DO NOT MISTAKE EARNESTNESS FOR A THING TO BE AFRAID OF. “Cringe” or s too often simply just the word used to mask the discomfort that comes with being vulnerable! It’s okay to feel vulnerable about being earnest about important issues in the world! - ThreadSky

anildash.com • 57 days ago

DO NOT MISTAKE EARNESTNESS FOR A THING TO BE AFRAID OF. “Cringe” or s too often simply just the word used to mask the discomfort that comes with being vulnerable! It’s okay to feel vulnerable about being earnest about important issues in the world!

Reposted from Ronnie Gooja

Protests being cringe is fine. South Korea just threw out their right wing president and their protests are full of families, glow sticks, goofy flags, free iced coffee, and K-pop. It's the numbers that matter.

Comments

kelkimac.bsky.social•57 days ago

I’ve been leaning into the cringe the older I get. Caring about things deeply, is good actually!

And it was cathartic (and fun!) to be loud and shouty around my fellow horrified people who love their country.

michaelmelanson.net•57 days ago

If any Americans are worried about being seen as “cringe” right now, they’re far too naive about the seriousness of the situation they’re in.

rifka.bsky.social•57 days ago

Problem is nobody is allowed to speak if they are against genocide in Palestine unless they agree to be silent about it…”cringe” is such a strawman today

cdpositive.bsky.social•57 days ago

The word "cringe" is being used to belittle/downplay the impact & stunning response displayed today. We can't accept it. That tactic is used by propagandists to defuse the opposition & confiscate words/symbols (the flag, "patriot", "freedom", "woke", "lib", "USA", etc.). Recognize what's happening.

ericcolumbus.bsky.social•57 days ago

Of course we must also heed Kierkegaard: "From the fact that irony is present it does not follow that earnestness is excluded. That is something only assistant professors assume."

wigpowder.bsky.social•57 days ago

It's tone policing, which is meant to suppress independent thinking and protest

evanhurst.substack.com•57 days ago

All that “cringe” stuff always struck me as coming from people who were too cowardly and/or nihilistic to actually join the fight in any constructive way themselves. Also very online.

goldengateblond.bsky.social•57 days ago

the "very online" part is paramount (and I say that as someone who is chronic)

jbminn.bsky.social•57 days ago

i became a DEM state delegate in ‘18. helped elect CO’s executive.

action takes all forms

postingtreyf.bsky.social•57 days ago

calling things "cringe" is cringe

meangrape.com•57 days ago

My 17yo informed me of that yesterday

msicism.bsky.social•57 days ago

Yes it is now “corny.”

postingtreyf.bsky.social•57 days ago

Calling things corny is corny.

claybellsring.bsky.social•57 days ago

But this way of thinking preceded the very online era of the past decade or so. I remember this sentiment coming into prevalence in the late 90s/early aughts (the “southparkification” of America). A product of a long era of peace and prosperity is that people get complacent, jaded, and nihilistic.

kororider.bsky.social•56 days ago

The early to mid 2010’s was plagued with insincerity and “irony poisoning”

Especially in internet circles, and it’s only taken until a few years back when the push back started slowly happening

saintofbouncers.bsky.social•57 days ago

"We can't do anything if [they] just stay around here beating up on [their] own image." ---Bob Dylan

goldengateblond.bsky.social•57 days ago

preach, brother

racecarlock.bsky.social•57 days ago

Also the guys complaining usually have confederate flags on their walls and make angry youtube videos about black people being in video games.

jkimmel.bsky.social•57 days ago

Anyone complaining about protestors being “cringe” (whatever the f that means) has lost the plot.

purplejane252.bsky.social•57 days ago

Make sincerity great again. Be a Leslie Knope

vonotar.bsky.social•57 days ago

In the French Revolution, for example, there were those floppy hats everyone wore. They also called themselves "sans-coullets" (without breeches, basically they were too poor to buy them, AND WERE PROUD OF IT).

I can't see walking around without pants, but we could 100% bring those hats back.

vonotar.bsky.social•57 days ago

I'm gonna leave this link to a step-by-step guide to making your own Phrygian or Liberty Cap, just in case a fashion statement against the fascists is required.

anildash.com•57 days ago

lol I ain’t wearin a red hat tho

vonotar.bsky.social•57 days ago

I'm sure it could probably be dyed any color. Red is traditional, but the point I'm trying to make is a symbol to rally around might help

lbluth.bsky.social•57 days ago

I appreciate where you are coming from i.e. the meaning behind it but I find it be far more powerful when protests are organic. Uniforms may be symbols but they also just create something that is destined to be dated (and argued about). Individuals standing up for right vs wrong is stronger, IMO.

bexone.bsky.social•52 days ago

Seems to me that sometimes “cringe” is the internal conflict between “I hate my mom and this person reminds me of her” and “I know I need to pretend to be progressive if I ever want to get laid”

badtoss.bsky.social•57 days ago

I wrote about Cory Booker's importantly cringe speech.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-160425670?source=queue

usernamedoesntmatt.bsky.social•57 days ago

The congresspeople threw him out, is that correct? Not the members of the public?

mrbadexample.bsky.social•57 days ago

Too many people on the left are afraid to not be cynical. Like actually caring isn’t cool. We’ve got to get over it to win. I love that people are out matching with their hearts on their sleeves. It’s a vital first step.

mrbadexample.bsky.social•57 days ago

Marching. Not matching.

janeng.com•57 days ago

I don’t even understand what cringe is supposed to mean anymore. “Not how vanity fair would have posed it”?

stampy.org•57 days ago

I wasn't sure how I felt about the couple of people that showed up with drums at first. But they asked us and others nearby "what's the next chant?" and kept them going. It was great. That kind of energy was what we needed.
The guy with a trumpet keeping a rhythm with call and response was icing.

maraquinn.bsky.social•57 days ago

I've never understood why being earnest is seen as a bad ("cringe") thing. You don't want authentic people aroud you? It makes you uncomfortable? That's only because you feel stifled to be REAL yourself! People lacking the confidence to be genuine without masks are the ones criticizing this.

breckwilhite.bsky.social•57 days ago

It's only cringe if you believe it to be.

sandymaxey.bsky.social•57 days ago

I love this statement. I am often brought to tears by these things that are so important to me. Earnest, in fact, about communities, science, art, healthcare, food. These matter to me.

lbluth.bsky.social•57 days ago

This is a really great point. As someone who can admittedly lean a little cynical in my personal life, I know it's not actually helpful after a certain point. In social movements it does nothing but stops things before they start; the opposite of progress.

yuweiquan.bsky.social•57 days ago

Well said!

dogpersonami.bsky.social•57 days ago

I didn’t see ANYTHING yesterday that made me cringe like this did back then!

mooiest.bsky.social•57 days ago

So many people are starving for authentically earnest people around them. Cynicism is tool to distance people. Stop pushing people away when there’s safety in numbers!

righteoushazard.bsky.social•57 days ago

It is really fkn simple, if someone has never heard you say the words "I love you" and heard the love behind the words, then you cannot use the word "Cringe" about them.

https://bsky.app/profile/righteoushazard.bsky.social/post/3lm45vjkm3324

silkscreenfiend.bsky.social•57 days ago

My thought is that protests to keep democracy can (actually must) be cringe - they're all about earnestness, good humor, solidarity.

Actions to get democracy back once it's gone are a hell of a lot less cringe, but also involve vastly more anguish and loss of life.

Cringe is far preferable.

andrewparker.bsky.social•57 days ago

But if I call things cringe without ever actually participating in anything sincerely I can feel smarter than everyone regardless of whether the “cringe” thing succeeds or fails.

thorbenson.bsky.social•57 days ago

Would you call this the importance of being earnest

staunchny.bsky.social•57 days ago

tip of the hat to you, m'dude.

naveman.bsky.social•57 days ago

I’ll take the cringe and earnestness of concerned citizens volunteering their time, making homemade signs, and speaking out for those who can’t over the grift, bigotry, and selfishness on display at a Trump rally any day.