Let's Ditch Gen Z Lingo That Undermines Gender Progress

Each generation has its own slang, and mine is no different. We prioritize quick and effective communication. Why use full words when we can get by with just parts of them? Some phrases are mid, and they leave gender equality cooked. In particular, the slang that is the weirdest asl is bop.

To understand the evolution of this lingo, we must rewind to the 1940s.

Seat Thelonious Sphere Monk behind a piano, place a trumpet in the hands of his friend John Birks Gillespie, and offer fellow musician Charles Parker a saxophone. Don’t forget to invite their guide and mentor, Mary Lou Williams, to perform alongside them.

What can you expect from this talented quartet? A captivating blend of fast tempos and complex harmonies that incorporates unique African rhythms. Their musical innovation marked a rebellious and refreshing departure from the danceable melodies of the swing era. Today, we recognize their pioneering work as simply bebop.

Known as the “Mother of Bebop,” Mary Lou Williams was a feminist and advocate for gender equality, as well as one of the greatest jazz composers of all time. She endured harassment from neighboring white families who threw bricks at her home, and she faced stiff resistance from band managers hesitant to have a woman perform with male artists. In response, Williams infused social protest into jazz by challenging the established norms of blues, ragtime, Dixieland jazz, and other genres, all while nurturing young bebop artists in her Harlem apartment.

Her technically rigorous new genre sparked a wave of jazz subgenres, from hard bop to cool jazz and even a gospel-infused bebop variant.

Over time, the word “bebop” slid into slang, evolving into the present participle “bopping,” that is, dancing to pop music, and the colloquially shortened noun “bop,” which has come to imply different things to different generations.

To people from the Greatest Generation, “bop” embodied the social and musical reaction to discriminatory practices that African American bands faced courtesy of Jim Crow laws. For the Baby Boomer generation and some Gen Xers, “bopping” meant playfully hitting someone, usually on the head. Millennials ascribe “bop” to a song they enjoy listening to. Harry Styles? He’s the king of bops. Taylor Swift? Her discography is full of bops.

Gen Z has now redefined the term “bop,” giving it a disrespectful and insulting connotation toward women. “Bop lore” refers to a woman’s sexual history, while “bop” itself now describes a sexually promiscuous woman or one who shares revealing photos online for attention.

Semantic changes have consistently occurred over the 1,400-year timeline of the English language. Words that had one meaning in 15th-century Chancery English took on very different meanings a few hundred years later. The word “awful,” for example, originally meant “full of awe”; it now means the opposite. Similarly, “terrific,” which once meant “invoking terror,” is now used to describe something outstanding.

Dr. George C. Fraser’s quote, “You cannot think any deeper than your vocabulary allows you,” remains relevant today. The evolution of language over the millennia has enabled society to communicate complex ideas. However, is a semantic shift justified if it comes at the expense of one gender?

Harmful tropes about women are everywhere. Derogatory terms like “gold-digger” and “Karen” simply don’t have a male equivalent. Many terms associated with women carry insulting connotations, while their male counterparts are often linked to power, success, and sexual dominance. This discrepancy highlights our culture’s pervasive sexist attitudes.

It’s time to put an end to words that carry built-in sexism. We can start by restoring the original meaning of the slang term “bop,” which once represented a spirit of protest and resistance by challenging traditional conventions in favor of bold change. Mary Lou Williams dedicated her life to serving others, elevating musical virtuosity, and inspiring female musicians to perform without fear.

I’d totally dig it if Gen Z restored this revered slang to its original glory. We owe at least this much to the “Matriarch of the modern jazz movement” — and to every trailblazing feminist who followed her. Doing so would be a huge W.