३० डिसेंबर, २०२१

"I feel like a woodland creature or like a Laura Ingalls Wilder girl.... I think the brown hair brings out my hardworking and serious side, which is good for the winter — like the fable of the ant and the grasshopper."

Said a 25-year-old software engineer/swimsuit designer, quoted in "Why Is Everyone Going Brunette?/Warming, feel-good colors like chocolate milk, gingerbread and sable will be big in 2022, stylists say" (NYT). 

And one hairdresser says her clients "feel like brunette gives them more power and strength." That color theory reminds me of dumb TV shows of the 1970s like "Three's Company" and "Charlie's Angels."

Moving more deeply into this NYT update on hair-color trends, we learn that "On TikTok, blond hair was declared 'cheugy,' in the neologism of Gen Z." 

That's all in the humor category, where obsessing about hair color belongs, but there's a straightforward, practical question here: Are the people with the hair going to a lot of trouble to change its color, or are they coming up with ideas that make them feel good about their natural hair color? The hairdressers have an economic interest in the choices that require a lot of upkeep. That is, the question of roots. Darkened light hair will look terrible if you don't keep getting the roots touched up. That's the only reason I, a naturally white-haired person, choose blonde.

Do I need a footnote on the word "cheugy"? Come on. You know it. It even has a Wikipedia page.
Cheugy (/ˈtʃuːɡi/ CHOOG-ee[1]) is an American internet neologism coined in 2013. The term is commonly claimed to have been popularized by Generation Z,[dubiousdiscuss] as a pejorative to describe lifestyle trends associated with the early 2010s and millennials. This aesthetic has been described as[2][3][4] the opposite of "trendy"[5] or "trying too hard".[6] The term has been co-opted by some who identify with the aesthetic.[1]... 
Media described as cheugy include "live, laugh, love signs", "Minion memes",[3][5][8][9] and "anything that says 'girl boss' on it".[2][6][10] While it has been compared to being basic,[3] some sources have suggested that it is "not quite 'basic'."[1] The Evening Standard said that "the cheug's logical archnemesis is probably the hipster".[7]

३८ टिप्पण्या:

Wilbur म्हणाले...

That's enough vocal fry to cook an egg.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

"Brown hair brings out my serious side" is a nice summary.

David Begley म्हणाले...

No, I didn’t know the word “cheugy.” But now I do!

gilbar म्हणाले...

People! can't we just All Agree, that there are only Two Basic hair colors?
RED
and bogus lame?

rastajenk म्हणाले...

I'm pretty sure I won't be using Cheugy.

Temujin म्हणाले...

Could the New York Times be considered cheugy?

Kate Danaher म्हणाले...

What ever happened to just being “square”? Too cheugy?

Big Mike म्हणाले...

Old joke I first heard some forty or fifty years ago. What do you call it if a blonde dies her hair brunette?

Artificial intelligence.

Lloyd W. Robertson म्हणाले...

Jane Fonda in "The Morning After"--a pretty enjoyable movie. Jeff Bridges as the love interest, the great Raul Julia as Jane's best friend/hairdresser.

From the beginning it is clear Jane's character is having a pretty rough time--falling downward from being a star. She sits in the hairdresser's chair and says something like: OK, I'm desperate, take it back to its original colour. The Julia character, looking in the same mirror, says something like: you have to give me some clue, some indication.

rwnutjob म्हणाले...

My naturally blonde wife says that blonde jokes are one-liners so brunettes can understand them.

farmgirl म्हणाले...

Someone asked the real age of senior citizenry- AARP 55…

Object in my rear view says: looming large!! So I docked my long, dyed hair(brown that becomes sharp- toned the longer I wait between coats)- and am going natural- grey… it’s silvery, and I look like a roan w/a sugar-coated pate, but I’m holding strong. I also had my gal undercut my hair, but it’s not really a do up here- and am going to grow that out, too. Considering I wear a touke in the Winter in the barn- I don’t think it much matters.

My husband? As long as I continue to hold up my end of the (day)work- he doesn’t give a care. As far as I know…

farmgirl म्हणाले...

PS dark hair dominates my gene structure- my kids range with one auburn-topped boy whom I pray passes it down the genetic ladder. Gil bar is 100% spot on ;0)

Lawrence Person म्हणाले...

Another entry for the "three people in New York doing something = trend" school of journalism.

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"her clients "feel like brunette gives them more power and strength.""

Sounds like females born female.

Against the trans invasion of their space, they're gonna need it.

Just to clarify: if we males born male don't care, are we heartless bystanders unconcerned with women's autonomy and strength?

Mike (MJB Wolf) म्हणाले...

Must be tiring to be a woman, constantly targeted by those pushing the cool new vibe. I’ve observed a cyclical pattern where every few years the “natural look” comes round in some form. Remember Cheryl Tieg? In high school the black kids were letting their ‘fros grow out natural style. In the eighties it was trending for makeup that purported to make women look like they weren’t wearing makeup. Just a few years back it was older ladies letting their grey hair grow out, with this one model suddenly everywhere with her absurdly luxurious silver locks. The only lesson I learned so far is that the “natural look” seems to be a lot of work to pull off.

Mike (MJB Wolf) म्हणाले...

I’m enjoying the application of cheugy to the very generation that recently came up with “OK boomer” as a witticism.

Andrew म्हणाले...

"Dumb TV shows of the 1970's"? Bite your tongue. Classics all around.

mikee म्हणाले...

A 9th grade teacher, way back in the 1970s, freshly graduated with a degree in education and new on the job of wrangling young teens, told a joke to our class which I remember to this day, mostly for the inappropriate delivery rather than the humor content:

Why are blondes more fun? They're easier to find in the dark. (Near riot ensues as all the boys break up laughing. She was a lovely young woman, brunette, a good teacher, and dear to us all at our tender age.)

I'm now so far beyond cheugy, myself, that "fossil" barely describes me. Dated a few blondes, married a solid brunette, decades back. That's what smart guys did back then.

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

I suspect the blonde ladies want to look like smart Asians so they can skip taking mandatory White Supremacy confession classes.

Lurker21 म्हणाले...

My New Year's Resolution is not to use the word "cheugy" until I understand "syzygy" and have mastered its use.

"I feel like a woodland creature or like a Laura Ingalls Wilder girl....

Thank you. I've been wondering all this time what the rationale behind the daily the "Me At The Lake" pictures was ...

Howard म्हणाले...

Just be sure the cuffs match the collar.

gilbar म्हणाले...

Howard said...
Just be sure the cuffs match the collar.

Oh, NO! at least; not with Redheads!
IF a gal (lady? (Dame? (moll?))) intentionally stains her hair Red, it means ...
She WANTS To Be WICKED!!!
The Least a guy can do, is help her down that path.
I mean, she'll find her way on her own, but helping is nice ;)

Ice Nine म्हणाले...

Being blonde is probably getting to be a bit uncomfortably White for a lot of these for these 'diversity'-fixated GenZ lefties.

Howard म्हणाले...

I like the way you're thinking, gilbar. You're a brave explorer of the hot-crazy matrix coffin corner.

Lurker21 म्हणाले...

I'm at a loss as to how to pronounce it. "Chuggy" sounds like a fratboy nickname (Meet Don "Chuggy" Chuganowski) ... or surfer slang (Chuggy, dude) ... or what you say about a drinking game ... or what Han Solo calls his beloved late at night.

"Che-ugy" counds like a figure of speech (what happens when a chiasmus and a zeugma have a romantic evening alone) ... or what happens when a theurg conjures up an iconic Latin American revolutionary. But I guess it's "chew-gy," which only sounds like a company that sells toys for dogs.

It's millennial (or rather, Gen Z) slang for "out of date or trying too hard"? Older people might object that people who are out of date probably aren't trying too hard and those who are trying too hard are probably trying to be up to date or ahead of the wave, but okay, Gen Z.

Article here about how horrible it is to use the word.

Randomizer म्हणाले...

No, I didn’t know the word “cheugy.” But now I do!

Let's give credit to Gen-Z for coming up with a word we needed. I didn't know what it meant, but with Ann's footnote, I think I get it. The "Live, Laugh, Love" explanation was informative. Not having an aptitude of style, I'd think the opposite of trendy is classic or traditional. That doesn't sound quite right. The old "I can't define it, but know it when I see it" applies here. If I actually get the idea, I can't think of another way to describe the cheugy aesthetic, so we needed a word.

Sydney म्हणाले...

Probably a lot of brunettes have just let their hair go natural because it became too hard to keep it up during the shut downs last year. I know that was over a year ago, but I have noticed most of the women I know have stopped coloring their hair. At least those who used to have good professional coloring. The ones who buy it off the shelf and do it themselves haven’t changed. I suspect those who gave up the salon coloring realized they liked their natural hair after all and/or the coloring was not worth the expense.

Narr म्हणाले...

Love me some brunette, I do. Mary Louise Parker, Ericka Hill . . . yumm, brownies.

But my own wedded wife is an almost-blonde, forever unhappy with the color, never willing to go all the way to one thing or another. Her hairdresser wants to torture it all the time, but except for some reddish tint--which I like--there's not much she'll allow done to it. Which is also much cheaper, and she's greying anyway.

I've noticed a striking change over the years at the big Kroger stores' cosmetics displays. All the models are dark of skin, eye, and hair. Of course that's largely just a reflection of local demographics, but it's notable nonetheless.

Why do blondes like to date guys with tilt-wheel steering? More headroom.

Ice Nine म्हणाले...

>Narr said...
I've noticed a striking change over the years at the big Kroger stores' cosmetics displays. All the models are dark of skin, eye, and hair. Of course that's largely just a reflection of local demographics,<

A reflection of local demographics? Heh. You must not watch many TV commercials.

walter म्हणाले...

Someone was snacking when they came up with those hair colors.

gilbar म्हणाले...

When the hot crazy matrix guy
Said, "up here you have your strippers, and cosmologists"; I was like;
DAMNED STRAIGHT YOU DO!

M Jordan म्हणाले...

Cheugy mothers cheug Jif.

Rollo म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Clyde म्हणाले...

Let's be honest, any naturally occurring hair color would be "cheugy" these days. All the trendy young people (and some oldsters as well) are going with colors like green, blue and hot pink.

Rollo म्हणाले...

Blonde is the trophy wife of hair colors. Sometime in this century or at the end of the last, it came to be passe and in poor taste for men to "trade in" their wives for "newer models" (as people used to say fifty years ago). Men got afraid of what society would say as women came to have more clout. Only the owners of professional sports franchises have been secure enough to resist the new social strictures.

At about the same time, women decided that if they had only one life to live they wouldn't want to live it as a blonde. 1) It became too easy for the Hoi polloi to dye their hair, so it became a marker of lower class, rather than upper class membership. 2) You have to put in too much effort with roots and eyebrows to get it right. 3) The general decline of WASP America and the Western World.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

I thought blondes had more fun.

Not anymore?

Too bad.

I go for the blondes and the gingers myself, but maybe that's just me...

Narr म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Narayanan म्हणाले...

The Julia character, looking in the same mirror, says something like: you have to give me some clue, some indication.
--------
or script direction for Jane to take off her clothes?!