Why Shrekking And Monkey-Barring Are Ruining Romance For Gen Z
If you thought “ghosting” and “breadcrumbing” were the peak of messy dating slang, brace yourself. Gen Z has moved the goalposts yet again, introducing “Shrekking” and “Monkey-barring” into the dating dictionary. And no, they’re not from a Pixar spin-off or a new gym routine, they’re very much about how today’s young daters are handling relationships.
Spoiler: not always in the healthiest way.
So, what do these terms actually mean, why are they catching on, and more importantly, why do experts say they’re toxic?
Let’s decode.
What Does Shrekking Really Mean
At first glance, “Shrekking” sounds like a meme-worthy tribute to the green ogre of fairytale fame. But in the dating world, it’s not about onions or swamp life. Neha Parashar, Senior Clinical Psychologist and Relationship Expert at Cadabam’s Mindtalk, explains, “Think of Shrekking as ‘dating down on purpose.'”
The idea is: choose someone you believe is less conventionally attractive or lower-status so you’ll be ‘safer’ from heartbreak. The twist is that people still get rejected, they ‘get Shrekked’, because attraction and kindness don’t obey a crude beauty/status calculus.
