‘Can’t we have a funny joke?’ Why #girlmath is dividing TikTok

The lighthearted trend - using questionable numbers to justify indulgent purchases - has been accused of fueling sexism

Anyone who watched 2000s episodes of What Not to Wear or read Cosmopolitan in the 90s knows girl math well. Back in the day, we used to call it fashion math. Let's say a designer bag costs $800. That's out of budget - until you remember you'll use it every day. That's, like, less than $1 per wear.

Congratulations: you've just completed girl math 101. Women on TikTok say the trend, which began with a video made by the user Samantha James, pokes fun at the lengths we will go to justify life's indulgences. Maybe everything you want to buy on Sephora.com costs $38, but $40 will get you free shipping, so you're actually saving money if you go ahead and add a $15 mascara to your cart. Makes sense, right?