What's for lunch?
If you've been on TikTok lately, the algorithm may have answered this question in an unexpected way (and with a song): girl food. The aesthetically arranged snack videos have garnered almost 70 million views (and counting), but not everyone is toasting the trend with a glass of wine (alcoholic or not).
Some argue that the sex supper has a broader and more complex meaning, both positive and negative. There is a lot to unpack here.Grab some snacks — or dinner, whatever you want to call it — and let's get to work.
What is a girl dinner?
It's basically adult lunch: a plate of appetizers like grapes, cheese, and popcorn, perhaps accompanied by a glass of wine. It's an easy dinner to enjoy after a long day while watching Netflix (or reading a book or looking out the window). Olivia Maher, an unemployed assistant showrunner currently affected by the WGA strike, popularized this trend.(She told The New York Times she got the idea while walking among hot girls — a connection made in TikTok heaven.) Maher said. "He said, 'This is my perfect meal. it's my dinner
The camera pans across an arrangement of grapes, two small slices of bread, cheese and a bottle of olives.
Sitch is coming! Thousands of users followed with their own (similar) versions of the meal, sometimes with a memorable bell and four-pointed star emoticon, often meaning something is "magical." Some layouts include wine. Others have loads of popcorn or gummies. Usually a girl's dinner consists of carbohydrates, sweets and something salty.What that means depends on the woman. (Keep this in mind as you proceed.)
Why is girl food controversial?
Some people were quick to question the nutritional value of girls' lunches and associate it with food culture.
"I'm all about girls' dinner."I understand. "Woman food heals the soul, but some... seem oddly low in calories," wrote creator @siennabaluga.
Some commenters agreed, while others saw the other side of the trend.
“Girl food is an intuitive diet. If I'm not hungry for dinner, "I'm not hungry," said one. Another designer, Seema Rao, an art historian who publishes at @artlust, argued that gender roles influence our view of dinner.
"A woman's place should be in the kitchen," Rao said in the video."Be good at cooking. In the 1960s there was a change.”
Rao says single women of the '60s and '70s should have "had it all" — an expectation that existed long before Sheryl Sandberg's release of "Lean In." You should work your way up the corporate ladder, find a husband, and miraculously cook dinner. Rao explains that these women went on to have children who fit those expectations (but also carried the pressure of being skinny, like the models in Calvin Klein films). But women today reject these ideas, Rao says.
"Their goals are different," said Rao."They're not trying to grab a man. They want to be strong and healthy, and it's more about self-defining standards. So women's pride in being strong or not cooking is a sign we're changing the norm.”
reviewers gave Rao 5 stars out of 5, saying that girls' dinner is a way to express themselves to pamper and have fun. It is a meal intended to be eaten by a person for his own pleasure, not by a man or a child.
"A woman's lunch is the best - she satisfies no one but me and satisfies every whim"; wrote one.
"That," someone else answered. "Also on girl food: I'm afraid that means we don't take the time to take care of ourselves unless we're taking care of others."
One Woman's Take (Mine)
As a kid, I wasn't just a fan of Lunchable, but even as an adult I loved Starbucks bento boxes. My favorites are apple slices, cheese, peanut butter, and bread.years before the "Girls Dinner"; As it became fashionable, I would make DIY versions of cheese, raisins, and peanut butter on top of a whole wheat English muffin for lunch and dinner whenever I felt the need to start something with what I had on hand instead of my regular sandwich - and mix up the salad routine.
The meal was quick, filling, and nutritionally balanced. I had fruit, protein, carbs and calcium although the dish was a mix. I was satisfied. It was also a lot better than what I'm doing now, which I guess we can call "Mom's Dinner." i.e. eat what my child leaves on the high chair tray.
I will always have space and understanding for issues related to food and culture. But if a "girl meal" is for busy or tired women to get the nutrients and satisfaction they need, then great. If it doesn't work for someone else, that's okay too.
I've been listening to a lot of podcasts lately with people saying we should stop referring to food as "fuel" — that food is social, festive, and enjoyable. Exactly.I agree. But to say that "eating should be fun" is unfair. And then the women are told that they "can't enjoy such a meal" if that's what they like and fills them up.
Whatever you call your meal, I hope it fills you up physically and spiritually.
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