{"id":17964,"date":"2023-09-21T09:02:39","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T14:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/?p=17964"},"modified":"2023-09-21T09:02:41","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T14:02:41","slug":"talking-about-cringe-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/2023\/09\/21\/talking-about-cringe-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking About Cringe Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cringe culture is something a lot of people are familiar with. Cringe culture, simply put, is an online culture of making fun of and\/or harassing groups of people for their interests. Teenagers, adults, and even kids aren\u2019t excluded. Years ago, me and my best friends were talking about hyper fixations. I told them I had one, and of course, they asked me what it was on. A wave of dread washed over me in that moment. I was hyper fixated on a character labeled as cringe, and I was afraid they would think I was cringe because of it. Thankfully, they were fine with it. They\u2019ve never supported cringe culture.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even now, that fear of being cringe still lurks. (Heck, even writing this I’m worried about it sounding cheesy.)\u00a0 I don\u2019t see many people outright call something cringe anymore, but the judgement and toxicity is still rampant. I won\u2019t lie, fans can be horrendous, but that\u2019s being horrendous. There\u2019s fans who will send death threats to people who like a character they\u2019re crushing on, but people who support cringe culture will be out there tormenting someone who harmlessly ships themselves with a character. It\u2019s so stupid- if nobody is getting hurt, physically or mentally, there shouldn\u2019t be a problem. If it makes you happy, do what you want! Make fan characters, write that lovey-dovey fanfiction, design those brightly colored anthropomorphic characters, ramble about Undertale! These things make people so happy, and that\u2019s okay. I cannot express my absolute joy when someone is fine with me watching kids cartoons, or when they listen to me go on a tangent about a comfort ship. It feels as bright as the sun. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cringe culture looks at all of what I just described (and more) and seethes. It tears people down, it makes people feel like garbage, it makes people hide their hyper fixations, hobbies, art, music, and writing. Cringe culture destroys creativity and joy, and acknowledging how stupid it is incredibly freeing. My stories and characters have never been as vibrant since I\u2019ve kicked away the cringe monster, even though it still lurks at times. Here\u2019s some things that helped me build my confidence! I hope they help you, too.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n