The Hidden Danger of "Girl"

Our culture, especially the crowd on Tiktok, is obsessed with the word "girl".

Girl dinner.

Girl math.

Lazy girl.

Girl boss.

Girl measuring.

The list goes on and on. You're probably thinking of a few right now. And while they may seem cute and fun, there's a hidden danger to them.

All these "girl" trends are quietly working to help further the infantilization of women and eradicate the beauty of womanhood.

It partially has to do with the obsession with staying young. Girls are young. They're fresh faced and innocent. They don't get gray hairs or wrinkles. They aren't married and don't have kids.

It also has to do with the pervasiveness of feminism in our culture. Feminist rage against everything that defines womanhood, from having a home and family to being mature and thoughtful.

Let's look a little more into a few of these trends to understand this better.

Girl math started out innocent, being about how investing in quality things is good in the long run. But it's evolved into a way to justify bad money habits, because girls don't need to worry about things like good financial health.

Sure, I also feel the urge to consider it free money when I return an item, but that's not true. I spent money, which has now been returned to me. If I turn around and spend that money on another item, I still spent the money. The item wasn't free.

Or what about girl dinners. They're all about not being "tied down" with a husband and kids who you "have to" cook a real dinner for. (Check out this Vox article to dive into this more.) There's nothing wrong with eating leftovers or not always cooking for yourself. But this trend implies that doing that eating leftovers on a pretty plate alone is better than taking time to cook a beautiful meal for your full family table.

I could keep going, but I think you see what I'm getting at. (Also, those are the two I really wanted to talk about.)

Being a woman is not something to dread. It's the way God designed the world. It's insulting to call a man a boy, so why don't we feel the same way when we call women in their 30s and 40s girls?

We need to remember and celebrate the beauty of womanhood. Being a woman means maturity. It means understand yourself and having self-control. It often means enjoying the blessing of your own family.

The world is attempting to convince us that growing up and becoming women is the worst possible fate. That having a home, husband, and family is the lowest thing a woman can do.

We're no longer the girls too smart to fall out of their prams and end up in Neverland. We're throwing ourselves out of our baby carriages in order to stay in Neverland longer than anyone should.

Being a girl has its place in the world, just like boys do. But this world needs men and women more than ever.

It needs homemakers, quietly raising the next generation. It needs women to fight back against these "girl" trends by pointing out their flaws. And it needs women to stop labeling themselves as "girls" whey they aren't, just because it's fun.