The Girl Dinner viral phenomenon: reality or sexism?

As often happens on social networks, in May this year, a simple joke turned into a viral phenomenon. Olivia Maher, an American, posted her meal that day on Tik Tok. There was a table with bread, cheese, pickles and grapes. “Girl Dinner” captioned her video, noting that something like this must have been eaten by the medieval peasants when there was nothing else to eat.

What could have stayed there went viral and many women, mostly young women, started uploading their photos. own versions of their Girl Dinner. With videos they showed what they ate when they were alone, and the variations were enormous: olives, doritos with wine, fruit with cheese, Coca-Cola with bread and beer with fries, among thousands other examples.

The above was reproduced and celebrated by many women as a way to show what they really eat when they are alone without deceiving reality or showing pretty photos, and without reproducing what dietetic culture seeks to impose on the diet of the female gender, where the food is always associated with small portions light, and mainly fruits and vegetables.

Of course, the trend is not static. On the contrary, the types of food presented have evolved so much – even reaching a a simple can of corn or a soft drink -, as well as in the comments and observations they arouse. The initial message, which was more related to the idea that women they don’t always eat a balanced diet , and that the reality is far from the existing expectations of what women should eat, has led to different elements that make this phenomenon a topic of discussion. Why has the Girl Dinner become controversial? There are several reasons.

The Girl Dinner took off, and for many it was a way of showing that women, contrary to popular belief, are not always eat in a balanced way and this reality is far from the expectations that would settle around the genre.

Some celebrated this new found spontaneity, so rarely seen on social media, which allowed people to show a truer image of themselves. The new footage showed situations now far from perfect. , and maybe it was a way of saying that they, too, are tired and eat the first thing they find in the fridge when they are alone, just like men are thought to do. It was celebrated that what had hitherto been reserved for the male gender was also appropriated – or rather now shown – by women.

For the same, many celebrated this new form of what they believed It was about empowerment. Pamela Campi, nutritionist and specialist in eating disorders, points out that, in a way, this phenomenon seeks to break with the idea that women eat little, light, loaded with veggies, fruits, and some protein, and no carbs or fast food. However, he points out, “more than talking about empowerment, I think it’s more about starting to make visible the fact that the women also have the right to eat any type of food calmly, without being judged for it.

In this sense, Florencia Araya, also a nutritionist and specialist in psychonutrition, considers that this phenomenon shows “totally the opposite of empowerment”. In her opinion, just being called Girl Dinner do something very sexist contributing to the stereotype that women eat in small quantities and in a divided way. “In the event that a very insufficient meal is shown, it may also reflect a lack of self-care and promotion of the ‘octopus woman’, which after so much overload of responsibilities, in the end, he doesn’t have enough energy or time to prepare a quality meal. If it was really a question of showing the right of certain “indulgences” like eating anything, the the trend would show plates with even more food calories, fats, sugars, etc., but this is not the case”, affirms the professional.

Shortly after the release of Girl Dinner, other versions appeared: the Boy’s dinnerhe husband’s dinnerhe mom’s dinner. The first is for higher protein meals, while the second shows balanced meals prepared by a woman, probably a housewife. The third, translated as “mother’s food”, shows the food of these women as one that takes into account the remains left by the children. If for many these new videos were a cause for laughter, for others they revealed something obvious: the Girl Dinner was a highly sexist phenomenon.

Carolina López, psychologist and specialist in eating disorders, mainly in adolescents, points out that this viral phenomenon on social networks suggests an obviously sexist logic. Although it is offered as a liberating way to eat, small portions are presented, which should be typical for a woman.

Pamela Campi thinks the same. “There is no food for men and women . These are social mandates derived from diet culture, where they say women should eat less than women. i can’t eat carbs at night , where certain foods must be avoided to stay thin (…) Men, women, children and adolescents, we need a varied, balanced and sufficient diet – both in caloric and nutritional terms -, but also in a flexible way , where sometimes I want to eat a salad and sometimes a burger. It is for this reason that the concept of food for men and women must begin to be eradicated from this culture”.

Perhaps one of the biggest risks of social media is that people can select what they share with their followers because in doing so they lose track of reality.

Florencia Araya points out that in these types of trends, the greatest risks are to encourage other people to do the same, or to hide or minimize what is actually consumed to stay within a norm, or even to go to the extreme and encouraging, for example, just eating a can of corn, as seen in some Girl Dinner videos. “We always have to remember that when we’re behind a device, we don’t know who else is behind it. We don’t know who the audience is watching us, whether it’s children, teenagers, adults, people with illnesses or risk factors, or directly people with a disorder. food,” he says.

Likewise, Carolina López affirms that although this trend has allowed us to show a image released from waiting for food of women in everyday life, also involves certain risks depending on the recipient of the message. “It can activate worries, comparisons, insecurities and misguided about healthy eating in people likely to develop eating disorders or who already have a difficult relationship with food”, he underlines.

As women, we don’t always have the perfect dish and sometimes we can get out of stickiness.

What also happened in this viral phenomenon is that it started showing simple pecking images, it was derived from many other things. Joke or not, some have uploaded videos under the Girl Dinner banner showing empty plates, plates of ice cream or the like with minimal amounts of food. For Pamela Campi, this is the risk of this trend.

The professional indicates that social networks like Tik Tok have a negative impact on young people in terms of personal image, self-esteem and changes in their eating habits. “If I am a person who tells me that his dinner can be very restrictive or it insinuates that you should hardly eat, or that you shouldn’t eat carbohydrates, etc., of course, this can be a trigger for a change in eating behaviors or development of eating disorders “, says. He adds, “That’s the complicated thing about it going viral.”

Finally, Isidora Truffello and Ariane Dekock, academics at the University of the Andes School of Nursing, suggest disconnect from social networks . “ We need to focus on educating our people to make good decisions, in this case choose healthy foods they propose. Professionals consider that what happened with this phenomenon is that the original message was distorted that as women we don’t always have the perfect dish and that on certain occasions we can get out of rigidity.