Why 'Cheugy' is Dumb

 The word 'cheugy' was coined by Gaby Rasson in 2013, while attending Beverly Hills high school. The word is generally one of mocking, meaning uncool or untrendy. When Hallie Cain introduced the word to Tiktok in March of this year it gained mass popularity, far outreaching its origins in LA. At first, the word seemed to have a very loose meaning, different things were cheugy to different people. However, while these people want you to believe that 'cheugy' is different from 'basic', a word that has been part of Internet vernacular for far longer, it really isn't.

In case you don't frequent Tiktok as much as I do, let me break down a few things that seem to be widely accepted as cheugy. Think 2010s fashion: chevron print, statement necklaces, Ugg boots and 'Live Laugh Love' signs. Minion memes and 'Girl Boss' culture also make the list. While researching 'cheugy examples' I couldn't help thinking, "isn't there a word for this already?". The term 'Basic Bitch' has already been around for years, and many of the things that make someone basic, Uggs, Starbucks, 'Live Laugh Love', crop up again and again. A major argument against the word 'cheugy' is the apparent misogyny associated with it. The women who helped originate and spread the use of the word will tell you that it is absolutely not sexist, using examples such as cargo shorts and Lynx body spray as things that make men cheugy. Despite this, the vast majority of cheugy things are associated with stereotypical women's interests and fashion. The same arguments were made against 'Basic Bitch', and while that phrase is more outwardly derogatory towards women, I believe 'cheugy' has the same effect. It is simply marketed towards a new generation of impressionable teens and those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Social media, particularly Tiktok and Instagram, has shortened the trend cycle tremendously. The general rule is that trends take 20 years to come back into style (think the 'Y2K fashion' craze that has dominated your feed recently). Thanks to social media, this cycle is becoming shorter. Videos reminiscing and predicting which 2010s trends will make a comeback are already appearing less than 10 years after the fact. There is also the appearance of 'micro trends', singular items that are seen on everyone for a month and then are inexplicably thrown to the wayside to make way for a new one, a famous example being the House of Sunny 'Hockney dress'. In an age where fast fashion, with its mistreatment of sweatshop workers and immense contribution to clothing waste, is already such a problem, we simply do not need another word to tell people they are untrendy. We should be teaching young women, especially the vast number of teens on Tiktok, to find their own sense of style, to buy clothes they see themselves wearing for years, and crucially not to care what people on the Internet think of what they wear.

In my humble opinion, 'cheugy' is and always has been dumb. Some random woman wanted a bit of Internet clout and decided to make up a word to describe something that already has a definition, tried to disguise the misogyny and failed. Some are already using the word ironically, I will simply not be adding it to my vocabulary.