Cringe Culture

"Cringy" (alternate spelling "cringey") content is any content that someone sees as embarrassing or worthy of being mocked, and "cringe culture" is the practice as a whole of mocking that content. The top definition for cringe culture on Urban Dictionary says "The culture started on the Internet of making fun of people and/or insulting them by calling them "cringy" or "cringe" for doing something which doesn't harm or somehow insult anyone nor anything."Cringe Culture, Urban Dictionary. Apr 14, 2018 (Accessed 8/10/2020) It has also been described as simply a form of bullying, particularly the bullying of children or childlike things.Cringe Culture is Just Bullying for Adults, Newuniversity.org. Mar 22, 2019 (Accessed 8/10/2020)
==History==
The oldest definitions of the phrase on Urban Dictionary come from 2018, and the earliest instance of it being mentioned on DeviantART journals is 2017. However, Slanglang.net goes more in depth by stating that the practice of cringe culture began in 2009 on r/cringe of Reddit.Cringe Culture, Slanglang.net. 7/19/2020 (Accessed 8/10/2020) Despite this the phrase itself appears to have only came into popularity in the mid 2010s, and may have been more popularized by things like cringe compilations on Youtube and the Tumblr Sexyman.
The phrase "cringe culture is dead" came into popularity along side the spread of cringe culture in the 2010s. It's currently unknown who started the phrase, though it may have come into usage on a popular social media site such as Tumblr, Twitter, or Reddit. The usage of the phrase is at least as old as 2017 based on DeviantART journals.Cringe Culture is Dead, DeviantART. Sept 7, 2017 (Accessed 8/10/2020) "Cringe culture is dead" is used to show support for things that are "cringy" and the people who participate in them.
===Counter-Culture===
With the phrase "cringe culture is dead" came a new wave of anti-cringe culture counter-culture. This consists of internet users of all age groups avidly and unashamedly making content that could be considered "cringe." This can be seen in YouTube animations where children unashamedly make fan content of "cringe" fandoms (whereas they may have been too scared of being themselves viewed as "cringe" to do it before); artists making original characters that would be considered "cringe", that mimic early 2000s scene kid/emo kid aesthetics,Sparkledog Tag, Tumblr (Accessed 8/11/2020) and general fan art that uses the phrase "cringe culture is dead". Popular memes such as Is That Your Fucking Fursona? That's Cringe are seen as anti-Cringe Culture.
People who support the counter-culture also will sometimes make fun of those who still indulge in cringe culture. For example, someone anti-cringe culture may say that the word "cringe" is a better description for the mockery of a child's hobby.Graphic Design is My Passion, Tumblr. Dec 30, 2019 (Accessed 8/11/2020)
==Discussion==
Fandoms as a whole are often mocked for being "cringey" or weird when they are perceived as having many neurodivergent (especially autistic) members. Autistic people are sometimes harassed in fandom and may have their fanworks used without permission in cringe compilations. In one case, an autistic fan has attracted a hatedom that has obsessively cyberstalked her for years, documenting every aspect of her life and harassing her and her family offline."Cringe" by ContraPoints on YouTube Fans have called out such bullying as an example of ableism (see Autism and Fandom).
Other than accusations of abelism, cringe culture is also sometimes seen as being an unfounded attack on children. This is because many of the subjects considered to be "cringe" are made for or made by children, such as "bad" art on DeviantART or Youtube, fandoms about children's media (Steven Universe, My Little Pony, Fortnite), and fandoms in which children are a large portion of the fan base (Undertale, The Lorax, Animation Memes). Cringe compilations making fun of "cringe" content will often feature the art and animation of young, inexperienced artists, for example. There also used to be several Bad Art BlogsStill Making Bad Art Blogs, Tumblr. Dec 25, 2017 (Accessed 8/11/2020) on Tumblr that would also feature "bad art" that frequently came from kids or otherwise inexperienced artists.As a teenager I was featured in one of these once. I'm not sure of Tumblr still allows them. (Patchlamb 8/10/2020)
An argument could even be made that part of cringe culture is also mocking practices mainly within circles of women and/or teenage girls, or practices believed to be mainly by women/teenage girls, such as Kpop fandoms, fanfiction, and Superwholock.
===Comments and Opinions===
====Positive====
Those who believe cringe culture is acceptable and necessary may see it as a way to change "weird" kids by shaming them into acting more "normal." Or, with something like art, they may see cringe culture as a way of helping someone improve their skills. For example, they may see the use of cringe culture that makes fun of someone's inexperienced art as useful critique that will help the new artist get used to the "real world" of art, which they believe is rather harsh.See Jacqueline Lichtenberg's essay on "The Negative Value of Positive Input" and keep in mind that some legitimate, even prestigious art schools routinely approve of instructors bullying students, supposedly in order to challenge them to improve. It can be difficult to differentiate between those who legitimately believe these tactics are helpful and those who are trolling (or to those who look at cringe culture negatively, i.e., bullying under the guise of care). Some may also simply have an embarrassed reaction to someone else's content, though they may not actively try to shame them for it publicly. Lastly, some may have a more positive outlook of cringe culture if they view it as a method of shaming problematic content rather than simply "embarrassing" content.
====Negative====
Those with a negative view of cringe culture may see it as bullying. This can include making fun of children, young artist, and neurodivergent peoples. They see trolling and cringe culture as overall harmful. Instead of believing making fun of someone can change their "weird" behavior, they either see the "weird" behavior as normal and harmless, and that cringe culture does more harm than good. For example, they may see the use of cringe culture that makes fun of someone's inexperienced art as something that can drive the person away from art altogether, which is unhelpful to the artist.
==Links and Resources==
===Meta===
*Another Reason to Stop Cringe Culture
*I Cannot Relate to Ppl Who See Someone Whos...
*The Problem with Cringe Culture
==Notes and References==
===Notes===
===References===