What's “Girl Dinner”? Dietitian Talks About Why It May Be Concerning
*Note: This blog references gender in terms of women and men solely to make a point about gender roles in food and illustrate how the trend is showing up in social media. Bravespace Nutrition recognizes that people of all genders are valid in their experiences with food and body image, and food and body image struggles are not exclusive to women and girls.
Girl Dinner - a creative and amusing food trend captivating the nation that has gained popularity on TikTok. Despite its newfound popularity, this trend may not be as wholesome as it seems.
“Girl dinner” is a trend in which women and girls post a video or picture of their meal that’s an assortment of random snack foods. They tend not to be cohesive. In this way, “girl dinners” are quite random, and are often made of foods that can easily be prepared and require minimal skill for preparation. For example, instead of a sandwich or stir-fry, “girl dinner” might be charcuterie, or popcorn and wine, or mac and cheese, or cheese and crackers.
And, it’s not just women and girls who are participating in this trend. A variety of ages and genders are jumping on the bandwagon and sharing their odd “girl dinners”. But this trend isn’t as wholesome as you may think. There are concerns being raised about the harms of “girl dinner”, and dietitians, especially eating disorder dietitians, are becoming increasingly skeptical. This is because the title of “dinner” is often deceiving as “girls dinners” aren’t actually dinner.
3 reasons why “girl dinner” may be harmful:
#1. “Girl dinners” encourage snacks as meals.
Most “girl dinners” aren’t meals at all, they’re just snacks. By ignoring the fact that these dinners are just snacks and continuing to call them meals, this trend encourages snacks as meals and normalizes reducing portion sizes. When analyzing the majority of girl dinners online, they are often low in calories and are missing important macronutrients, lacking in protein, fats, and overall volume of food.
Not all girl dinners are harmful though, and not all girl dinners perpetuate disordered eating. There are some “girl dinners” that are true dinner size and portions, and ones that are well-balanced, nutritious and filling even when they are made up of a random assortment of foods.When done right, girl dinners can be a way to find humor in the lack of desire to make food, develop community and connection through food, and normalize not wanting/needing to cook elaborate meals.
The issue is that when “girl dinners” are unbalanced snacks in disguise for a meal, they encourage food restriction and normalize eating less. Other people see other people’s “girl dinners” on tik tok and start reducing the volumes and types of foods that they eat themselves.
#2. “Girl dinner” perpetuates socio-cultural expectations of gender roles.
There are two different beliefs when it comes to “girl dinner” in regards to the socio-cultural impact. On one hand, “girl dinner” is seen as a way for women to defy and challenge the expectation of a woman in the kitchen cooking for others and to reclaim freedom with food. For most of history, women have been responsible for cooking and food preparation in the home, and it’s only until recently in our American history that women have had more choice. By eating meals that require minimal cooking, preparation and clean-up, women defy “traditional”l gender roles while challenging oppressive patriarchal standards.
On the other hand, “girl dinner” is seen as perpetuating gender stigmas when it comes to the composition of food. This is because culturally, women/girls are often expected to eat differently from males. Women are expected to eat less in comparison to men, and to eat lower-energy dense foods. A classical example of this being that a man might order a burger freely on a date and a woman might feel an expectation to order a salad or a soup. Even the title of it being a “girl dinner” can imply that women are meant to be eating lesser, smaller amounts like a young girl would.
Depending on your perspective and lived experience, the concept of “girl dinner” can take on a different meaning. It could be empowering because it defies traditional gender norms and gives women freedom to not spend time cooking, or it could be an insulting reminder of how diet culture targets women.
3. Girl dinners are similar to the trend “What I Eat In A Day”
Another similar food trend that has dominated social media is the concept of "What I Eat In a Day'' videos, or WIEIAD for short. This food trend has also raised suspicion from dietitians on a national scale. Similar to WIEIAD, “girl dinner” can promote disordered eating habits, and this is seen throughout videos on tik tok. The majority of people participating in “girl dinner” aren’t nutrition experts and don’t have a scientific understanding of the importance of balanced meals. Even though these girl dinners may not be representative of a person’s usual intake, their followers might not realize that. Their followers may genuinely believe that they eat that particular girl dinner on a regular basis.
In this way, these trends encourage unhealthy comparison. Influencers and content creators have huge following platforms, and when they participate in these food trends, they create unhealthy comparisons. The general public aspires to look like these influencers, and because of this people think, “If I eat like them, I will look like them.” This can be the start of disordered eating behaviors, like skipping meals and reducing portion sizes, to model influencer food behaviors. When eating this way doesn't result in you looking like your favorite celebrity or influencer, many girls and women develop body image issues and a negative relationship with food.
Many women have expressed that there is nuance to this trend. Some women on social media noted that they are often exhausted and don’t have the energy to cook, and therefore resort to a random assortment of foods. Other women expressed how their ADHD made it tough to make a full meal and how “girl dinner” is a better representation of what their meal might look like.
When done right, food trends have the potential to be positive influences, create a sense of community around food, and bring humor to the food experience. When done poorly, food trends have the potential to perpetuate disordered eating and encourage unhealthy restriction and comparison. “Girl dinner” walks the line between both and it’s something worth getting curious about and examining in the future if you find that you don’t want full meals and most, if not all, your meals are “girl dinners”.
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