What is defined as “cringe”? A straight book definition will tell you it is to “have an inward feeling of acute embarrassment or awkwardness.” However, are there any qualifications that go along with it? Can only certain fans from a show be cringe? Or maybe, can anything be cringe if you really try hard enough? To answer, while all questions can be true, there is one truth I would like to expand on.
The theory that the “cringe” generation skips over, applying to boomers, millennials, and now gen Alpha, where gen X and gen Z do not see the same levels of weirdness that all three of the other generations do.
It’s an interesting theory that caught my attention as I was going through TikTok, because it actually makes sense.
The most reasonable explanation for this is quite obvious. Each “cringe” generation eventually grows up and has kids on their own and then are the ones raising that generation and therefore pass along those traits for the next generation to grow up in. The most prominent example of this now being how gen Alpha is being raised by millennials is turning out for the worst. With the most unprecedented amount of children who can’t read, unsupervised, with no desire to behave and have seemingly no restrictions when it comes to their internet access. But besides that, people have been talking about how weird gen Alpha is, with the most notable example being Skibidi toilet. With such an example showing, mostly gen Z, that because millennials are the ones raising gen Alpha, that they are passing on their weirdness on to their children.
All of this to say that it doesn’t mean gen Z doesn’t have any “cringe” moments, along with gen X. I mean 2020 was definitely a time. But it is to say that certain generations have it way worse than others. I can remember the last time Boomers or millennials were made fun of for the general way they act but I can’t remember the last time gen X was ever brought into that conversation. While of course gen Z has been made fun of relentlessly from other generations, mostly millennials over the internet, I would actually argue that gen Z makes fun of itself more than other generations could ever dream of. There is active recognition that 2020 was the weird era we went through, and there are active compilations and people going back to remind others of how weird they were back in 2020.
But all of that is to say that gen X and gen Z are not made fun of as often, because for the most part, they are the parent to child. Most of gen Z was raised by gen X, and since gen X isn’t made fun of for being weird as often, it translates over to their children to not be the same weirdos.
In all reality, this theory is not as extreme and more fun than I’d make it seem. At the end of the day it’s something that seems logical. Children’s first socialization exposure is their parents and immediate family. If a child is raised by “cringe” people, then they themselves will most likely pick up those traits and become cringe themselves. However, I’d also like to recognize the fact that there are external factors that translate into each generation besides just their parents. For example, as I mentioned, gen Z was extremely weird back in 2020 and that was because of our time away from school during the pandemic, where we were honestly just trying to keep sane. Not only that, but the internet has been shaped by gen Z for the most part, of course we wouldn’t want to be considered weird so we go to other generations to make them out to be weird when in all reality most of them aren’t. Except gen Alpha, which is an entirely different conversation.
Overall, the theory of “cringe generations” skipping over due to who raises each generation is one that sounds plausible and is extremely fun to examine. However, it’s important to recognize that such a theory is just for fun and can’t be seen into actual light due to unforeseen circumstances that can’t be ruled out and accounted for. Though, of course personally, this theory should become scientific law.
