What Does SIMP Stand For? What SIMP Means and What It Represents…
Here I will unpack the facts about SIMPing, SIMP Nation and SIMP-Power.
Prior to the 2020s, misogyny was largely insults, or cultural norms at the expense of women. But trust the Gen-Zers to even the playing field, and now not even men are the butt of misogynistic jokes.
Let’s get to the bottom of who, if anyone is the actual target here.
Here are the facts about SIMP culture.
I’ll start with the technical stuff, and then get to the juicy controversy. Although I starting it out pretty …. actually, well, you’ll will see. Let’s get into it.
1 What Does SIMP Stand For?
SIMP is an acronym. This one is definitely not suitable for work or kids, so put in your headphones… because here it comes…
Simp today stands for: “Somebody Sap-ass who Idolizes Mediocre Pussy.”
2 Where Did SIMP Come From?
Words like Sap-ass and Pussy are relatively old pop-culture words, but people have been calling each other simps for a just a short time. It comes from an abbreviation of the word “simpleton”, an insult of the early 20th century. A far milder insult to its recent use.
3 Hip-Hop Culture Use
In the early 21st century, the term cropped up again in pop culture. In the year 2000 platinum Hip Hop group,Three 6 Mafia, released the track: Sippin’ On Some Sizzerp.” The opening line is: “I’m trill working the wheel, a pimp, not a simp / Keep the dope fiends higher than the Goodyear Blimp.”
Here a Simp is the opposite of a Pimp.
Megan Thee Stallion use the word Simp the same way in her 2019 release:Cash Sh*t ft. Da Baby. The line goes: “B*tch, I do pimp sh*t, huh / Ho, you on simp sh*t, ayy.”
Buuuut in many ways this is a lot less derogatory than how it is used in reference to Simp-Nation, more on that coming up.
4 Most Recent Definition of SIMP
As early as 2005, Simp in its modern definition was posted in Urban Dictionary. Simp was described as: “A guy who tags along with hot girls because he thinks it will get him laid.”
Since 2012 the most accepted definition has been:
“A man that puts himself in a subservient/submissive position under women in hopes of winning them over, without the female bringing anything to the table.
A man that puts too much value on a female for no reason.
“When a man prides himself with ‘Chivalry’ in hopes of getting sexual gratification from women.”
5 SIMP Used Differently
After this Urban Dictionary post and a few votes, simp usage was relatively quiet. But in 2019 it hit the scene again, this time on the subreddit: /r/MGTOW or Men Going Their Own Way.
This quality keyboard-gang are identified as being “on the borders of the hateful incel community.” Look up incels in your own time, I’m not gonna give them fuckin airtime here.
MGTOW are the kind of guys who think women only like “brain dead” hot men and not “nice guys” like them. Which is insulting to hot men too, assuming they are all stupid.
They consider women toxic distractions, who use their sexuality to distract and reject them simultaneously. It doesn’t make a bunch of sense but try to keep up.
To these fellas, simping is a sign of weakness, giving into women, who don’t deserve their affection because they don’t recognize these beta males “real value”.
Let me be clear… as an alpha male, I am not a fan of beta males or females.
They use Simp in an angrier way. It’s like the way “Cuck”, the word meaning someone who allows an open relationship arrangement with their female partner, was used by incels to describe any man who respects the rights of women. I hope you’re keeping up with this amount of ego.
Anyway, the highlights package version is that incels and radical misogynists jumped on the word Simp and made it extra nasty.
6 SIMP Is the New Black
After this the word infiltrated pop-culture it was rapidly spread by Gen- Z using TikTok and gaming platforms. You can’t scroll a comment section without seeing someone being called a SIMP. Simp is the “it” insult of the minute, if you will. By October 2019, the word was taking off TikTok. You could find thousands of videos with the hashtag #SimpNation, they have received a collective 430 million views and climbing.
Here the word is back to its more low-key roots of poking fun at someone who does pretty sweet or romantic things for women or generally treats them well. TikTok relentlessly simp-shames guys with certain names like Tyler, just because.
7 The First Evolution of SIMP
The first “evolution of the word simp came soon after its launch. Here “Simping for a girl” or guy was the equivalent of crushing on them. Kind of the way you might be called a romantic.
There was a bit of a mean connotation that you are rather pathetic for your actions, but mostly people made self-depreciating jokes, so a lot were in on it, so it wasn’t altogether hostile like those angry reddit incels.
#SimpNation videos showed cuddly boyfriends, and girls getting flowers. But then also guys shaming guys for opening a door for women or commenting on their crushes Instagram, Facebook and other social media… It was hard to define.
8 Then the Gamers Got Hold Of It
We all know what happens when gamers get hold of something right? It’s like it’s the only thing that exists, previous overused terms like “your mother” or “that’s so gay” have been used to death by the Gamer squad as they hurl insults at each other through headphones.
PewDiePie’s favorite word became Simp and he was riding on the Simp wave to sell some merch. But around the same time also stated that “everything he ever said was a joke.”
So, we can’t keep track on if he is for or he is just trolling the meme.
It wasn’t smooth sailing for the simp slurring gamers, as game news site Kotaku.com reported, by February 2020 Twitch was already deleting emotes who used the word because they started to see a negative trend in its use.
Federico “Fedmyster” Gaytan, a popular streamer announced to fans that his “FedSimp” emote had been removed by Twitch “for targeted harassment and bullying.”
A Twitch spokesperson explained to Kotaku.com their move as saying: “Our community guidelines prohibit harassment, and as a part of this, we deny emotes that are designed to abuse or demean others or can be misused for such behavior.”
A streamer named J. Cyrus’s emote was removed, but they took it with a pinch of understanding and responded: “I think (Twitch) just know the term can be used as a derogatory term for those who support women and female streamers.”
9 Men’s Health and Other Media Weigh In
The word Simp went proper mainstream when in April 2020 Men’s Health Magazine featured an Op-ed piece on the term. The writer described the term as “pretty messed up” because they called out the term for labelling anyone who was good to women as a simp.
And that didn’t seem right. The article labeled people who called people simps as “entitled assholes.”
University news siteThe Tab described it as the replacement to the term “softboi,” a romantic failure who is a little “too nice.” But they also pointed out that it “describes even the bare minimum level of respect between a man and a woman”.
New York Times entered the conversation and straight up called the term a misogynist insult, used to “expresses discomfort with equality when it comes to gender and offers a simple way to dismiss the people causing that discomfort”.
10 The Second Evolution of SIMP
Simp was now ramping up to become an even larger meme. It almost became an acknowledgement that it is misogynistic and became a term used to describe being a “super fan” of something.
Like “I’m really simping for Tom Holland” or “I’m a simp for a good coffee”.
They were winks to some of the awfulness when people ironically declared their undying devotion of simping someone or something. It gave a bit of a jab in the ribs to anyone who used it to tear down men for respecting women.
11 No SIMP September or SIMPtember
Like all good things, there are those that take it so far.
NoSimpSeptember was a month long “challenge” for participants to renounce and abstain from all “simp” behaviors for the month. A subreddit was created with the official rules which were in summary really sexist… But you be the judge.
It included: no donating money to “booby streamers,” E-girls or OnlyFans, because according to them that’s “submitting and surrendering your financial power for a fleeting moment of lust.”
You see how this is getting closer to the other reddit guys we discussed?
Also, no commenting, liking or engaging with posts of women you like, or with women in the photo. Oh and no porn. As the rules stated: “Pornography addiction can be just as much of a destructive behavior as simping.”
It’s pretty demeaning to women, but also to men. Making men out to be mindless and helpless lust robots who are at the mercy of women’s affection.
So, in-swooped the Simptember movement. A response to this madness. It suggested celebrating love, monetary donations and respect of women, and appreciating simps for honoring women. Encouraging followers to “simp harder, to simp stronger and to shoot your shot.” In other words, tell your crush you like them and be good to women.
12 Does This Mean SIMP Is In the Clear? Can We Take SIMPing Back for Good?
It’s clear that the term SIMP has more than one use. So, should we all go forth and throw simp around?
Well, the truth is it’s not always clear how you mean it. And whoever you say it to, could have a different understanding of the word. That alone could land you in trouble.
And while teens are mostly using it in a sardonic way, its modern founding forefathers are some really hateful dudes.
13 So How Do You Avoid Being the Bad Kind of SIMP?
There is nothing new about guys roasting guys about being nice to a woman, Shakespeare’s works are full of jabs to simps. The question is really, aren’t we passed that?
Is it still such a cardinal sin to treat women equally?
It’s seeing women as alien creatures that makes men SIMP behavior even a thing, that old school thinking of men are from Mars and women are from Venus stuff.
And guys who treat women as conquests are also prone to Simp-life. Women aren’t vending machines that once you put in enough credit, they give you what you desire.
You, being a nice human to another human, doesn’t mean they owe you any fucking thing in return. Get over it. This is real life, not a game where you get points and cash it in for goods.
Which brings me to my next point…
14 Are You a SIMP? Or Just a Creep Who Can’t Take No for an Answer?
Intheknow.com hosted a group chat on the topic simp-ing. It has some excellent points of view from men and women from all sides of the argument.
“My final words of warning are to make sure you’re not falling into the trap of the “nice guy” who crosses women’s boundaries, by not being able to take no for an answer.
If your advances on social media to her so far have gone unreciprocated, or are unwelcome. Maybe it’s time to cut your fuckin losses and move the fuck on! leave these females alone!
They make bad choices, have fucked preferences and almost always choose wrong anyway. every time! There are plenty of fish in the sea… all with the same pussy and same story!” – BOOKER
15 Trends Pass, Should We Stop the SIMP Roast?
People make a big deal out of trends while they’re still on point. But the thing about trends is they pass. Remember Pokémon Go when it first came out? It felt like your life depended on it.
Or how angry people got if someone leaked a spoiler of Game of Thrones before you got to watch the episode.
And now you realize it really doesn’t matter and you almost ended friendships over that bullshit. Or remember when dressing in black face was somewhat-socially acceptable and hilarious, until it wasn’t.
Well, the Simp reference is a bit like that. You might come across as a bit of a misogynist or maybe insensitive, or you might just sound a bit like a mindless-teenage-gamer-boy when actually you’re a working professional.
And if you’re a married, then calling yourself or others simps is lame, because you signed up for the commitment, and simp-ing for your partner is kinda the point.
In other words, make your jokes if you want to, like anything, keep your fuckin wits about you though and don’t buy too heavily into the “culture”, or you might be caught with “black on your face” as well.
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