The viral trend of 'girl dinner'.
On social media, there is a viral trend called 'girl dinner', in which female users post the foods they have for dinner.
The idea of showing what they eat for dinner generally consists of foods that might resemble snacks, charcuterie boards, among other items that could be classified as snacks rather than dinner dishes, especially in an Anglo-Saxon context.
Behind the idea of displaying these types of foods lies an implicit theme of transgressing social and dietary norms. The act of showing what they eat is, at its core, meant to demonstrate that they do not always consume structured meals recommended from a dietary perspective. This manifestation constitutes, in a certain way, a form of anomie or rebellion against established norms, the 'ought to be' surrounding identities and their relationship with food.
Food anomie in sociology is characterized by the transgression of social food norms, in which meals are not structured, or any food can be suitable to eat at any time of day. In contemporary societies, this anomie is also reflected in the decline of social controls over meals, where, for example, individual consumption at any time of day is prioritized.
For decades or even centuries, femininity has often been associated with eating frugally as a feminine condition. Meat, on the other hand, has historically been linked to masculinity. Although these associations are in fact stereotypes, it is common today to think that women are more interested in following a diet or eating structured meals. All this is a consequence of the control over bodies exercised through power relations.
The so-called girl dinners display a variety of dishes, almost always very simply prepared, which generally do not conform to established norms. It is worth remembering that in the Anglo-Saxon context, dinners are usually the most important meal of the day and consist of more elaborate dishes that, in the Mexican context, would correspond to a midday meal. The dinners shown in this trend transgress these structures, as they are made up, for example, of crackers with cheese, popcorn, potato chips, etc.
Later, this trend took other forms, with many women showing their 'dinners' consisting of barely a smoothie or an almond, for example. In this way, it becomes evident how unstructured eating can even reveal other eating behavior disorders.
In response to this trend, 'men's dinners' or 'mom dinners' emerged, where mothers basically eat what is left over after feeding their families. In Mexico, for example, women are the ones who manage or prepare food for a household, whether as paid or unpaid work.
Few men actually spend time managing and using resources for daily food consumption. To what extent do these trends, instead of truly viralizing a rebellious tendency, perpetuate sexist aspects or even spread risky eating behaviors?
What was intended to be a rebellious trend became a manifestation of sexism or, at the very least, of gender inequities regarding food.
— This article was originally published in Spanish by Liliana Martínez Lomelí. Translation generated with AI from the original text.
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