Cringe started as a verb describing a physical reaction, i.e.: “I cringe when I see [x].”
Modern slang has turned cringe into an adjective describing anything to which a person might have such a reaction.
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This shift in language is illustrative of a shift in culture.
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For a while there, in the early 2000s, there was this big sex positivity movement and we talked openly about kink and queer sexuality and creating a culture of consent that broke away from traditional conservative ideas of moral respectability.
And now we are in the midst of this giant purity culture backlash, this giant push for rigid conformity all over the internet. Anything that deviates from the norm even remotely is ridiculed.
And this cultural shift is perfectly encapsulated in this singular linguistic shift, this verb becoming a noun.
The Revenge of the Pearl Clutchers
That’s what “cringing” is. It’s pearl clutching.
When the pearl clutchers turned cringe into an adjective, they turned a reaction into an accusation. The pearl clutchers don’t want to take responsibility for their own kneejerk emotions. They want to blame YOU.
They are saying, “My disgust isn’t the fault of my own backwards prejudices. It is YOU who are inherently disgusting. My inability to cope with even the slightest deviation from norm is not the problem here. YOUR refusal to rigidly conform is the problem. I am not the one who is cringing. YOU are the one who is cringe.”
Fuck ‘em.
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Take the word back.
Cringe is not something people are.
It’s something judgmental assholes do.
This. THANK YOU.