What is the Gen-Z stare?
If you’re on TikTok, you’ve probably seen users talking about a phenomenon labeled as the “Gen-Z stare.”
The Gen-Z stare is a term coined primarily by millennials and older generations describing the blank, vacant look members of Gen-Z give in some social settings, usually when asked a question. Unfortunately, there is not one set definition. On Urban Dictionary, there are dozens of definitions posted by users.
According to a user named the-g-wo-man on Urban Dictionary, the Gen-Z stare is an “incredulous look” given to older people when the Gen-Z members are asked “something so ridiculous that they don’t know how to reply” and that it is “usually warranted.”
Other users like Saltedcaramel2000 claim the Gen-Z stare is when someone in Gen-Z “blatantly disregards others around them” and that people who give the Gen-Z stare “lack social skills” after being asked a question resulting the person asking the question “being side-eyed or stared at in return.”
With all these variations from different sides, there’s no concrete definition, but as a member of Gen-Z, let me throw my two cents into this discussion.
Is the Gen-Z stare real?
To me, yes, the Gen-Z stare is real; I’m 90% sure I’ve given that look to multiple people in my life. It’s a pure blank stare that is only fractionally conveying how amazed I feel at whatever sentence just came out of someone’s mouth.
What I believe to be happening with other generations is that they are confusing a side-eye with the Gen-Z stare. Multiple Urban Dictionary definitions included the term side-eye, but this inherently contradicts the true application of the Gen-Z stare.
A side-eye requires emotion to convey — disgust, confusion, etc. The Gen-Z stare is void of feeling and is merely a default reaction to absurdity.
So yes, the Gen-Z stare is real, but no, it’s not what you think it is.
Is the Gen-Z stare a problem?
The biggest question isn’t whether it’s real (from even the smallest amount of observation, it clearly is), but should we be worried? As a society, is the Gen-Z stare the end of all social skills and politeness?
Simple answer: no.
The long answer falls in line with a quote my mom drilled into me when I was younger, “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it all.”
And that’s what this vacant, void look encapsulates. When someone says something so absurd, rude or altogether insane, that pause where Gen-Z looks dead-eyed is the only thing keeping some of us in check from saying something rude in response or in more extreme cases, launching ourselves at the speaker.
It’s not meant to be rude as a concept; some older people see it as rude because it’s just not how they were raised. Phrases like, “respect your elders” were ingrained in their adolescence, but most young people now believe respect is to be earned, not given freely.
Maybe instead of immediately assuming that a younger generation is at fault for your discomfort, look into a mirror and realize that how you act is a roadmap for how your conversations will go. Treat others how you want to be treated. Don’t speak rudely to someone just because you feel you can and you won’t be on the receiving end of the icy cold stare. It’s really that simple.
