treating eating disorders."Behind all of this is a root of misogyny that worries me as a doctor." 
 
 Those small servings worry advocates who worry about the link between social media and eating disorders. 
 
 "In a way, showing that you don't eat that much is almost a humble boast," says Chelsea Kronengold, who has a master's degree in clinical psychology with a background in body image, nutrition in mental disorders and their impact of social media. "There's a social comparison factor where you're watching viral videos of what other girls are eating, and then  someone watching, particularly sensitive girls, is like, 'I should  be eating that much. From 
. '” 
 
 The all-trend raises the question What would a “ladies dinner” be in this context?The Cleveland Clinic recommends 2,400 calories per day for women under the age of 30. How many small brie plates are made?

"The concept of women and girls eating smaller portions has been something we've been introduced to over time, and social media perpetuates this unhealthy notion," says Kronengold, who previously asked TikTok, Meta, and Pinterest about their trust and safety policies social media has advised on image and eating issues. "It's not new, but it's still problematic."
 
 Labeling lunch-to-go as a meal for girls, a demographic  already disproportionately suffering from eating disorders, is reminiscent of previous trends such as body controls that have permeated our cultural lexicon . 
 
 "The algorithms are set up so that as you watch videos, they send you more of those videos," he explains. Problem?'If you are looking for a 'girl dinner' Video that was harmless, under the algorithm you get more and more content that can cause eating disorders and cause problems with nutrition and body image. We've seen this with other TikTok trends  such as "What I eat in a day." " 
 
 According to a 2022 report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, the app has content promoting eating disorders with billions of views. For a 13-year-old who created a new account and enjoyed content related to body image and mental health, TikTok promoted posts related to that content every 39 seconds, according to the report. 
 
 For some users, an added complication is that this trend may not appear to be available.
 
 "There are many benefits associated with girls' food, especially when the meals are more expensive [like the burrata]," she said. “It also upholds the ideal of a slim body for women and girls. If there were a trend called 'boy dinner', it would probably be  steak and potato barbecues. Incidentally, it pays to put these images in context and remember the media source that you are.” Using says Kronengold. "They're inexperienced diet influencers, so get 'inspired' or advice from someone who isn't qualified to be," she says.“It is important to consider the source.

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