Written by James Valerio
According to the Marian Webster online dictionary, in the context of the internet, a meme is “an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online especially through social media”. In the context outside the internet the definition of meme becomes, “an idea, behavior, style or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture” (Marian Webster). Understanding both of these definitions is important as it helps us understand that meme’s have influence, with the ability to carry anyones ideas whilst spreading widely online through social media.
Ernest Khalimov, popularized as Giga Chad, claims to be a model for SLEEK’N’TEARS, an “Art Family Project” by Krista Sudmalis, which bases their work on “the idea of ICONic Male Beauty”. Khalimov goes by @berlin.1969 on instagram, with his first post dating back to December 9th 2016. Yet all of this is still unconfirmed, with no evidence of his definite existence. Many speculate that Giga Chad is a combination of many models edited together in order to emphasize a more masculine physique.
The many pictures of who Ernest Khalimov claims to be have spread around the internet for many years, showing longevity as they wish not to fade away with time, intensifying the mark on the male user base.
According to Know Your Meme Giga Chad became extremely popular in 2021, with the meme format of Average Fan vs. Average Enjoyer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmiBxsXq4Zw
The physique of Giga Chad is often considered that of the peak male, at least according to the male population, in a study done by Date Psychology, out of 234 people, it was deemed that men found Giga Chad more attractive, as opposed to women who found him on average to be unattractive. Below is a density plot graph based on a 1 to 7 scale displaying the results, with pink being women and green being men. This brings relevance to the idea that men are the ones who enforce toxic masculinity as they seem to idolize Giga Chad more than the women.
To many online, Giga Chad embodies masculinity. A man with the perfect physical body, with many physiological attributes which seem to come with it. Giga Chad is often used to showcase the trait of not caring. In the meme format mentioned before, he was just a couple images. He is a photograph of a man with barely any emotion revealed on his face, carrying the idea that one should not react and show emotion. As mentioned by Will James in his talk, Online Influencers, Toxic Masculinity, and the Classroom, one attributes of toxic masculinity mentioned is that of being too reserved. James brings attention to the fact that younger audiences are the easiest to influence. Considering the fact that children come across internet memes often with social media, they might absorb negative ideas at a very high rate. Giga Chad, is not necessarily negative, as his physique may have also inspired many to begin working on oneself physically, which leads to living a healthier life. Yet his physique is unobtainable, which in turn can create many insecurities affecting one’s mental health. It is a double edged sword.
To conclude, it must be understood that internet culture is unpredictable, anyone is able to attach an idea to an image and release it on social media. Giga Chad is merely an image of a really strong male model, edited or not, its purpose was to amaze people, not to propagate toxic masculinity and negative ideas.
Work Cited:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meme
https://opensea.io/collection/ggchd
https://www.facebook.com/sleekntears/
https://www.instagram.com/berlin.1969/?hl=en
Women don’t find Gigachad attractive
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/gigachad
James, Will, Online Influencers, Toxic Masculinity, and the Classroom, Vanier College, March 5, 2024
Fight Clubs/Night Clubs 