Chad is an internet slang term, usually used in a disparaging way, for a popular, confident, sexually active young white male.
But where does Chad come from?
A Chad is a stereotypical alpha male: he is depicted as an attractive, successful, muscular, cocky, and very popular among women.
Among incel groups and on web forums like 4chan, Chad has been used positively as the term for the ideal image of what a “real man” should be and Chad is idolized as the peak of masculinity.
Often shortened to just Chad, this hyper-masculine stereotype was a contrast to the stereotype of antisocial beta males (“virgins”) that supposedly make up the majority of 4chan users or incel communities. These “Chad vs. Virgin” memes have further popularized the name Chad as an exaggerated stereotype of an alpha male.
Read also: The Life of Chad Everett Harris
The Virgin Emperor Vs The Chad God Emperor | Warhammer 40K Meme
The slang term Chad has historically been applied in different contexts. Within the manosphere and internet culture, Chads are generally viewed as constituting the top decile in terms of genetic fitness.
In online animation drawings in the manosphere, a Chad is often depicted as a muscular blond man with very pronounced masculine features. Chads are sometimes portrayed as the opposite to "omega" or "beta" males, and as physically attractive.
The slang term Chad is based on the male given name Chad. In the early 2000s it began to be used as a humorous generic term for a stereotypical frat boy or jock, and also as a slang insult with the meaning “loser, idiot, jerk.”
By the 2010s, the Internet incel community adopted Chad as a stereotype for a particular kind of so-called ‘alpha male’: built, handsome, swaggering, and unjustly irresistible to women (who were referred to using a sexist counterpart stereotype of Stacey).
In this subculture, Chad and Stacey became used in memes and other content, bitterly attacking their perceived antagonists. In the early 2020s, the word developed a positive sense, used to praise a man seen as impressive-though often traditionally masculine-in some way.
Read also: "Married to Evil": Chad Graves
The use of Chad varies greatly based on speaker and context. While often used as a noun, it is also sometimes used attributively (‘chad behavior’), functioning more like an adjective.
Within the incel community online, Chad remains used to disparage men and women blamed for various grievances. For example: “Women say they are attracted to sensitive guys, but they all just want Chads.” This use of Chad may be considered offensive due to this community’s connection to misogyny and violent extremist incidents.
Outside of the incel community, it may be used as a mild insult for behavior associated with a hypermasculine or heedlessly cocky man (“That Chad took credit for my idea in the meeting”).
The Rise of Gigachad
"Gigachad" is a related internet meme that uses black-and-white photographs of a muscular male model. GigaChad is a nickname associated with the art project berlin.1969 / Ernest Khalimov, which is a series of photoshopped photographs of several models created by Russian photographer Krista Sudmalis for her project Sleek'N'Tears.
The name "GigaChad" indicates that the person, who was initially assumed to be real, is the ultimate Chad Thundercock, an internet archetype representing an ultra-masculine, physically attractive male.
Read also: Vallow-Daybell Trial: Key Evidence
On October 16th, 2017, a photo of Khalimov was submitted to the /pol/ board on 4chan, which described him as "Gigachad.
On February 17th, 2018, Redditor ForgottenShark uploaded a photograph of Khalimov titled "Gigachad, the destroyer of virgins" to the /r/Bossfight subreddit.
In March 2021, GigaChad saw a spike in popularity online after a montage of his photographs was used in the video version of Average Fan vs.
Until April 2021, the person writing as Khalimov did not speak about the likeness being used in GigaChad and Average Enjoyer memes, also disabling comments on his Instagram posts.
On April 13th, 2021, Ernest Khalimov, wrote from his Instagram account berlin.1969 and spoke about the GigaChad memes, writing that "he likes them" and inviting everyone to comment on the post.
Stacy: The Female Counterpart
Stacy is one of the original female characters, along with Becky. Stacy, being the female counterpart of Chad, is very popular and attractive.
Stacy understands her conventional beauty and uses her looks to get what she wants without regarding others. Stacy is perceived by most people as the cliché dumb and blonde type who is coveted for her looks and nothing else.
Incels despise Stacies because they were rejected by her in school for not being chadly enough.
Gad sees the rejection of someone by a Stacy as a sacred moment of balance, where one may choose to become either chadly in nature through self improvement, or wallow in the pain and degenerate to the side of virginhood.
Stacy was originally based off the Creamsicle meme, which is a sexual version of the me vs the other girls memes.
Early Internet Culture References
In 2008, an Urban Dictionary user added an entry on Chad that described him as a young, white man who is popular with women.
In 2013, Chad resurfaced as part of the “Chad Thundercock” meme that centered on stereotypical alpha males.
The web site featured numerous posts by a user named Brent having “Chadtastic” adventures around Chicago and was based on the equally fictional Lincoln Park Trixie Society.
Here is a table summarizing the key figures and terms associated with the Chad meme:
| Term/Figure | Description |
|---|---|
| Chad | Stereotypical alpha male, attractive, successful, muscular, cocky, and popular among women. |
| Gigachad | The ultimate Chad Thundercock, representing an ultra-masculine, physically attractive male. |
| Stacy | Female counterpart of Chad, popular and attractive, uses her looks to get what she wants. |
| Virgin | Stereotype of antisocial beta males, often used in contrast to Chad. |
Popular articles:
tags: #Chad
