Side parts? Uncool. Calling your dog “doggo”? Cringe. Knee-high Uggs? Giving 2012. Especially on social media, us Gen-Zers jump at the chance to label something as “cheugy,” the up-and-coming slang word for something that is unfashionable or has fallen out of trend — typically directed towards styles popular in the early 2010s. The alarming reality, however, is that a culture war has begun between millennials and Gen-Zers, and the generational divides have never been larger. Gen-Z gaining empathy and accepting the “cheugy” stylistic choices of millennials is the first step towards putting an end to it.
The term “cheugy” was first coined in 2013, but it wasn’t until 2021 that the word rose in popularity through TikTok. The word took on a more sinister meaning as more and more Gen-Z content creators began to deem certain items or actions cheugy, criticizing those who participated in them. Lifestyle writer Lydia Venn wrote in “The Tab,” “Not a day goes past on TikTok without Gen-Z taking the piss out of millennials and now they’re got a whole new word for it.” These days, everything from going to Disneyland as an adult to “Live, Laugh, Love” decorative signs can and are considered to be cheugy.
It’s tempting to create and conform to an idealistic version of what one’s fashion or lifestyle should be and to exclude those who do not. We Gen-Zers celebrate our youth and dread aging, mocking those whose outdated style shows signs of it. But how can we preach diversity and expressing ourselves through our style choices while continuing to condemn millennials for their choices?
My sister is 13 years older than me and probably the epitome of the stereotypical “millennial” — a side-parted, tattooed primary school teacher who hates “adulting” and loves iced coffee, her “doggo” and Taylor Swift. Naturally, I’ve made plenty of fun of her, whether it’s over her “cringe” Instagram stories or the fact that she genuinely considers her dog to be her child. But I’ve come to realize that critiquing the things she enjoys is nothing but a selfish and largely unsuccessful attempt to make myself feel cooler, younger and trendier. Given our large age difference and geographical gap, I should instead be celebrating the things I have in common with my sister. Not everything regarding Gen-Z and millennials needs to be some sort of comparison or competition, because what good does that do?
There will come a day when Gen-Z is no longer the target audience for all things youthful and trendy, when our input no longer offers the perspective of what’s “in” or what the young people are doing. Younger generations will take that role from us just as we took it from millennials, and the things we do and say will be just as mocked as wearing snake print or Adidas superstar sneakers is today. So have some empathy, Gen-Z, and let people do and wear what they enjoy doing and wearing, regardless of how cheugy it may be.
