Combating The Toxicity Behind Trends that Demean Women

Graphics by Anika Dua

As the girl dinner trend has likely overtaken your For-You page on TikTok for the past few months, the seemingly harmless trend has quickly spiraled into a dangerously demeaning conversation about women. Although it may seem impossible to escape the algorithm, Kim Johnson Brannigan, (distantly related to the author through marriage) a fashion content creator on TikTok with 261.4K followers, and Delaney Smith, who previously ran the Cape Cod Baseball League’s social media pages, explain that there are steps you can take to cleanse negative trends from your feed. 

The girl dinner trend began through embracing the simple joy of snacking when no one else is around, often including bread, wine, and cheese. However, it now represents the idea that women should only eat small quantities of nutrient deficient foods. Inevitably, this promotes unhealthy habits, including eating disorders, that are harmful to any woman on social media. 

Trends like “girl math” and “clean girl aesthetic” also perpetuate stereotypes about women, portraying them as financially incompetent and promoting an unrealistic body image. While some argue these trends are jokes, the problem arises when even those aware of the humor find themselves questioning their eating habits and body. To resist negative topics, social media users should take these steps.

Actively Dilute the Algorithm:

To change your TikTok algorithm, actively seek out diverse videos. Brannigan explains that you can change your algorithm by searching for better topics with certain keywords: “I wouldn’t necessarily search ‘healthy recipes’ since the results could come up as ‘recipes for weight loss,’ but instead just searching ‘dinner recipes’ because you definitely won’t be seeing two hard boiled eggs but rather hearty meals.” By searching for more positive content, you can influence your algorithm to show healthier videos after just one search.

Fact Check Influencer Pages: 

Recognize the curated nature of social media. Even as content creator herself, Brannigan acknowledges that social media generally doesn’t reflect reality and should be looked at critically. Smith agrees wholeheartedly. “Know that almost everything you see is not true, it's somehow formulaic, and there's a filter on it. Somewhere, somebody edited a video so they can say this is all I eat for dinner, but then turn around and go get a burger.” Further, scrolling through someone’s page may show previous contradictory content that has full meals or “what I eat in a day” videos, highlighting the manipulation and use of trends that aren’t representative of influencer’s lives.

The “I’m Not Interested” Button is Your New Best Friend:

Brannigan suggests utilizing the “I’m not interested button” to filter out content that negatively impacts your well-being. To access it, press down on a video, open the options panel, and select “not interested.” This can help cleanse your feed, and is something that Brannigan does when using her own accounts. “If I see a creator that I really dislike… I like to remove those people's contents because it just starts making you feel bad about yourself.” You can also choose to report accounts or videos that you don’t want to see, which can effectively remove them from your feed.

Find and Follow Influencers Who Promote Positive Content:

Some profiles Brannigan and Smith recommend include @wishbonekitchen, @sadiespecketer, @lexxhidalgo, @leoskepi, and @spencer.barbosa. 

Amid exposure to harmful trends, it’s important to disconnect from content that negatively impacts you and prioritize your mental health, as emphasized by both Brannigan and Smith. Taking this mindset into your everyday life, along with the tips on how to dilute damaging content from your feed, will help your social media profiles become a healthier and safer place.