'Boy math' explained: People are mocking embarrassing and shameful things men do and they're using the backwards logic of men to do it
- Last month, "girl math" went viral as women joked about justifying indulgent spending.
- Now, "boy math" has made its debut as a way to criticize embarrassing or gross male behavior.
First, there was "girl math": The humorous trend saw women justifying indulgent purchases by breaking the payment into fractions or saying an outfit was worth it because they'd wear it multiple times. It took off in August, and a hashtag for it has reached more than 490 million views on TikTok.
Now, behold "boy math." Instead of finance or decadent spending, this craze is centered on joking about some of men's most ridiculous habits — for example, the particular relatable and perennial problem of guys saying they're 6 feet tall when they're actually only 5'10. While some posts reference actual math, the overwhelming majority are a bit more abstract.
Some internet users have pitted "boy math" and "girl math" against each other, and many say the women are winning.
Boy-math scenarios date back to at least mid-August, the meme database KnowYourMeme says. But they didn't become that popular until this week when the trend exploded on X (formerly Twitter). Excited internet users have reshared the best examples on TikTok, and some creators have come up with their own.
Some of the most popular boy-math hypotheticals call out hypocritical things a man might do, such as "being afraid of gold diggers when you only have 3 pairs of socks to your name," as one X post with over 80,000 likes said. "Boy math is when YOU cannot cook or clean but it's the women who refuse to do it for you who are 'lazy and dirty,'" another much-hearted post reads.
There are also more meta boy-math posts that mock how the original girl-math trend was met with backlash and hijacked by some men online: "Boy math is claiming women aren't funny or creative but hopping on every fucking trend we do for ourselves and then whining when you don't get it," one X post said.
While girl math was mostly lighthearted, with women teaching others the nonsense logic of the trend, boy math jokes have, in the last few days, taken on a more pointed tone. Some of the most popular posts reference controversial age gaps in relationships, including an X post with 40,000 likes that said, "Boy math is waiting until her 18th birthday, and thinking that doesn't make you a pedophile."
"Boy math is being 6 times more likely to abandon their wives with terminal or chronic illness and then crying about male loneliness," another X post sais.
The trend has gone so viral that at least one politician has entered the fray. "Boy math is needing 15 attempts to count the votes correctly to become Speaker and then shutting down the government 9 months later," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote in an X post, referencing the imminent government shutdown if representatives can't agree on a funding deal before Sunday.
Some internet users who have been observing the boy-math trend are happy to report that the women are making funnier roasts. "The men on Twitter are literally getting cooked right now and I'm living for it," one TikToker said. "Ladies, keep fighting the good fight."