Looking for a man in finance? Good luck, you might need to get in line with the TikTok girlies
If you live in London or any big city really, it’s quite easy to spot them. One only needs to hop on the tube in the early morning hours and get off at Canary Wharf to encounter a parade of men in padded gilets, sharp suits, all heading in the direction of the closest Gail’s. I am, of course, speaking of men in finance, or finance bros as they’re often called. According to TikTok, money men are summer’s hottest must-have accessory. In 2024, the art of dating or marrying a person of higher social or financial is very in and Gen Z are eating it up. Thus, SCREENSHOT is officially ready to declare that finance guys are indeed hot again. What a time to be alive, folks.
What is a finance bro?
Finance bros are typically men who work in the finance or banking sector. As such they wear a suit to work and take a very big paycheck home with them. Men in finance have a reputation for being affluent, hardworking, smart and owning more than one good shirt. While the finance guy stereotype usually comes with a lot of negative connotations around being materialistic and transactional, it’s feeling as though the summer of 2024 might be its shot for a hot comeback.
Were finance guys ever out of fashion?
Whoever knows the iconic lines “A kiss on the hand may be quite continental but diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” from Marylin Monroe’s 1953 hit ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,’ (a bop by the way) will understand that society’s fetish for men with big bank accounts is nothing new.
@magicalmatinee Marilyn Monroe in ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ (1953) #fyp #foryoupage #JDSummerDrip #1950s #gentlemenpreferblondes #marilynmonroe
♬ Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend - Marilyn Monroe
@girl_on_couch Can someone make this into an actual song plz just for funzies
♬ original sound - Girl On Couch
In fact, in the song Monroe specifically addresses finance men when she sings: “He’s your guy when stocks are high but beware when they start to descend. It’s then that those louses go back to their spouses, diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”
Similarly, Madonna’s 1984 hit ‘Material Girl’ took inspiration from Ms Monroe and proclaimed that: “The boy with the cold hard cash is always Mister Right. Cause we are living in a material world and I am a material girl.”
@minhyumi_2073 Material Girl - Madonna ( Vietsub Lyrics) #madonna #materialgirl #materialworld #vietsub #lyrics
♬ Material Girl - Madonna
Men in finance are really just a staple of popular culture, as reflected in Patrick Bateman, the narcissistic, status-crazy murderer at the centre of 1991’s American Psycho, who has long served as a template for male hedonism, materialism, and the destructive force of consumption.
Similarly, the 2013 movie Wolf of Wall Street and the enduring obsession that heterosexual men have with it show that finance guys have always been in style. Indeed, they’ve been idolised.
Finance bros even made it onto the catwalk with brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Miu Miu taking inspiration from their tailored trousers, grand-daddy sandals, and overall ‘off-duty on a yacht in Monaco’ attire.
The #TommyFamily got together in NYC to celebrate the holidays over dinner.
— Tommy Hilfiger (@TommyHilfiger) December 6, 2023
All of our guests were wearing Tommy Hilfiger head to toe, who do you recognise? pic.twitter.com/P5L95pAd1l
Troye Sivan for Miu Miu SS24!! pic.twitter.com/JewCUBTAVd
— Kea (@jacquemusx) October 3, 2023
So, when Megan Boni, a 27-year-old comedy creator also known as Girl On Couch, uploaded a video to TikTok with the now-infamous singsong “I’m looking for a man in finance, trust fund, 6’5, blue eyes,” she simply summarised and reignited our enduring cultural fascination with the successful and attractive finance bro. And she set it to a little solo beat that would put even David Guetta to shame.
“Finance, finance, finance, finance, finance,” as the now popular Billen Ted remix goes.
@girl_on_couch Oh wait … I wrote it 🤣
♬ Looking for a man tima remix - Tima Pages
@johnshaughnyc he was so supportive i love them #sliving @ParisHilton
♬ original sound - here’s johnny
What’s the problem with finance guys?
Netizens are starting to question if men in finance should really be revered in this way. After all, they represent an impenetrable elite and dominate the capitalist and exploitative structures many of us have learned to oppose.
The environmental nonprofit organisation Greenpeace seemed to pick up on this arument with their recent campaign ‘Defund Nature Destruction’.
“We got caught in the ‘Man in Finance’ trend until we realised that they’re funding a world tour of environmental destruction,” the Instagram caption for the campaign post read.
View this post on Instagram
From thereon the organisation cited a range of facts about how the financial system is bankrolling extinction, noting that men in finance directed roughly 3.2 trillion dollars to fossil fuel investments in the global south. Furthermore, finance guys contributed to governments and the private sector spending approximately 3.1 trillion dollars annually on nature destruction.
It's International Biodiversity Day and @Greenpeace has launched a cinematic fill as part of its ongoing campaign to urge governments to stop the funding of nature destruction and ensure money goes towards protecting and restoring our ecosystems.
— Puneet Siinghal (@puneetsinghal22) May 22, 2024
Titled MoneyTrees, takes the… pic.twitter.com/sVn22G7nGl
These facts obviously make finance men seem a lot less attractive. They serve as a painful reminder that their wealth and social standing doesn’t just remove them from poverty and exploitation, it’s actually reliant on it.
So, why do Gen Z women want a man in finance?
In an economy that’s become increasingly difficult for young adults to manage, most Gen Zers just want to throw in the towel and live a little while someone else worries about paying the bills. The idolisation of finance guys thus stems from the same social climate that is making young people yearn for a simple life of domesticity with the ongoing tradwife trend.
Consequently, the logic behind their sudden resurgence is quite simple: in this economy, why spend mine when I can spend yours? Why should I try to hack this system when it is rigged for people like you? So, are you in need for a wifey or a hubby, or both? Because right now it feels so much easier to assimilate into the status quo instead of playing this losing game.
This critique is cloaked, maybe almost completely hidden, in the playful and light-hearted tunes of the ‘Looking for a Man in Finance’ song. After all, the girlies are just having fun with this one.
Boni already admitted that she made the video to parody women with impossible dating standards. Not because she’s particularly interested in dating a man in finance.
@capitalofficial Megan Boni aka @Girl On Couch took over TikTok with #ManInFinance but she didn't believe that @David Guetta would actually remix it until he wanted her to come to Vegas 👀 #girloncouch #davidguetta #lasvegas #viralvideos #lookingforamaninfinance #singlelife #viralsongs #viralsongstiktok
♬ original sound - Capital
The majority of girls singing along likely feel the same way. It’s probably safe to assume that only a few are willing to sacrifice compatibility and happiness for financial stability. Amid an intensifying cost of living crisis though, the idea can still seem quite appealing at times.
