Mark my words,
the use of Neo-pronouns (xe/xem/xyr etc) will undergo a post-cringe resurgence in much the same way as Crocs, Emo-Scene and Furries have in recent years.
With the advent of New-Sincerity - a cultural movement, wholeheartedly admitting to and embracing even the most embarrassing facets of genuine selfhood - the most denigrated subculture of the late-2010s is on track to see a cultural reappraisal and embrace within the next half-decade.
To understand the cultural trajectory of Neo-pronouns, It is important we have a grasp on their function and position within the current cultural hierarchy;
Neo-pronouns are loosely defined as ‘any set of singular third-person pronouns that are not officially recognized in the language they are used in’. These gender identifiers generally exist outside of binary gender (male or female) consisting of both newly invented gender neutral pronouns (ve/vir/vis) as well as an expanded vocabulary of xenogenders.
Xenogender is an umbrella term for identity labels which also express characteristics adjacent to or part of gender identity. Generally, the respective xenogender of an individual emphasises their dominant characteristics - those which undeniably influence the presentation of gender and identity. Xenogenders may be used as the dominant pronoun or as a suffix to existing pronouns. These attribute labels allow for an immediate recognition of personal interests, neurodivergence, subcultural affiliation or ‘kinship’. The function of xenogenders can be broken down into 3 sub-categories;
Aesthetic or ‘core’ xenogenders such as Fairycore, an identity label representative of an affinity for fairy aesthetics in personal styling or behaviour.
Neurodivergent xenogenders such as Autismgender or Stimgender which identify the neurological characteristics of an individual.
Kintypes which signal toward an affinity with nonhuman beings both fantastical and real e.g. bunnygender (bun/bunself), an affinity for bunnies, or Dragongender (drak/drakself), an affinity for dragons.
Unsurprisingly, the predominantly tween, neo-pronoun communities of Tumblr and DeviantArt (two social-media platforms already considered cringe-adjacent) were swiftly, harshly labelled as culturally undesirable (Cringe). Cringe for further convoluting LGBTQ+ terminology which much of the West is still coming to terms with - Cringe for expecting others to refer to them by their chosen pronouns - Cringe for ‘ridiculous’, fantastical expressions of the self - Cringe for representing a visible and outspoken queerness.
Neo-pronouns are, to this day, trapped within the panopticon of cringe; confined to insular - though highly visible - communities, while under a constant anonymous barrage of criticism and mockery. It is no wonder that Neo-pronoun communities often develop a paranoid defensiveness and toxifying tunnel-vision.
While the current cultural reputation of Neo-pronouns is dismal, there is a spectre haunting its discourse - the spectre of post-cringe.
Post-cringe (encompassing both irony & post-irony) is a cultural reflex, involving the parody and re-uptake of cultural entities considered undesirable (cringe). The principal vessel of the post-cringe counter-culture is the rather new practice of shitposting. Shitposting’s roots can be traced back to trolling, the internet’s most ancient pass-time, though in the contemporary e-landscape of militant content moderation, shitposters have forgone the classical targeting of individuals - a possible breach of most platform’s community guidelines which could lead to the suspension or deletion of accounts - and instead pivoted to a form of prolific meme-sharing that acts as a parody of culture itself. Shitposting employs increasingly absurd humour, purposeful image degradation (deepfrying) and signifiers of undesirable cultural entities (e.g. Family Guy). This recycling of cultural entities has often resulted in a genuine resurgence of forgotten culture. Look no further than My Chemical Romance’s radical cultural reappraisal and subsequent comeback tours in 2019-2021 following a post-cringe fascination with emo culture.
Post-cringe may well be considered the transmogrifying agent of the ‘Cringe to Based Pipeline’; A phenomena in which a cultural entity considered undesirable (cringe) undergoes a series of memetic cultural-reflexes, eventually re-emerging as a championed cultural entity in New-sincerity (based).
The Cringe to Based Pipeline can be divided into 4 distinct sections:
Section 1 - Cringe
Criticism of the cultural entity (usually related to its market oversaturation, lack of nuance or poor quality) coalesces in a sanctioning of the entity - a labelling of the entity as undesirable - cringe.
Section 2 - Dormancy
Due to its broad cultural rejection, the entity loses mainstream relevance, fandoms become small and insular, production of its cultural product may slow or cease completely. The entity falls below the consensus cultural radar.
Section 3 - Post-Cringe
The cultural entity experiences an ironic re-uptake by the online counter-culture, cultural exposure is re-established via Shitposting and the entity may return to popular discourse.
Section 4 - New-Sincerity
The cultural entity, in its emergent re-circulation, experiences a reappraisal via a critical illumination of overlooked significance, nuance or prescience of such entity. Rogue net-users begin admitting a genuine, non-ironic appreciation for the cultural entity - New-sincerity. This admission sends tremors through the culture, eventually reaching a broad enough consensus to dispel the label of ‘Cringe’. In this state of New-Sincerity, the entity’s shortcomings are accepted and triumphs celebrated as those that genuinely enjoy the respective cultural entity, are no longer mocked or ostracised for doing so.
Neo-pronouns are currently floating somewhere between Section 2 (Dormancy) and Section 3 (Post-Cringe). Having slipped from any significant cultural discourse, into a sort of irrelevant obscurity, Neo-pronouns have almost escaped the panopticon of cringe - needing only the shiv of irony to stage their final cultural extradition. This is only a matter of time, as recounted time and time again by previously-cringe entities - Neo-pronouns are en-route to the pasture of New-Sincerity.
New-sincerity is a potent counter-cultural response to the influencer-styled hyper-curation of online personhood - a passionate and vulnerable rejection of the neo-liberal insistence upon personal-branding. New-sincerity embraces the rhizomatic truth of contemporary identity, refusing to omit the unsightly or misaligned. It is a battle cry for a return to unmarketable authenticity.
So, how could New-sincerity, by its very definition, not allow for the bombastic, fluid, multicellular expressions of Neo-pronouns? In all it’s adolescent confusion, experimentation and vulnerability. For new-sincerity itself is, in a way, a return to the unadulterated honesty of childhood, before the social-imposition of conformity, of shame. If New-sincerity were to disavow the use of neo-pronouns, it would be a betrayal of its very essence.
In a culture of New-sincerity, the bud of all breeds of self-expression should be nurtured to bloom. Exempt from the stricture of cultural codification, expectation, preconception - the multiplicitous fluidity of true selfhood may finally thaw, flow, live, in the prairie of New-sincerity.