ISSUE 02
THE CRINGE ISSUE

keywords: cringe - shame - vulnerability - awkwardness - viscerality - taste - judgment - coolness  

Cringe can mean many things. Cringe is personal, cringe is embodied, cringe is sticky, cringe is galaxy print, cringe is internet culture, cringe is generational, cringe is writing about cringe and cringe is our point of departure for our second issue. 

We understand cringing as an affective experience that always requires the self and the other. It is an intense, visceral reaction provoked by others in relation to the self, and even when we cringe at ourselves, it is always self-as-other, because our current self is better than the cringeworthy self of the past. The feeling of cringe is, therefore, inherently social and can even be deeply communal. “omg that is so cringe,” we write as we share the post in the group chat, accompanied by a collective feeling of superiority, thank god for the affective alignment… how pretentious. CRINGE!!!! 

Honestly, fashion can be quite cringe too, for both insiders and outsiders: an expression of high visibility, an endless competition to outcool each other, making participants vulnerable to judgment, scrutiny, and shame. Cringe polices taste, just like magazines used to when we were growing up. 

Now the internet has become a stage for both public approval and humiliation. A few years ago, everyone was cringing at 2010’s outfits, and now it’s “in”, and we can hardly scroll through our feed without encountering swag and Tumblr aesthetics. In the court of public opinion, everyone is exposed to anyone’s opinion at all times - a constant shifting of roles between judge and accused, cringer and cringee. 

The shame, the fear of looking stupid are holding people back from being authentic. Putting yourself out there can feel cringey, but it is necessary. Sharing your creative endeavour with an audience can cause bodily sensations of discomfort, but if it’s not at least a little cringey, is it even worth doing?

And because cringe, at its very core, triggers responses from the head to the toes, we thought, why not commemorate it directly on the body itself.

With this issue, we aim to scale the so-called cringe mountain and use this concept as a productive category. Come climb with us!

Send in your submission via email to etuimagazine@gmail.com.

DEADLINE: February 27th 2026.

We accept all forms of visual and textual work, including more experimental formats. Use the theme and keywords for inspiration, but feel free to interpret them in your own way. Textual submissions should range from 500 to 3000 words.

You can contact us through DM or email with any questions or ideas for submissions; we’re always happy to chat!