Stop Glamorizing "The Grind" And Start Glamorizing Whatever This Is

Submission 10,943

Part of a series on Antiwork. [View Related Entries]

About

Stop Glamorizing "The Grind" And Start Glamorizing Whatever This Is or Stop Normalizing the Grind and Normalize Whatever This Is is a catchphrase that's used to caption image macros that act as an antithesis to Hustle Culture memes by showcasing quainter settings to strive for not typically considered "Alpha." The meme was coined on Twitter in 2021 as a reaction to earnest, Antiwork statements.

Origin

On February 22nd, 2021, Twitter^[1] user laceyadunn tweeted, "We need to stop over glamorizing the grind. It’s not cool to grind yourself into the ground. To neglect sleep, self care, relaxation, time with friends & family. Burn out is not a badge of honor." The earnest, antiwork tweet received roughly 1,000 likes in a year and a half (shown below, left). On March 1st, 2021, Twitter^[2] user linzsports posted a similar tweet with earnest intent, gaining roughly 308,200 likes in the same time period (shown below, right).

Inspired by the antiwork rhetoric of the aforementioned tweets, on March 2nd, 2021, Twitter^[3] user realbreadedsimp tweeted, "stop glamorizing 'the grind' and start glamorizing 'the kick flip,'" earning over 15 likes in a year and a half (shown below). The tweet acted as the first known memetic use of the later catchphrase.

Spread

Towards the end of March 2022, more viral instances of the meme emerged on Twitter. For instance, on March 23rd, 2021, Twitter^[4] user KevinFarzad tweeted, "Stop glamorizing 'the grind' and start glamorizing burrowing underground for 2 – 17 years and then emerging to yell," earning roughly 3,500 likes in a year and a half (shown below, left). On May 7th, 2021, Twitter^[5] user SketchesbyBoze tweeted, "stop glamorizing “the Grind” and start glamorizing being a little mouse who sleeps in a bed made out of a biscuit tin," earning roughly 6,300 likes over the course of 13 months (shown below, right).

Towards the end of 2021, the most notable form of the catchphrase was coined by Twitter user SketchesbyBoze in a tweet^[6] posted on September 13th, 2021. It captioned a picture of a Russian children's illustration of a mouse sitting in a cozy living room with, "stop glamorizing 'the Grind' and start glamorizing whatever this is," earning roughly 177,200 likes in 11 months (shown below).

On September 13th, SketchesbyBoze tweet^[6] was reposted by Tumblr ^[7] blog tabathasfinsta, earning over 3,000 notes in the same period of time. On September 14th, the tweet was reposted to Instagram ^[8] by the page iamthirtyaf, earning roughly 125,900 likes.

On September 17th, 2021, Twitter^[9] user jowajohv used the same caption for an image macro from the Swedish children's book series called Pettson och Findus, earning roughly 21,400 likes in 11 months (shown below, left). From then on, the catchphrase received increased usage going into 2022. For instance, on June 2nd, 2022, Instagram^[10] user frogwitch captioned an image macro from Frog and Toad in a meme that received a large, yet hidden amount of engagement (shown below, right).