Flexing, a resurgence

 Flex 

/fleks/

(v.): 

1. Bend or become bent.

2. Show (something) off; flaunt.

Let’s set the stage.

A man got a new tailored shirt. To show off his new shirt, he wears it and stands outside his house. But a whole day goes by and not a single pedestrian commented on his shirt. Frustrated, he was about to go inside when another man ran by him.

“Hey”, asked the second man, “Have you seen the gift pig for my wedding?”

“No”, answered the first, “Ever since I wore my new tailored shirt, I haven’t seen any pigs running around here.”

This is but a satirical Vietnamese folk story, made to poke fun at people who like to flaunt their wealth. Sure, some may find it amusing, ridiculous even, but quite frankly, this story is in some ways similar to another trend which has taken Facebook by storm recently. Known as ‘flexing’, this trend has garnered significant popularity with young people in the previous year.

How it started

Let’s set the scene. The term ‘flexing’ has not been in the Vietnamese vocabulary, maybe except from some English-speaking circles, until quite recently when a Vietnamese sport journalist and football commentator made some remarks about another country, Italy. These remarks initially come off as ridiculous since they often have nothing to do with the conversation or are so over the top. It doesn’t help that some of his responses were rather comical. Of course, like the Internet does, he was satirized and became an Internet sensation. In the midst of all this, someone threw in the word “flex”, and thus it was added to the increasingly long “List of obscure English words that somehow has become mainstream in Vietnam”.

So popular has it become, that a Facebook group was created after it. Named “Flexing ‘till the last breath”, the group brandished the motto “Flex is life. Flex is breathing. Flex is passion”. The group became a hub for users, mostly young people, to show off their personal achievements, from things like university admission to having a rare surname. Before announcing its temporary closure in July this year, the group had reached 1.6 million users, a stunning achievement considering that it was created 2 months prior.

New, or old?

The immense popularity of the trend, and the reasonings behind it are reminiscent of those of peer pressure. The sudden spike in popularity can be explained by the desire to keep track of the latest trend in a constantly developing Internet culture. The influence of social media has not made it easier, as everyday, hundreds to thousands of posts and comments about the latest trend are made, and those who don’t know the details behind them will often be left out. As for flexing itself, perhaps it is our innate desire to project our achievements to others, born from a time when people, including myself, are increasingly anxious about their standing in the social strata, and their chosen coping mechanism is to try to gather as much social power as they could. That being said, this is by no means a completely bad thing, as for the token minority that find amusement in this sort of thing, the trend is yet another social change that needs satirization. Perhaps this will bring a fresh breath of life to the Internet, and maybe even some attention to its underlying causes as well. Only time will tell.

- Ngoc Phi

References

Flex đến hơi thở cuối cùng. (2023, May 24). Facebook. Retrieved October 23, 2023, from https://www.facebook.com/groups/flexdenhoithocuoicung/?mibextid=oMANbw