What Does It Mean When Teens Say 'Babygirl?'
Fact checked by Elisabeth ShermanFact checked by Elisabeth ShermanIf there’s one thing Gen Z and Gen Alpha are going to do, it’s keep us consistently guessing with their robust and ever-evolving list of unique slang. From auramaxxing to brainrot and everything in between, it seems like there’s a new word popping up every single day. The latest slang that has us scratching our heads is the term "babygirl." One word, no spaces. So, what is the meaning of babygirl?You might be thinking “oh, that’s just a term of endearment for a daughter or a girlfriend,” but you’d only be half-right. It’s a term of endearment mostly used for male celebrities, particularly ones that aren’t your stereotypical Hollywood leading man. Think Andrew Garfield, Paul Mescal, or Colin Farrell. Each of them has a similar quality to them: A faint hint of softness that qualifies them as babygirl.Still, the term babygirl has a ton of different definitions, depending on who you ask. Below, we break down the term babygirl, according to teens, and exactly what you need to know about it.
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What Is a Babygirl?The term babygirl is often used within internet fan culture. “Online, babygirl has become one of the satirical ways that fans identify their idol," says Steffi Cao, a Gen Z culture writer and critic. "It's often applied in relation to cishet male celebrities exhibiting behaviors deemed ironic to the conceptualization of traditional Hollywood masculinity. Effectively, babygirl succinctly does the job of infantilizing and romanticizing the celebrity.”Cao references a video of Jacob Elordi in an oversized, fluffy cardigan that exemplifies what fans consider babygirl behavior. “The joke is basically that there's this conventionally attractive, six-foot masculine man jumping around in a floppy sweater, so it's funny to call him a babygirl, because it's entirely the opposite of how an actor like Elordi is usually conceptualized in our cultural eye.”High school paraeducator and Gen Z'er Sara B. adds that babygirl is often used to describe someone, usually a man, who is soft in nature. “I’d explain it as someone who gives off that energy of being the little spoon,” she explains, noting it could also be someone who wants to be pampered and babied. “It’s like how people say ‘himbo.’ It’s just a soft energy, of someone who is approachable and cutesy.”Ultimately, there’s no one exact definition of what babygirl is, but is often used in a loving and affectionate way.What Is the Origin of Babygirl?The term babygirl originated in 2021 on Twitter, according to Know Your Meme. It originally circulated after a recaptioned panel from the manga Mob Psycho 100 asks “Why does Serizawa call you babygirl?” The template then became “Why does X call you babygirl” as a meme for fictional characters. It then evolved into a slang term used to describe celebrities in a loving but somewhat infantilizing way.So...Who Exactly Is a Babygirl? We’ve already established that Australian actor Elordi is babygirl. So is actor Pedro Pascal. And Emmy Award winner Bryan Cranston. And NCT’s Jaemin (although, most would argue all K-Pop idols can be considered babygirl). And F1’s world champion Lewis Hamilton. So, what are the qualifications that make these older male celebs babygirl? It depends who you ask. According to Cao, the term is typically applied to male celebs who model the typical “rugged Western masculinity” like Elordi and Pascal. She notes that it can also be applied to other men who may deviate slightly from that beauty standard slightly but are perceived by some as free from “the shackles of toxic masculinity,” such as actors Timothée Chalamet or Manny Jacinto.“Generally speaking, qualifying parameters for the status of babygirl are anything that deviate from alpha male, red-pilled idea of manliness, which is growing in spades online with the explosion of Joe Rogan–Sneako–Andrew Huberman content,” Cao explains. “Babygirl men are like theater kids and publicly supportive of women's rights. Josh O'Connor is beloved by fans for gardening. Michael B. Jordan is known to live with his mother. It's just the opposite of this idea of a lonesome alpha male.”The term can also be used to describe fictional men as well. In fact, fictional nepo baby Kendall Roy from “Succession” is considered by fans to be babygirl. Theon Greyjoy from Game of Thrones is also babygirl. So is Marvel’s Loki. TL;DR: Babygirl challenges the idea of toxic hypermasculinity and proves that there’s attraction toward people who deviate from a stereotypical view of what a man "should" be.
Can Babygirl Be Problematic?“By and large, babygirl still applies to white men, which has a lot to do with the way that men of color are emasculated or hypersexualized, and constantly degraded for doing the same things that white men do,” Cao adds. “Most of the men that are able to be deemed as ‘babygirl’ very much fit a narrow beauty standard that can be seen as palatable to a very Eurocentric industry.”Cao notes that the term is never applied to women. “It's not fun to infantilize a woman—that's done all the time in our culture.”What Parents Should Know About The Term BabygirlUltimately, parents should know that “babygirl” isn’t an offensive or harmful slang word. It’s also not meant to be used as a term of endearment for babies, Cao notes.“It’s nothing bad,” Sara assures. “It’s an endearing pet name for their celebrity crushes or crushes in general.”Essentially, the idea of babygirl is counteracting decades of toxic masculinity and redefining what’s considered attractive to a new era of women. Read: Sensitivity is so babygirl. For more Parents news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Parents.
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