Another reason to stop ‘cringe culture’

I’m a teacher. Today I was covering for a grade 9 science class. Decent kids, if a bit rowdy, and didn’t want to do their work. Wtv, it was textbook work. Not the point.

1 girl (reminder that these kids are, like, 14/15) was doodling bust portraits (head & shoulders) in an art book. I had a squiz and asked her if they were her characters. She said they were and excitedly told me she had so many characters for this one story of hers. I laughed about how I wished I could draw mine, and moved on.

Later in the class, I hear her enthusiastically telling her friend all about her main OC - a gay kitsune prince with a tragic past. It was so, pure, classic Deviant Art: my first OC. And you know what? I loved it. I was just sitting there half overhearing, smiling to myself and glad that her friend was engaging and interested in her story and characters.

This is a girl who will become a creator. She will draw and write and imagine, get better and better. She’ll probably move past this stage and start making more nuanced characters (she was already lamenting she didn’t have enough girl OCs). But this is where she started. This is where so many of us started. I had a tiger catgirl, goth witch/sorceress OC in high school. I found my original design for her recently. Look what I create now.

Let kids be kids. Let them explore and invent and go wild and be cliche and make overpowered OCs. Let them have their anthropomorphic animal OCs. Let them try everything before they settle into maturity.

For fucks sake; let them have fun.

Genuinely getting concerned at how often I’m starting to see legitimate media analysis get brushed aside as “fandom shit,” and how often I see people act hostile toward media analysis in general.

Film history, critique, and analysis–specifically in regard to animation–are massive special interests of mine. I fucking love getting into the guts of something to see why it does or doesn’t work. I do it at a hobby level, but all of it is part of genuine academic disciplines that people pay money to study.

Same goes for literary analysis. It’s a field of study that people spend their careers on. But meanwhile here on tungl dot hell, I see people rip others to shreds for “posting cringe” and “wasting time on fandom shit” when they post any analysis at all of something deemed “stupid fandom garbage.”

And then they make “lol blue curtains” jokes and wonder why it seems like folks’ ability to critically analyze media is declining.

no offense but the sooner you all realise cringe culture is like, thinly veiled superiority complex and targets almost exclusively young people or people who aren’t neurotypical, the better

Me, seeing a beloved mutual reblog their favorite things without letting cringe culture get in the way of their enjoyment: (:

Liking something considered overrated isn't cringe. Liking something considered basic isn't cringe. Liking something considered childish isn't cringe. Liking something considered edgy isn't cringe. Liking something considered too mainstream isn't cringe. Liking something considered really weird isn't cringe. Liking something considered boring isn't cringe. Liking something considered too nerdy isn't cringe. Liking something considered silly isn't cringe. Liking something considered trashy isn't cringe. What's REALLY cringe is making people feel bad just for being excited and passionate about the things which bring them joy. That's something more people should be embarrassed to do.

it’s so easy to not sh*t on other people’s enjoyment. it’s popular and they like it, okay? no need to call them basic. they like a spin-off on a classic? no need to say they have no taste. i see way too many instagram interactions with people bringing others down for things that make them happy. just enjoy what you enjoy and let others do it too.

probably gonna get slammed with anon hate for this but like…

much of the ableism towards Autistic people doesn’t happen “because we’re Autistic,” it happens because we’re weird.

now consider that… and now consider what some of the most common insults are here on tumblr.

weird, gross, embarrassing, cringeworthy… all insults based on that same idea of “you are different and we don’t like you.” 

and now consider the constant mocking of “just trying to be special” and “Not Like Other Girls™” that is constantly seen on tumblr.

from early childhood, we are taught and conditioned to know that any deviation from the norm will be punished. for Autistic people, who make up a big portion of what is usually thought of as tumblr’s userbase, this conditioning is often increased tenfold by coercive “therapies” such as ABA and Social Thinking. 

the fact that so much of tumblr’s culture is based on strict deviation from the norm– often citing “weird, embarrassing, cringeworthy, just trying to be special” as offenses– is regressive. and as an Autistic person, I would go so far as to say that it is at least somewhat rooted in ableism. 

if you’re Autistic and you do this, especially if you’re a survivor of coercive behavioral and social treatments designed to make you “normal,” please think about why you take part in this treatment of others. I know you’ve been hurt, and overcoming internalized ableism is hard. I’m here to help.

if you’re allistic and you do this, please stop. just stop. we’ve already been through enough.

also yes, allistics can reblog this. please do, in fact. 

an important principle of fandom (and life, actually) is that if you want more of Less Popular Thing, it is good to create positive spaces and events for it. however, if you use those spaces to take cracks at the More Popular Thing which you perceive as stealing oxygen from your Less Popular Thing, you do not increase the audience for Less Popular Thing. you decrease it, because you irk people who like both Things. and depending on the relative popularity, there are quite possibly more people who like both Things than people who only like Less Popular Thing. (not to mention - you kill your chances of recruiting people who like More Popular Thing but are neutral on or haven’t considered Less Popular Thing.) 

you’re not campaigning for votes (where There Can Be Only One), you’re marketing for a share of people’s attention. don’t be petty. be effective. 

Wow 😱 I heard that people are using “autistic” to mean uncool and cringeworthy instead of cool and awesome…🤭…that’s embarrassing…😳😳😳…do you think we should tell them…😬😬😬…

It still frustrates me to this day that there are people on the Internet who will waste their time staring at a screen and laughing with their troll buddies about how "cringey" autistic people are, just for existing and talking about our experiences.

They take one look at autism blogs like mine, and their minds just go "lol autism funny XD lol r slur XD send death threats hahaha funny meme XDDD". Because they're ignorant and closed-minded about autism, and refuse to even try to see autism in the way we do.

Instead, they see us living our lives in our own, neurodivergent way, and think "they're not like my stereotype, so they must be fakers, they think they're so special and quirky, let's troll them and send them threats".

It's obvious that these people have no personality other than "Internet troll" and "finds fun in harassing disabled people".

You know who you are.

really though the whole “cringy mary sue oc” thing really is attacking an important outlet for lots of kids… All those tropes have a place in it:

Anyway yeah cringe culture is dead. All this applies to adults too, not just kids! you’re never to old to make a fun character!

Plus not to mention that all this stuff specifically preys on neurodivergent kids.

If you can think of any other tropes like this feel free to add on

no offense but the sooner you all realise cringe culture is like, thinly veiled superiority complex and targets almost exclusively young people or people who aren’t neurotypical, the better

when autistic people have special interests they are labelled as obsessions and are discouraged by neurotypicals

special interests that do not cause harm should be encouraged

having something you are passionate about is a very good thing

“Cringe culture is only on the internet.”

Autistic people, people with ADHD, people with ADD, people with BPD:

cringe culture is just adult neurotypicals perpetuating the same bullying they did to classmates in school, except now they get millions of views for it

Your interests aren’t cringe. Whatever brings you joy is valid and amazing.