A girl's dinner and a girl's account take off on TikTok

Johanna Martinsen Brigveld (28) from Korgen is an influencer and active on TikTok.

In social media, videos with topical tags such as #girldinner and #girlmath abound.

This trend is based on making fun of the way young women and girls do sports or what they eat for dinner.

– If something costs NOK 500 and is also 50 percent off, you’ve earned NOK 250, says the influencer.

Although the truth is that you spent 250 NOK.

Brigfeld explains it as a way to find community around something recognizable, but also as a way to capitalize on humor made at the girls’ expense.

It’s not about girls being stupid

“I think these girl trends are very funny, because it’s fun for women to make fun of themselves in this way,” says Brigfeld.

“Girl Dinner” is also a popular trend on TikTok. The video song has been used nearly a billion times. This deals with the girls’ tendency to prepare a meal from several different small dishes.

For example, a bowl of cereal and a plate of cheese and pasta from the day before.

When Brigfeld went to high school, she didn’t have very good financial resources. Then she had to think differently about what dinner was.

“It was mostly rice and delicacies,” Brigfeld says.

She can still treat me with rice and kibble, but she always makes sure she gets enough nutrition at other meals.

On the other hand, trends can be taken out of context, and humor can be misunderstood.

“That’s what the #girldinner trend started as, but then it evolved in some circles into being about dieting and I don’t like it,” Brigfeld says.

The same applies to the fact that people may think that girls are stupid and cannot count.

– I don’t think any girl or woman thinks that “mathematics for girls” is actually mathematics, she says.

She believes that when women themselves participate in this trend, they understand the humor.

“I prefer people to make fun of themselves on their own terms,” Brigfeld says.

– All types of generalization can have negative effects

Anne Torel Torresplas is a sociologist who has studied Norwegian girls’ relationship with the feminist movement.

She believes that this trend could be a new way for girls to participate in the feminist movement, and that it could create a stronger unity.

– The girls say; “We’ve come so far in being liberated that we can make fun of ourselves, and it doesn’t matter,” Torresblas says.

What one fears is some form of backlash in people’s perception of women.

All types of generalization can have negative effects, says Torresblas.

This trend is also a form of generalization, but those who own it create content with a humorous background.

However, Torresblas is not particularly concerned that such a trend would mean too much.

– She says there are other things that worry me more.

– Interest must be created

Arne Krokan is Professor in the Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management at NTNU.

He says that sometimes it’s chance that makes something go viral or not. But often it’s about what people like.

– It should be something of interest, and attract the recipient’s interest in a way that makes them want to share it more.

Those who manage this are people with many connections.

A typical example of this is influencers, Krokan says.

These influencers become super spreaders, allowing ideas to spread very quickly.

Crocan explains that trends on social media resonate because people can relate to them.

Trends are changing rural communities

Johanna Martinsen Brigfeld She believes that such social media trends help spread new knowledge and ideas in villages like Korgun, where she belongs.

– In Oslo you can find more people with the same opinions as you, while in Korgen there are fewer people, so you have to surround yourself with people of all points of view.

Brigfeld thought there was something nice about both parts.

Growing up, she didn’t call herself a feminist, but she does today.

She is proud of her place of origin and believes progress has been made in the local environment.

– Now I feel that the word feminism is starting to become more popular in Corgen, says Brigfeld.