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The sublime, feral pleasure of Girl Dinner Diaries

Where millions of women go to share secrets, support, and supper.

In an age where it feels like we should all know less about each other, there’s at least one place on the internet where you just want to know more: It’s called r/GirlDinnerDiaries.

As its name suggests, the subreddit consists of women posting a photo of their meal accompanied by a brief story about what’s happening in their lives.

That could look like a gripping saga about a raccoon that has chosen terrorism and theft. Or a woman insisting on riding on a motorcycle with the poster’s boyfriend. A large number of the posts are relationship-oriented: the various stages of dating (not, are, breaking up); sex and desire; problems and triumphs in marriages. And sometimes it’s just about eating chocolate cake for supper — okay, maybe it’s never just about chocolate cake.

The confessions are met with commiseration, helpful suggestions (turn that thieving raccoon into a friend by investing in a puzzle feeder!), supportive advice, or just compliments on the meal. The commentariat is generally as open as the OPs (original posters), speaking frankly about their own experiences. They chime in to offer perspective on the realities of long-term relationships, the very normal reaction of feeling insecure about someone’s extremely beautiful ex, the warning signs of abuse, how expensive it is to raise children, and the difference between setting a boundary and punishing a partner.

What makes GDD thrilling is that it is (or at least feels like) real secrets from real women.

The posts aren’t the kind of life updates you’d see on Instagram, nor are they long, multipart “storytime” videos that people post hoping to get hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok. And perhaps that partly explains why the forum now gets more than 2 million visitors per week, according to one of its moderators (who ultimately declined to participate in this story).

While our........

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