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Young people are sacrificing professional and personal opportunities for fear of being perceived. It reflects a culture that celebrates emotional repression and thrives on isolation.
Embarrassment is a part of teen angst. In the halcyon days of youth, we all felt that bottomless pit of despair at the slightest inconvenience. Making a fool of yourself at a party or being turned down by a crush is crucial to the harsh reality of growing up – it makes you a well-rounded person, if not a little emotionally bruised.
But thanks to social media and a life that exists increasingly more online, these missteps and mishaps have a permanence that our parents’ generation never had to face. And it’s having a lasting impact on the way Gen Z are moving through the world.
According to a recent Yahoo and YouGov poll, more than half of Gen Z adults have avoided expressing themselves online because they fear being perceived as ‘cringe’. 55% said that fear has stopped them from opening up emotionally. Others admitted it had prevented them from pursuing hobbies, romantic relationships, and professional opportunities.
Fear of looking awkward has always been part of being young. Adolescence is, after all, one long exercise in social humiliation. But what makes Gen Z’s relationship with cringe different is its scale.
For a generation raised almost exclusively online, there is no distinction between performing and existing. But, as Ellie Violet Bramley writes, ‘cringe has been identified by some working in mental health as a relatively new form of shame.’
‘It is now so prevalent that it has been studied by academics, discussed, lamented and, crucially, blamed as a reason so many people – and particularly young people – aren’t living their lives to the fullest.’
Following the reports by YouGov, New York University professor and writer Ocean Vuong expressed concerns that his students were becoming ‘more and more self-conscious about trying,’ and it was ultimately impacting their creative ability.
‘There’s a surveillance culture around social media. And they will say: ‘I want to be a poet, I want to be a good writer, but it’s a bit cringe’… this ‘cringe culture’ is ‘I don’t want to be perceived as trying and having an effortful attempt at my dreams,’ Vuong told ABC News.
We’ve all heard the adage ‘trying and failing is better than never trying at all,’ but the weight of these words is clearly being lost in the ether.
It mirrors the rise of far-right thinking and online spaces like the Manosphere, which encourage emotional suppression as a sign of strength.
In the context of these extreme lines of thinking, to be seen to care about anything or pursue any ambition with intent or sincerity is considered ‘embarrassing’. And while these examples constitute a very small portion of internet culture, their impact is seeping into a broader Gen Z mindset.
Bramley highlights the expansive list of things Gen Z now finds ‘cringe’: sincerity, trying too hard, enthusiasm; any behavior that isn’t nonchalant.
The greatest irony is that Gen Z is frequently celebrated as the generation of authenticity.
