Yassification

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About

Yassification is an internet slang term that refers to the process of something becoming more LGBTQ+ adjacent. Although the term "yass" has been prevalent in LGBTQ+ meme circles for some time, "yassification" wasn't used until August 2020 on Twitter. The term spread to other platforms like Tumblr and TikTok going into 2021 and also inspired variant concepts like "to yassify" and yass pills.

Origin

In late August 2020, Twitter^[1] user @MINTCHIP was the first to coin the term "yassification." The tweet used the phrase "yassification gas" in reference to an imagined gas that would "yassify" unsuspecting people. However, @MINTCHIP's account has been suspended for unknown reasons. Evidence of the tweet can be found in a reply posted on August 26th, 2020, from Twitter^[2] user @puppyoveralls. The reply (shown below) reads "I’m choking on the yassification gas."

Spread

On August 28th, 2020, Twitter^[3] user @yukikaerotica posted the first known use of the phrasal template, "the yassification of X," tweeting a picture of Japanese singer Yukika Teramoto with filters and stickers over her. The tweet (shown below) received 14 likes over the course of one year.

On November 6th, 2020, Twitter^[4] account @colindotcom reused the term "yassification gas" in a tweet that read, "BREAKING: Biden has begun releasing YASSIFICATION gas into the environment and transmitting slay yes mamas through 5G 🚨." The tweet, however, cannot be accessed because @colindotcom has a private account as of November 2021. The tweet received replies^[5] though that give evidence of the tweet's virality.

In February 2021, Twitter users began comparing celebrities with each other by having one celebrity being the post-yassified version of the other. Twitter^[6] user @matthewokay was the first to do this, tweeting, "slayyyter looks like the yassification of marjorie taylor greene," on February 8th, 2021. The tweet (shown below) received 42 likes over the course of nine months.

On February 11th, 2021, Twitter^[7] user @haoeru tweeted a meme that apparently came to him in a dream. The image is of Lois Griffin with text reading "Yass pills." The tweet (shown below) received roughly 65,700 likes over the course of nine months and gave increased attention to the idea of "yassification."

In March 2021, yassification tweets began receiving more than 100 likes on Twitter.^[8]^[9] On March 16th, 2021, Twitter^[10] user @Gamrboi69 tweeted a four image progression of the "yassification of Prince Philip." Through the progression of images, Prince Philip undergoes a transformation into a hot woman through a Face App filter. The tweet (shown below) received 75 likes over the course of eight months and is the first known instance of this type of "yassification" tweet that would be later popularized in November 2021.

Yassification memes also began appearing on Instagram that used Whisper post aesthetics. The first known instance of this type of meme was made and posted by Instagram^[11] account @penus_and_bacchus on March 19th, 2021. The meme (shown below) received 22 likes over the course of eight months.

On March 23rd, 2021, "yassification" was added to Urban Dictionary ^[12] by user, yaass queen. The definition received 140 likes over the course of eight months.

In November 2021, the trend of "yassifying" photographs of notable people through a Face App filter began taking off more notably on Twitter. Twitter^[13] account @baklavaIamp brought this trend to attention again with a tweet they posted on November 6th, 2021, which received roughly 20,100 likes over the course of six days.

Twitter user @baklavaIamp inspired the start of Twitter account @Yassifybot to begin posting. @Yassifybot's first tweet^[14] was posted on November 12th, 2021, and shows a before-and-after yassification of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. The tweet (shown below) received roughly 30,700 likes over the course of three days. Overall, @Yassifybot brought the idea of "yassification" an increased amount of attention going into November 2021.