About

GNC AF, an acronym for Gender Non-Conforming As Fuck, is a catchphrase popularized on Tumblr in early 2021, often used as a compliment, to describe someone who is clearly GNC or appears to be GNC in regards to their lifestyle and fashion choices.

Origin

Your Dad Looks GNC AF

On December 25th, 2020, Tumblr^[1] user logarto answered an "ask" from an anonymous user reading, "you dad looks gnc af," with, "YOURE INSANE," expressing that they thought the ask was funny, garnering over 16,900 notes in two months (shown below, top). On the same day, they then posted,^[2] "'your dad looks gnc af' is my new go-to compliment for everyone no matter who" (shown below, bottom).

As the post spread through reblogs over the course of December and early January, the phrase grew in popularity online. On January 11th, 2021, Twitter^[3] user @thechevypickup tweeted, "when I say I think about this post every single day" along with a screenshot of the post, garnering over 3,200 likes and 660 retweets in two months.

On January 21st, Tumblr^[4] user frogmanjo posted one of the earliest artistic renditions of the posts, garnering over 570 upvotes in just under two months (shown below).

Spread

The post inspired a number of artistic interpretations of it on Tumblr^[5] and Twitter^[6] in the months following, often using characters from popular media who may arguably be seen as gender non-conforming and shifting the context around them, expanding the phrase past being about dads (examples shown below, left and right).

By March, posts and artwork referencing the phrase started to rise in popularity on Twitter, as well as memes referencing the posts. On March 5th, Twitter^[7] user @SouthpauzArt posted a How Do You Do, Fellow Kids? meme using the phrase, garnering over 1,800 likes in six days (shown below).

On the same date, Tumblr^[8] user ruthlesslistener posted a version of the meme using characters from the video game Hollow Knight, garnering over 250 notes in six days (shown below, left). On March 6th, Twitter^[9] user @orangejunie posted original artwork based on the anime series SK8 the Infinity with the phrase, garnering over 1,100 likes and 300 retweets in five days (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References