China’s Gen Z generation toying with traditional stereotypes

Gordon Dumoulin
Jul 24, 2020
1 min read

“𝗧𝗲𝗮 𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗯**** 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗼𝘅 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁” | China’s Gen Z generation turning traditionally derogatory catchphrases on its head. The introduction of Tea Art (茶艺) make-up style. While in China, the term “green tea b****” was originally used as an insult for a seemingly sweet or innocent woman but with strongly manipulative personality. But now, the phrase Tea Art is slowly taking on another meaning among Gen Z'ers: pure, confidence and sexy.

On Chinese social media, they are ironically imitating Green Tea b**** stereotypes and looks by celebrating the beauty of the look without the negative associations, receiving millions of views.

The Tea Art hype blends traditional beauty, purity and innocence (which still resonate with Gen Z) with more self-assured attitudes of fearless self-expression, rebellious and empowering.

Another derogatory term, “fox spirit” (seductive demon-like women) turned around in one of the most popular Douyin (China’s Tiktok) challenges in 2019 “A fox is not a demon, and sexy is not trashy” (狐狸不是妖，性感不是骚) resulted in funny parodies.