"Gloving," a dance subculture based around light-up gloves, has blown up on TikTok recently, mostly because of memes making fun of the EDM raver activity. Moreso, meme creators have dug up the word "degloving," labeling the grotesque medical term as the ultimate punishment for a glover.

In turn, memes about the "Gloving Community" on TikTok are varied and strange, but they all have one central goal: to portray gloving as the corniest hobby alive.

Many of the memes do this by likening gloving to an expert profession, mastered by people who are definitely not unemployed.

Although gloving has been around since the 2000s, it's surely having a moment right now, but why? Where did these "gloving" memes come from, and what does "degloving" mean exactly? Let's explain.

What Is 'Gloving?'

Gloving is a hand-and-finger dance subculture centered on gloves with LED lights in the fingertips. Glovers, as they're called, mostly perform at raves and other electronic dance music (EDM) shows. If you were at a Skrillex show in 2011, chances are you encountered at least one glover in the crowd.

Over the years, gloving has proven itself as internet fodder. Viral videos shared by glovers on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram Reels still amass engagement. All someone needs is a dark room, some LED gloves and an affinity for finger twiddling to join the community.

Where Did 'Gloving' Come From?

According to outlets like Vice, gloving stems from 1990s rave culture, when dancers realized that glowsticks and white gloves (which reflected black light) were super trippy when under the influence of illegal substances.

The light trails they created were unique, and by the late 2000s, nifty ravers decided to combine them by shoving multi-colored LED lights into the fingertips of their gloves. An underground culture of gloving then emerged, starting in California, according to the website Glow LEDs.

Gloving met the internet in the mid-2000s, when a clip of glover HermesPaiPai from 2006 landed on YouTube and attracted some attention. Two years later, glover Gummy posted a clip that quickly gained millions of views. Soon after, he started releasing tutorials on the craft.

What's With The 'Gloving' Memes On TikTok?

In the modern day, there are several video-sharing platforms besides YouTube, and the glowing fingers of gloving have touched each.

On TikTok, a glover named Infinite Puppet has climbed the ranks worldwide. As of December 2025, he's amassed over 9.2 million likes across all of his videos.

However, gloving is not without critics. This year, a slew of satirical gloving content has emerged, notably starting in July 2025, when TikTokers Carrington Bornstein, Chase Keith and Troy Zarba created a parody gloving account called @thelightboyzz.

They pretended to be gloving enthusiasts, all under the guise of wholesome gloving content meant to inspire others in the community. The joke resonated with people, unearthing an underlying cringe perception of gloving.

@thelightboyzz 🥹🥹🥹 #carmichael #thelightboyz ♬ Yellow – Coldplay

What Is 'Degloving?'

Degloving, in medical terms, is quite gruesome. This section is not for readers with weak stomachs. Basically, "degloving" describes an injury in which all layers of skin and flesh are stripped, revealing the muscle and bone structure below the tissue.

It's not the first time that the word has inspired discourse on TikTok.

Back in 2022, the term "Degloved Face" went viral as a "Don't Google" trend. People were genuinely scarred by what they saw.

What's With The 'Degloving' Memes?

Because "degloving" sounds like "gloving," meme creators on TikTok have posed the grotesque injury as a punishment among the gloving community.

For instance, if an aspiring glover says something negative about the community, they could be "degloved," according to TikTokers like @drakoarmy, who started the "degloving" memes this year.

He started sharing ironic gloving content this month, and mentioning "degloving" was central to his glove-loving character. His idea has spread like wildfire, inspiring countless "Gloving vs. Degloving" memes on the app.

@drakoarmy Don’t Say Any Of These Things To Anyone In The Gloving Community It’s Mad Disrespectful And Hurtful 💯 To All My Glovers Out There Keep On Gloving💯 #drakoarmy #fyp #gloving #glover #glovingcommunity True? @Soweenie ♬ original sound – drakoarmytv

What Are Some More 'Gloving' And 'Degloving' Memes?

@padresbiggestfan Gloving is life idk what I’d do without it#gloving #light #gloves #glovingislife #glovingtiktok ♬ original sound – Kai

@amishlover88 #gloving #glovingislife #fyp #niche ♬ CHARLIE KIRK FUNK – Nxxkz

@supercellfart deglove him #gloving #giftok #funny #xyzcba #jugg ♬ Gemmy – user90794409273

@wade_otb Gloving lore goes deep #glovingislife #gloving ♬ оригинальный звук – Saori Sato: New Trauma

@reosmells Gloving isn’t just a job it’s a lifestyle #gloving #aura #mindsetmotivation #grind #tuff ♬ nhạc nền – ✦ 𝗗𝘂𝗰𝗗𝘂𝘆 🎧🎶 ✦ – 𝗗𝘂𝗰𝗗𝘂𝘆 🎧🎶

@fw.kurona Gloving isn’t just a sport it’s life 🗿#gloving #degloving #glovingcommunity #fyp #meme ♬ The Eye (STEM Piano) – Avalon Infinity

@phillmccracken3 gloving #gloving #glovingcommunity #fyp ♬ original sound – Glocktrain Famous

@asapkingerrr i could have been great. #gloving #fyp #alpha #rich #degloving ♬ original sound – Mind glory

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For the full history of Gloving, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.