Are you part of the simp nation?
The word “simp” is excessively used out of context.
October 31, 2020
TikToker, @polo.boyy, posted a video on December 16th welcoming men who comfort girls to the simp nation. “Simp,” a term that was popularized by the ever so famous TikTok, is now commonly used without realization of how offensive the word is.
I watch as boys in my school continue to call each other “simp” and act like everything is perfect. From the respected influencers to even the quiet boy in the very back of the class, everyone is using this term. It is the start of a new culture and trend.
Simp. A word that used to mean “a foolish person,” but now Urban Dictionary would define it as “someone who does way too much for a person they like.” One of my close friends, Emma Wang, a freshman in DVHS, defines this term as “a word people use as an insult to others who show a fondness to someone, which is considered weak.”
“Simp” is simply a word that degrades respectful men for showing the most trivial politeness for women.
The quality of having respect for others— for having basic human decency—is now the definition of a misogynistic and insensitive term. And those who use it all give the same excuse: “We were just joking.”
But who really laughed? No one.
“Now the harms of shaming respectful men like this is that they’ll begin to stop; and this is in an age of core feminism and bringing women up,” Sruthi Prabhakaran, a freshman in DVHS, explains.
Just joking? No, simp is a derogatory phrase that many have overlooked. “Simp” is an insult that was explicitly made to perpetuate jokes that disrespect women. Just joking? No, words like simp are the causes of gender division, it’s the causes of sexist gender norms and separation.
“It will get men to stop talking to women, interacting with them and commenting on social media posts just to avoid being called a simp,” Prabhakaran further states.
The avoidance of interactions would only create boundaries, division, chasms— all because of this single word.
As I continue to hear this ubiquitous term, I can only notice how divided we are. In modern day society, in our school, a boy commenting on a girl’s post seems absurd, a boy complimenting a girl is outrageous, and a boy being friends with a girl is scandalous. Interacting with the opposite gender is perceived as incorrect. And men giving the slightest respect to women is now labeled as demeaning and simp-like.
In my school, the word is directed toward boys who show kindness towards girls. I constantly hear people call boys “simps” for helping a girl on a question or for deciding to hang out or talk to a girl. This only discourages manners and forces boys to be more “masculine.” They soon believe that being kind is a form of weakness which promotes toxic masculinity.
Toxic masculinity is the mindset that forces men to believe that they have to be strong, emotionless and dominating.
“Toxic masculinity is what can come of teaching boys that they can’t express emotion openly; that they have to be “tough all the time”; that anything other than that makes them “feminine” or weak,” Maya Salam says in a New York Times article.
The names that we call boys enforces the belief that they need to be masculine. And being called a trait so-called made for a girl is derogatory and offensive.
The hindrance of gender equality is constantly caused by these small acts, the cultures in which we embedded into our daily lives. What the bored TikTokers, influencers and even my friends constantly say isn’t just a joke, but rather more of a barrier to gender equality.
Everyday I constantly worry whether my take on a certain joke is too sensitive and sadly I tend to overlook words like “simp,” thinking that I have become too easily offended. But “simp” has been excessively used out of context. From holding a door open for a girl to simply talking to them, everyone is called a “simp,” not only on the internet, but in school as well. Everyone uses this term, claiming it to be a trend, a culture, and something that we need to get used to. And many have continued to laugh as we identify more and more members of the simp nation.
The simp army is rising due to the unreasonable determinations of who becomes one of them. But if we continue to obstruct men who show respect for women and label them as an offensive term, our dreams for gender equality will just be another false hope.
